The data inside the registry should not be deleted rather than checked for information and should be disabled if not needed. This makes the system not check the specific folder for the data. Values are kept inside the keys as files stored inside the folders. This helps the user to identify the hierarchy, and if needed, he can modify them. It shows the system of how to work and describes everything with the data in the system. Inside the registry, there are levels in which the data is stored. The highest level is Hives, denoted by HKEY that stores information about the users, programs in the system, a configuration of the system and data about the PC and its resources.
- With this in mind, it’s important that you know what you’re doing each time you make any changes to the registry through the editor.
- A downside is that if a DLL is accidentally replaced with an incompatible version or deleted, programs that rely on it may be suddenly unable to run.
- When you make changes to nearly any setting, changes are also made to the appropriate areas in the registry, though these changes are sometimes not realized until you reboot the computer.
- Registry cleaner programs are popular tools that are used to remove unnecessary entries from the registry.
- Make sure the program does not share DLL files before you remove it to reinstall.
- And because many programs can share one DLL on your PC (even at the same time), often a DLL error doesn’t indicate a problem with just one app.