hive

A section of the registry that appears as a file on your hard disk. The registry subtree is divided into hives (named for their resemblance to the cellular structure of a beehive). A hive is a discrete body of keys, subkeys, and values that is rooted at the top of the registry hierarchy. A hive is backed by a single file and a .log file, which are in the systemroot\System32\Config or the systemroot\Profiles\username folders.