Understanding the NTUSER.DAT File in Windows
The NTUSER.DAT file contains user account settings and customizations for a specific Windows user, such as wallpaper settings and keyboard layout preferences. It is created by the operating system the first time a user logs on, located in the user profile directory as “%userprofile%NTUSER.DAT”.
The file is hidden, but can be viewed using the “/a” flag of the “dir” command in cmd.exe, as shown in the screenshot below. Essentially, NTUSER.DAT is a registry hive loaded to “HKEYUSERS” and pointed to by “HKEYCURRENT_USER” upon user login.
Backups and transaction logs for NTUSER.DAT are also stored in the user profile directory with extensions like “.log”. Additionally, the “ntuser.ini” file describes roaming profiles in networked environments. Like system registry files, NTUSER.DAT and related files are exclusively opened by the operating system when the user is logged on.
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