GIAC Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The Registry is a hierarchical database used in Windows operating systems to store low-level settings for the operating system and for applications that opt to use the Registry. This database contains information, settings, and options for both hardware and software, including device drivers, system services, user settings, and application configurations.

Windows uses the Registry to manage various system functions and configurations, allowing for centralized control over the settings that govern the behavior of the OS and the associated applications. This includes managing user profiles, application preferences, and system policies, among others.

The other options represent distinct components or functionalities within Windows. Group Policy is a feature that allows for centralized management and configuration of operating systems, applications, and users' settings in an Active Directory environment, but it doesn't serve as a database. User Access Control is a security component that helps prevent unauthorized changes to the operating system by requiring administrative approval for certain actions, rather than a storage database. PowerShell is a task automation framework consisting of a command-line shell and a scripting language, but it is not a database for settings. Thus, the Registry is the correct choice for a database of settings in Windows.