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Warning: This document contains instructions for editing the registry. Editing the registry can cause Windows to fail or be unable to boot, requiring you to reinstall Windows. To quote Microsoft: "Use the Registry Editor at your own risk". Always back up the registry before making any changes. For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" help topics in Regedt32.exe. If you do not feel comfortable editing the registry, do not attempt this procedure. If you need to edit the registry on your computer but do not know how to do this safely, seek the help of a local computer repair facility.

The Windows registry is the database used by Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, and XP to keep track of the settings for the operating system and all installed programs. Windows 3.1 also has a registry, but it's less important to the functioning of the operating system than in the more recent versions of Windows. Windows 3.1 uses .ini files to perform most registry tasks.

While Windows 95, 98, and Me store the registry in two files (system.dat and user.dat), Windows NT, 2000, and XP store most registry information in files called hives. Hives are stored permanently on the hard drive and are not necessarily the same for different computers. Only administrators can access hive files or delegate the rights to access them. Hives are found in the system32 directory, within the Windows directory, which in turn is on the drive where Windows was installed. For example, if your computer has Windows 2000 or NT installed on drive C:, then you'll find hives in these directories:

Note: If Windows were installed on drive D:, then the path would be D:\windows\system32\Config or D:\WINNT\System32\Config.

You can edit the registry from a command prompt by entering regedit (in all Windows versions) or regedt32 (Windows NT and 2000 only). The regedt32 program is the more powerful (in Windows XP regedit is equivalent to regedt32), as it can also search the registry on other computers on the network. Remember that it's always a good idea to back up the registry before you make any changes, regardless of which editor you use.

In Windows 95 and 98, you can also use the System Policy Editor (Poledit.exe). The System Policy Editor allows you either to create system policies or to edit the registry, depending on whether you are in Policy File mode or Registry mode. The System Policy Editor is easier to use than the Registry Editor, since it requires less knowledge of the registry structure or syntax. Nevertheless, the same precautions apply to using the System Policy Editor as apply to using the Registry Editor, though it is more difficult to make a mistake using the System Policy Editor, since it does not offer control of as many settings as does the Registry Editor. Using the appropriate CD, you can install the System Policy Editor from one of the following directories:

For more information on the registry, see article Q256986 in Microsoft's knowledge base.

These are all abbreviations for specific phrases commonly used in informal written computer correspondence.

AFAIC	As far as I'm concerned
AFAIK	As far as I know
BRB	Be right back
BTDT	Been there, done that
BTW	By the way
BUAG	Butt-ugly ASCII graphic
C/C	Comments and criticism
FAQ	Frequently Asked Question. When people say "the FAQ", they are generally referring to a list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions. These are posted monthly on many newsgroups or mailing lists to reduce discussion of topics that have already been thoroughly covered. It's a good idea to look at a FAQ file for a newsgroup or mailing list before participating in it. See the Knowledge Base document Where can I find a repository of Usenet FAQ files? for help in finding FAQ files. A large list of all known FAQ postings in newsgroups is also posted periodically in the Usenet newsgroup news.admin .
FWIW	For what it's worth
FYI	For your information
HTH	Hope this helps
IANAL	I am not a lawyer
IMHO	In my humble opinion
IMNSHO	In my not so humble opinion
IMO	In my opinion
IOW	In other words
LOL	Laughing out loud
MOTAS	Member of the appropriate sex
MOTOS	Member of the opposite sex
MOTSS	Member of the same sex
NG	Newsgroup
OTOH	On the other hand
RL	Real Life, as opposed to the Internet
ROTFL	Rolling on the floor laughing
RTFM	Read The Fine Manual. This may be interpreted as: "You have asked a question which would best be answered by consulting the manual (or FAQ, or other help files), a copy of which should be in your possession. The question you have asked is clearly answered in the manual and you are wasting time asking people to read it to you." It's good netiquette to mail this type of answer to another user rather than post it in public messages.
SO	Significant other, used to refer to someone's romantic partner without making any assumptions about gender or preference.
TLA	Three letter acronym
WTF	What the heck
YMMH	You might mean here
YMMV	Your mileage may vary
{g}	Grin
{BG}	Big grin

RAID stands for "redundant array of independent disks" (originally "redundant array of inexpensive disks"). It is a technology that describes several ways of coordinating multiple disks so that they behave as a single unit. Most RAID implementations accomplish this through a technique called striping. A stripe is a disk segment varying in size from one sector (usually 512 bytes) up to several megabytes. The stripes of the independent disks are re-ordered to distribute disk I/O across all of them. For example, a RAID with four disks (A, B, C, and D), with each disk divided into four stripes (1, 2, 3, and 4), might write and read data in this order:

Because all the disks can read and write simultaneously, a RAID is potentially much faster than a single hard drive. On the other hand, because it has so many components, a RAID is more prone to disk failure. For this reason, most RAID implementations store parity information to reconstruct lost data in the event of a crash.

There are numerous ways to implement RAID, from relatively inexpensive software solutions like the RAID Toolkit from FWB to expensive RAID hardware systems such as Storage Computer's StorageSuite family.

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. RAM provides space for your computer to read and write data so that the CPU can reach it quickly and easily. When people refer to a computer's memory, they usually mean its RAM.

New computers typically come with at least 128 megabytes of RAM installed, and can be upgraded to 256MB, 512MB, or even a gigabyte or more.

If you add more RAM to your computer, you reduce the number of times your processor must read data from your hard disk. This usually allows your computer to work considerably faster.

RAM is volatile. It requires a steady flow of electricity to maintain its contents, so data stored in RAM stays there only as long as your computer is running. As soon as you turn the computer off, the data stored in RAM disappears.

When you turn your computer on again, your computer's boot firmware (called BIOS on a PC) uses instructions stored semi-permanently in ROM chips to read your operating system and related files from the disk and load them back into RAM.

Rich Text Format (RTF) is a standardized way to encode various text formatting properties, such as bold characters and typefaces, as well as document formatting and structures. By saving a document in Rich Text Format, you can open the file in many word processors and other RTF-aware software packages with much of its formatting left intact. Many word processing programs will allow you to save a document in RTF when you select Save As... .

RJ-11 is an abbreviation for Registered Jack-11. This is a four- or six-wire connector used primarily to connect telephone equipment in the United States. The RJ-11 is the common connector used to plug the handset into the telephone and the telephone into the wall. An ordinary phone circuit uses two wires. Modems use an RJ-11 jack to plug into the telephone line. RJ-11 can be used with category 3 Ethernet cable to connect some types of local area networks (LANs). This is not a recommended type of installation, and speeds are limited to a maximum of 10Mbps.

ROM is an acronym for Read-Only Memory. It refers to computer memory chips containing permanent or semi-permanent data. Unlike RAM, ROM is non-volatile: Even after you turn off your computer, the contents of ROM will remain readable.

Almost every computer comes with a small amount of ROM containing the boot firmware. This consists of a few kilobytes of code that tell the computer what to do when it starts up, e.g., running hardware diagnostics and loading the operating system into RAM. On a PC, the boot firmware is called the BIOS.

Originally, ROM was actually read-only. To update the programs in ROM, people had to remove and physically replace their ROM chips. Contemporary versions of ROM allow some limited rewriting, so you can usually upgrade firmware such as the BIOS by using installation software. Rewritable ROM chips include PROMs (programmable read-only memory), EPROMs (erasable read-only memory), EEPROMs (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), and a common variation of EEPROMs called flash memory.