>Even though you seem to have made up your mind, here some more to consider.
>
>Using the registry for user profiles forces the user to use the same PC when they log in. If the information were stored in a table on a network drive, this would not be the case.
>

Exception: in an NT/Win2K domain, or with some work, in a Novell NetWare/NDS environment, it is possible to implement "roaming" hives, which allow a part of the registry to follow the user from station to station when they log in. The roaming hive behavior is not default behavior, and is not available in peer-to-peer environments at all.

>Also, configuration data stored in a sufficiently flexible table can store anything without changing the structure. You can store anything (basically) in a table with three character fields.
>
>Variable Name
>Data type
>Data value converted to character format
>

For that matter, an .INI file could do this as well, and alternative representations like XML in a text file or carried in a memo field could be used.

The registry has advantages from a security standpoint, in that by using the registry hive HKEY_CURRENT_USER you can scope values to a user, or to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to scope to the current system. The registry can easily be configured to implement some basic protections at least under NT and Win2K as well.