endler Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 I'm wondering how accurate is the description that Windows is a database (minus the computing power). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Welcome to the Windows Forum.You are trying to pull our leg(s), right? Windows is an operating system, which is a set of (system) programs. A database is a data repository, which does not do anything (by itself).The closest part of Windows that could be described as a database is the registry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 I'm wondering how accurate is the description that Windows is a database (minus the computing power).What is the point of this question??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 You can tell that Windows saves a lot of crap in its Registery as if it was a database but the main concept of this software is rather different. At least Microsoft is going for an Operating System not database with Windows.Did I slightly answer your question or not at all? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 I'm wondering how accurate is the description that Windows is a database (minus the computing power).What is the point of this question???To get an answer, the same as with most questions ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 You can tell that Windows saves a lot of crap in its Registery as if it was a database but the main concept of this software is rather different. At least Microsoft is going for an Operating System not database with Windows.Did I slightly answer your question or not at all? :-)I would say that most of what is in the registry is essential, just try deleting it all and see what happens. I still can't see the point of this question. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Where did you hear this anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Yes quite definitley Windows is a database. So is Linux, and the Mac OS. A dictionary is also a database, and so is the bible (although, like most data bases, it is a case of crap in.....crap out). The multiplication tables learned at school are also databases. The TV times is another, as is the time table for the trains from London to Glasgow. The world is full of them.andsomeI would say that most of what is in the registry is essential,....but only to the use of Windows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endler Posted March 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 OK, I guess it does sound like a stupid question. But it seems to me that the heart of the operating system would need to be a database of some kind to keep track of everything efficiently though Windows operating system itself would not be thought of as a database. I was wondering if maybe the registry worked as a database does. Microsoft likes databases and data handling and I was kind of wondering if one had something to do with the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 The bit that works as a database, in the way you are thinking of, is the File Allocation Table (FAT32) as it used to be called, and is now known as the NTFS since it was "improved".It keeps control of where everything is stored so as to be able to bring it back to you on your slightest whim......or so it pretends.The following link will take you to more info about it:-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endler Posted March 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Good info thank you. Helps a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 I think there is some confusion what exactly a database is; look for details at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Does any of this really matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Does any of this really matter? No - but it's something nice to know I suppose.I see what Catgate is saying and agree. Windows itself is just software that runs using information from its database. Windows itself isn't a database. The registry and NTFS works the same way as a database for windows to collect its essential information. Windows also collects information to further improve its database.A database is something to group a variety of things inside to be later used by its host. Passwords and usernames are stored in a database, phone numbers, names, and sometimes images are stored in a database for E-address books.So anything that collects information is a database. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Does any of this really matter? It matters to some people. Some people are not as set in their ways as others, and have enquiring minds. Without enquiring minds the world might never have got IE and you would have been stuck with nothing but Firefox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 :lol: Andsome would no longer be with us if that were so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Does any of this really matter? It matters to some people. Some people are not as set in their ways as others, and have enquiring minds. Without enquiring minds the world might never have got IE and you would have been stuck with nothing but Firefox.I wouldnt regret if no enquiring mind created IE. As to a programmer IE gives me a lot of extra work with optimization. I would be more than happy to be stuck with just FireFox. But not trying to say that one might not like IE... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 I see what Catgate is saying and agree. Windows itself is just software that runs using information from its database. Windows itself isn't a database. The registry and NTFS works the same way as a database for windows to collect its essential information. Windows also collects information to further improve its database.I agree not. NTFS is not a database, but a file system. It's about how data is kept on the disk. But no information about that data is recorded. Only the programs that wrote that data (Windows, Word, IE, Outlook, Acrobat, etc., etc.) know what to do with that data.A database may reside on NTFS. The data in the database are exactly known to the database management system. All data is consistent; no inconsistent data can be entered into a database.The Windows registry is sort of a specialized database. The DBMS for the registry is the set of Windows commands that let data be entered and retrieved from the registry. Every application may make use of the registry, by using registry functions that add, retrieve, modify, or delete keys, values, and data in the registry.It's funny how such a silly question can spark such a debate. (And create such a confusion.) :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hb_Kai Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 :lol: Even temporarily storing data is a type of database though, isn't it?So the NTFS file system just handles the data, nothing else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 :lol: Even temporarily storing data is a type of database though, isn't it?No.So the NTFS file system just handles the data, nothing else?Yes, it will write data to the disk, will remember where it wrote it, apply security, and find data again when it is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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