Forensic analysis of the windows registry in memory. Mar 16, 2011 known contributors for registry bloat including adobe coldfusion, vss snapshots including dpm backups, kb 2498915. Known contributors for registry bloat including adobe coldfusion, vss snapshots including dpm backups, kb 2498915. Over time the registry becomes larger and larger as new programs are installed, used and removed. Dec 11, 2001 if youre still in the dark about the windows registry, its time to come into the light. Use regedit as offline registry editor if a computer no longer boots up, often a rogue registry setting is the culprit. The windows registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on microsoft windows operating systems.
The software registry hive is now 55mb instead of 2gb. Although its freeware, the eusing tool does pop up an annoying donate window every time the program is launched, you can just skip it though. Notes as well as the above mentioned files, windows uses hidden files with the same names and extensions. Note the hotfix download available form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. On my workstation now my registry file is 38mb with a maximum size of. The location that stores windows registry information. The curious case of the bloated local system not default.
What it does is it rebuilds the registry to new files, when this happens all the overhead is gone, and the registry is smaller and faster. The windows registry is a hierarchical database that stores lowlevel settings for the microsoft windows operating system and for applications that opt to use the registry. Windows server reboot issues due to registry bloat over 2 gb. The subkey structure within a hive is called a tree. Settings and information that control hardware configuration, operating system configuration, installed software configuration, and user preferences are all stored in the registry. In my example, the registry hives are located in the directory d. Whenever you install new software, make system changes, install system. Wnf state registrations cause excessive reads and bloat of notifications registry hive wnf state registrations cause boot and logon delays. The other, the registry hive, contains only two keys, machine and user, which are. A registry hive, unlike registry keys present within it, cannot be created, deleted or modified.
Ill also take a registry export of the hku hive, so if for some reason the server wont. I tried a few registry cleaners so far norton, ms regclean, regdrill, regscrub, and a few others, but they all clean out only unused or false class definitions, left behind sw settings, dangling application paths, etc. Alien registry viewer allows you to explore registry files, search for specific key names and values, export registry data into a. There is no tool to compress the registry, to recover lost space and reindex the. So id like to be able to edit the registry immediately after ive restored from backup, but before ive booted. Forensic analysis of unallocated space in windows registry hive files by jolanta thomassen the following paper is being mirrored with permission of the author, who retains. The kernel, device drivers, services, security accounts manager, and user interface can all use the registry. Fragmentation can become significant over time on a busy system. Over the years since then, the registry files have fattened up to 42 mb. We have other sbs servers experiencing the same issue.
How to reduce the size of the windows registry ghacks tech news. Recovering from windows registry hive corruption, the. Regfileexport is a console application designated to be used by advanced users. While running multiple windows server 2008 r2 rdsh farms we are experiencing an issue where the rdsh servers all are having their registry bloated to the maximum value 2048mb. Forensic analysis of unallocated space in windows registry. System hive files xp, vista 7 sam security accounts manager security software. Windows already has a tool in place that can compress the registry again and restore the compressed registry. Persistence is a term used to mean keep the data even after a power loss or hard reset. How to reduce the size of the windows registry ghacks. This was most likely because deleting the data from the registry database didnt clear out the pages from the table that were being used by the bloated key.
The registry file format is not documented and is different on different versions of windows and is therefore not stable. If a computer no longer boots up, often a rogue registry setting is the culprit. The cause of this issue can occur if the system or software hive for the windows xp installation is missing or damaged. Dec 16, 2002 while the registry can be a forbidding place, you have options for restoring the system hive of your servers registry and avoiding data loss. If a system is unbootable due to registry bloat install the hotfix on another system. Only the software hive shrank by just 4%, with no effect on boot time.
Afterward, enter a name for the key under which the hive will reside while it is loaded into the current systems registry, and then click ok. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language. Solved has anyone ever compressed a bloated registry hive in. Eusing free registry defrag is a free registry defragmentation software that optimizes registry by removing gaps, fragments and wasted space in windows registry files.
Load an offline registry database and extract settings to import in the current registry database. Boot the problem system from dvd, copy the bloated registry hive to external storage, put on system with hotfix and use regedit to remove the bloated registry info and whitespace. Regedit will say one or more files containing the registry were corrupt and had to be recovered by use of log files. Loading and unloading hive files solutions windows. There are many reasons that cause registry hiveskeys to bloat. Alien registry viewer standalone windows registry files. Uninstall the existing dvd shrink and download the new one from dvd shrink official site or a verified setup file from reliable third party software download site. Even if this data is deleted from it when applications are uninstalled, the size. What it does is it rebuilds the registry to new files, when this. Exported the bloated hive as a file type hive, which compresses the hive using a different name than default. The windows registry explained daves computer tips.
When finished editing select the newly created node and in the menu select registry unload hive this gives some possibilities. Reg or text file and bookmark registry keys as favorites. While this is not a problem for most users it could become for users who make lots of changes to their system. Oct 18, 2007 the windows registry is growing with every piece of software and system changes and never gets reduced again on its own. Terms in this set 11 sytem hive files location xp, vista 7 c. How to compress bloated registry hives microsoft support. If you copied the path from windows explorer, paste it in now.
Fixing such an involved problem via a forum is unfortunately not feasible, in particular because. Each time a new user logs on to a computer, a new hive is created for that user with a separate file for the user profile. Dec 11, 2010 regedit will say one or more files containing the registry were corrupt and had to be recovered by use of log files. Windows already has a tool in place that can compress the registry. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Registry fun working with hive files sometimes it is necessary to exportimport data from or into the registry for some sort of additional processing. If this is for forensic purposes, you can make a copy of the hive and mount it. Browse to your windows partition and select the registry hive which you wish to load. Regfileexport accept 2 3 parameters, according to the following syntax. Simply put the hive based registry is one of the possible ways to provide for registry persistence in a windows ce system. This might do the trick, but is rather drastic as all registry settings are lost. Recover the system hive of your servers registry techrepublic. Maybe there is a way to shrink the registry without reinstalling windows, but i still havent found it. To restore a damaged registry hive, use the recovery console to restore the backup copy of the hive from the repair folder.
Has anyone ever compressed a bloated registry hive in. Heres a quick overview of the registry, along with a specific tip on how two small registry entries can. Solved has anyone ever compressed a bloated registry hive. Oct 29, 2009 so i would like to reduce efficiently the size of the registry, which at first glance looks like a more elegant solution, and might accelerate win startup as well. Regedit only seems to allow you to connect to a live registry on another machine. Mar 16, 2004 to microsofts regclean is the freeware regcleaner.
This can be done using the builtin registry editor app. If youre still in the dark about the windows registry, its time to come into the light. This process will shrink your registry key back down prebloat. My combined registry files used about 25 mb after a fresh install of xp about 4 years ago. Registry editor then prompts you for the location and name of the previously saved hive file. Registry hives hkcr, hkcu, hklm, hku, hkcc, and hkpd. Backing up the registry files as a precaution is recommended before making any changes. Reg file registry key registry key is optional, if the key is specified, only this key and all its subkeys will be exported into the. Each registry hive contains a registry tree, which has a key that serves as the root, or starting point of the tree. Here is how to compress registry in windows 10 and reduce its size.
Just like databases, the registry can become bloated and large when there has been a lot of additions and deletions from the registry. So i would like to reduce efficiently the size of the registry, which at first glance looks like a more elegant solution, and might accelerate win startup as well. Mark russinovich has released pagedefrag which can defrag the page file and registry hive files. Aug 11, 2011 the windows registry is a central database for the windows operation system. The windows registry is a central database for the windows operation system. This software does not remove or add anything to the registry. Net shrinks registry hive files registry files never shrink when data is removed, and gaps are left this app removes the gaps info about large useless tracking information buried in the user registry hives.
It claimed to be able to reduce 90mb of registry files by a reasonable 33%. Although there are third party offline registry editors, you can use regedit as an offline registry editor. Compress the registry hive after you install this update, we recommend that you compress the following registry hive if its size exceed the limit. The kernel, device drivers, services, security accounts manager, and user interface can all use the regis. Boot the problem system from dvd, copy the bloated registry hive to external storage, put on system with hotfix and use. A registry hive is the first level of registry key in windows registry. Cannot start windows xp if the system or software hive is. The windows registry is growing with every piece of software and system changes and never gets reduced again on its own. A huge registry is slowing down the startup of the system, which is actually the number one reason why a user should check the registry from time to time and compress it so that its system load time gets reduced again. To unload a hive simply select the hive and click unload. In regedit, load the large registry file hive from the target file system e.
This particular hive contains the majority of the configuration information for the software you have installed, as well as for the windows operating system itself. Usually the software hive has the greatest space recovery. The size of the registry was not reduced using the nogginboink method. The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. To load a hive click load and browse to the hive file, select the hive root under which to load the new hive either hklm or hku, and enter the subkey name to load the hive as. Once a hive is loaded or created, edit the hive using regedit. You can provide the name of the hive file to examine on the command line. Eusing will give you a breakdown of the registry hives that are analyzed and also. A registry hive is a top level registry key predefined by the windows system to store registry keys for specific objectives. This issue occurs on a server that is running windows server 2012 r2 or windows server 2008 r2 sp1.
The fix to resolve this issue, use one of the following methods. A huge registry is slowing down system load which is actually the number one reason why a user should check his registry from time to time and compress it so that. Abstract windows registry is an excellent source of information for computer forensic purposes. While the registry can be a forbidding place, you have options for restoring the system hive of your servers registry and avoiding data loss.
However, in those cases we are still able to log in so we will be trying the registry compacting software by ace logic that labtech recommended to us. The registry is a vitally important part of windows and if edited incorrectly, windows could fail to boot. On my windows xp system, the registry has 6 registry hives. In these cases you need an offline registry editor, that is you have to edit the registry from a second installation. Cy 2011 era article that uses winpe to load offline registry files in regedit. Unlike most other tools here, eusing will give you a breakdown of the registry hives that are analyzed and also what reduction rate can be expected in each individual hive. How to edit offline windows registry from winpe password. This program does not remove or add anything to the registry. Loading and unloading hive files solutions windows server 2003. Reg files, which store a humanreadable text interpretation of the registry content. For more information about hive files, read hivex 3. A hive is a logical group of keys, subkeys, and values in the registry that has a set of supporting files loaded into memory when the operating system is started or a user logs in.
The two volatile hives deserve some special mention. Ive another bootable system on the machine from which im typing this plea. Unable to restart server due to registry bloat over 2gb. Well, it is a quite common issue for compatibility problem leading this free dvd copy software not to run on windows 7, 8 stably, let alone windows 10.
For information about downloading files from virtual machines, read virtcat 1 and guestfish 1. Is it true that windows registry files grow but never shrink. A system restore point is also a good idea if the software below doesnt include. Information stored in the registry is divided into several predefined sections called hives. Kb 2844430 how to compress bloated software hive 2gb after install of microsoft sql server 2012 sp1. Recovering from windows registry hive corruption, the smart.
Here are 5 ways to backup and restore the windows registry. How to open a registry file from a crashed computer. The registry stores data physically on a disk in several hive files. Probably the software hive will have a remarkable difference. The registry also allows access to counters for profiling system performance.