A computer's configuration is defined in terms of policies. The policies are ultimately stored in the local computer's registry. Every component that provides a policy is responsible for reading the registry at appropriate times and acting accordingly. For example, the policy that removes the Run command from the Start menu requires the shell code that displays the Start menu to check the appropriate registry setting to determine whether or not it is supposed to display the Run command. The policies are generic data items; the administrative tools and components have no information about them besides their names, their associated data, and where they reside in the registry. The only responsibilities of the administrative components are to allow the administrator to make policy settings and propagate those settings to the user's registry.