US Patent 7607127 Registry emulation

A method for running a software application on a computer having an operating system that provides a local database containing consistent configuration data to be accessed by programs running on the computer. The method includes providing a file containing further configuration data required by the application, which further data are not stored in the local database. A request by the application to access the local database is intercepted, and an item of the further configuration data is returned from the file to the application, responsive to the request.