About the Registry

You can use the IIS snap-in to configure many Internet services. The configuration parameters in the registry that are not configured by using the IIS snap-in are either specific to a service or are global to IIS and all services.

Wherever possible, you should use the IIS snap-in to make changes to your Internet server settings. For a registry change to take effect, you must restart the service affected by the change. For global entries you must restart all services.

Caution   Using the Registry Editor incorrectly can cause problems, including the failure of a Web site or FTP site. If you make mistakes, your Web site or FTP site's configuration could be damaged. You should edit registry entries only for settings that you cannot adjust in the user interface, and use caution whenever you edit the registry directly.

Many registry keys that existed for previous versions of IIS have been migrated to a fast-access, hierarchical database called the metabase. The remaining registry keys are used to initiate Internet services and to enable backward compatibility with older versions of IIS. Any new information that you are writing should be written to the metabase. See Metabase for more information.

Key for Registry Properties Tables

Properties for the registry are presented in table format. Configuration information is organized as follows:

Identifier: Name (DWORD) that represents the registry property.
DataType: A DWORD that indicates the variable type of the data.
Range: The scope of values that a property can have.
Default: The value that a property maintains without user modification.
Description of the property and implications of modifying it.

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