Where is the registry stored

[gr8usr]

The registry is like a repository of settings right and changes made to it are persistent...so it must be stored like a file on the HDD right...
which file/files are these and where is it stored ??
Any idea??

[Vishal Gupta]

In %windir%\system32\config folder, with the name:

default, sam, security, software, and system

[anandk]

The following Registry files are stored in C\Windows\System32\Config\ in XP :

Sam - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAM
Security - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY
Software - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
System - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM
Default - HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT
Userdiff
The following file is stored in each user's profile folder:
NTUSER.DAT

more at (where else ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_registry

also check this http://freepctech.com/pc/002/Windows_registry_faq.shtml