You can interact with the Registry through intermediate programs. Graphical user interface (GUI) Registry editors such as Regedit.exe or Regedt32.exe are commonly used as intermediate programs in Windows 7. Which of the following is a root folder of the registry editor?

• A. HKEY_USERS
• B. HKEY_LOCAL_ADMIN
• C. HKEY_CLASSES_ADMIN
• D. HKEY_CLASSES_SYSTEM

Answer: (A)

The registry in Windows is organized as top-level hives, which show up as root folders in registry editors. Among the options, the real top-level hive is HKEY_USERS, which stores user-specific configuration data for the profiles loaded on the system. This root appears in Regedit like other primary roots such as HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER. The other names listed do not correspond to actual root hives in a standard Windows registry, so they aren’t valid root folders. Therefore, HKEY_USERS is the correct root hive.