Settings and People

Settings and People: The Registry as a Drive, Users and Groups on This PC.

Updated November 10, 2026

1. The Registry as a Drive (Freelancer): The registry is where Windows and its apps keep their settings, and PowerShell shows it as two drives, HKCU: for your own settings and HKLM: for the whole computer, where Get-ChildItem lists keys like folders and Get-ItemProperty reads their values; before changing one, rehearse with -WhatIf and back up the key with reg export.
2. Users and Groups on This PC (Journeyman): Every Windows PC has its own list of accounts and groups: Get-LocalUser and Get-LocalGroup read them, Get-LocalGroupMember shows who is in a group such as Administrators, and a quick check tells you whether this window runs as administrator; adding an account takes an administrator window, so rehearse it with -WhatIf.