About the Registry

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 with SP1

The registry is a repository for information about a computer's configuration, such as profiles for each user and the programs that are installed. The registry is organized hierarchically and is made up of keys and their subkeys, hives, and entries.

Many entries that existed in the registry for previous versions of Internet Information Services (IIS) were migrated to a fast-access, hierarchical database, called the metabase. Entries that were migrated to the metabase are known as metabase properties. Most of the remaining registry keys are used to initiate Internet services and enable backward compatibility with previous versions of IIS, are specific to a service, or are global to IIS and all services. Any new configuration for IIS should be written to the metabase.

Windows includes Registry Editor, which can be used to configure the registry. For information about using Registry Editor, see "Registry Editor" in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003.

Important

For a registry change to take effect, you must restart the service that is affected by the change. For global changes to take effect, you must restart all services.

  • For more information about the registry, see "Registry structure" in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003.

  • For information about how to restart IIS, see Restarting IIS.

  • For more information about the IIS metabase, see IIS Metabase.