Description of the HKEY_DYN_DATA Registry Key in Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 98 Second Edition (250568)

MORE INFORMATION

Some configuration information in Windows must be stored in RAM because it requires fast modification and retrieval that cannot wait for the registry to send it to the hard disk. You can find all this data in the HKEY_DYN_DATA registry key. The information in this key is newly created every time Windows starts.

The Config Manager subkey (sometimes referred to as the hardware tree) is a record in RAM of the current computer configuration. The information is drawn from the devices that are currently installed and loaded, or that did not load successfully. The hardware tree is created every time the computer starts, and updates whenever the computer configuration changes. The information that appears in Registry Editor is provided when this key is displayed, so it is never out of date.

The HKEY_DYN_DATA key also contains statistics gathered for various network components currently in use on the computer. These reside in the HKEY_DYN_DATA\PerfStats key.

VxDs from other manufacturers can also provide dynamic data to this area.