CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#registry
Ian
Ian

Reputation: 5725

OpenSubKey under HKLM\Software returning null

Here's my code:

Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey key = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\ADM");

The registry entry exists on the machine. key is always null.

I don't think that this is a security issue. I'm running as Administrator. (I've even explicitly ran the assembly under Administrator mode).

I'm using Visual Studio 2010 running on Windows 7 64bit.

Upvotes: 12

Views: 13337

Answers (3)

Ian
Ian

Reputation: 5725

The problem is that I'm running 64bit and my app is compiled as 32bit.

The key being read by:

Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey key = 
    Microsoft.Win32.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE");

Is not HKLM\SOFTWARE but instead HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\. Compiling the application as x64 solves the problem.

Upvotes: 18

Ahmed Ghonim
Ahmed Ghonim

Reputation: 31

Try opening each registry key individually like this

Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey key1 = Microsoft.Win32.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE");
Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey key2 = key1.OpenSubKey(@"ADM");

Instead of using the string @"SOFTWARE\ADM";

Upvotes: 3

Rox
Rox

Reputation: 2023

I've run your code with a different application name (one I have a key for) and everything was ok, so the code is ok, but I tested this on Win XP.

When studying writing to the registry, I found this article about registry virtualization in Windows 7 that might cause your problems:

Windows Vista and later versions of Windows improve application compatibility for these applications by automatically redirecting these operations. For example, registry operations to the global store (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software) are redirected to a per-user location within the user's profile known as the virtual store (HKEY_USERS\_Classes\VirtualStore\Machine\Software).

Upvotes: 0

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