WIN.INI is a basic INI file that was used in versions of the Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 operating environment

Operating environment

The operating environment in engineering describes the circumstances surrounding and potentially affecting something that is operating. For example electronic or mechanical equipment may be affected by high temperatures, vibration, dust, and other parameters which comprise the operating...

 up to Windows 3.11 to store basic settings at boot time. By default, all font, communications drivers, wallpaper, screen saver, and language settings were stored in WIN.INI by Windows 3.x

Windows 3.1x

Windows 3.1x is a series of 16-bit operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers. The series began with Windows 3.1, which was first sold during March 1992 as a successor to Windows 3.0...

. Many of these settings were honored in Windows 9x, although the files had begun to be phased out in favor of the Windows registry

Windows registry

The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...

. Windows XP

Windows XP

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...

 still acknowledges some entries in the WIN.INI file, to provide backwards compatibility with older 16-bit applications. However, when a fresh install of XP is performed, the WIN.INI file created is initially blank, and in Windows Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

 and Windows 7 the WIN.INI file was removed entirely.

Prior to Windows 3.0, it was not uncommon for applications to store their configuration settings inside WIN.INI. With the release of Windows 3.0

Windows 3.0

Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front...

 in 1990, Microsoft introduced the concept of "private" INI files, and some new application programming interface

Application programming interface

An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...

 calls so that applications could store their settings in their own files.
Today Microsoft recommends using the registry for settings.

Editing

Microsoft bundles two specialized editors for core configuration file

Configuration file

In computing, configuration files, or config files configure the initial settings for some computer programs. They are used for user applications, server processes and operating system settings. The files are often written in ASCII and line-oriented, with lines terminated by a newline or carriage...

s (such as WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI

SYSTEM.INI

SYSTEM.INI was an initialization used in early versions of Microsoft Windows to load device drivers and the default Windows shell , among other system settings. Many of these settings were honored in Windows 9x , although the INI files had begun to be phased out in favor of the Windows Registry...

, CONFIG.SYS

CONFIG.SYS

CONFIG.SYS is the primary configuration file for the DOS, OS/2 as well as similar operating systems. It is a special file that contains setup or configuration instructions for the computer system.- Usage :...

, and AUTOEXEC.BAT

AUTOEXEC.BAT

AUTOEXEC.BAT is a system file found originally on DOS-type operating systems. It is a plain-text batch file that is located in the root directory of the boot device...

) with its operating systems. Sysedit

Sysedit

Sysedit is a specialized text/ASCII editor for core Microsoft Windows configuration files . This executable is installed in the Windows system directory: %windir%\SYSTEM or %windir%\SYSTEM32...

 is an MDI

Multiple document interface

Graphical computer applications with a multiple document interface are those whose windows reside under a single parent window , as opposed to all windows being separate from each other . Such systems often allow child windows to embed other windows inside them as well, creating complex nested...

 text editor

Text editor

A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....

 that opens all of those files simultaneously, available in all versions of Windows since Windows 3.x. MSConfig

MSConfig

MSConfig is a system utility to troubleshoot the Microsoft Windows startup process...

is a simpler application that allows a user to enable and disable drivers and applications from being loaded at startup by the aforementioned files and the Run, RunEx, and RunOnce registry keys.