Hi, I'm Bernard, a fellow Windows user. I'm happy to help!
Yes, it is normal. The registry is used for configuration data of kernel-mode drivers, which handle Windows startup and driver operations.
Windows 11 25H2: Unexpected HKLM\DRIVERS registry hive – is this normal?
MovelessMove-0585
40
Reputation points
Hello. I'm using Windows 11 Home, 25h2. When I open Regedit, I see a key called "DRIVERS" under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. What is the reason for this, and is it normal?
The sfc /scannow and dism /online /cleanup-image /checkhealth (and /restorehealth) commands came back completely clean. I installed Windows 11 on January 20, 2026.
Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage
Answer accepted by question author
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![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(64, 77%, 16%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ELB%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Lester Bernard Reyes 74,340 Reputation points Independent Advisor2026-01-21T23:08:12.65+00:00 -
MovelessMove-0585 40 Reputation points
2026-01-23T07:35:23.7333333+00:00 Thank you so much for your help.
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Lester Bernard Reyes 74,340 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-01-23T23:55:44.0033333+00:00 You are always welcome.