CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#registry
user3884423
user3884423

Reputation: 604

Get value from a registry key string

I am trying got do a simple read of a registry key but I cannot make it work even after reading many posts. What am I missing? I am running VS2015 as Administrator.

Exporting the key it is as follows

 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Test Key\dev]
 "Enable"="TRUE"

I try to read it as follows

 string myVal = (string)Registry.LocalMachine.GetValue(@"SOFTWARE\Test Key\dev\Enable");
 MessageBox.Show(myVal);

I also tried (and variations)

RegistryKey key = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\Test Key\dev"); 
string myVal = (string)key.GetValue("Enable");
MessageBox.Show(myVal);

I always get back NULL, why?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 971

Answers (1)

Isma
Isma

Reputation: 15209

Are you on a 64 bits environment?

If so, try to set up the RegistryView parameter to make sure you access the 64 bit version of the registry:

using (var root = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, RegistryView.Registry64))
{
    using (var key = root.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\Test Key\dev", false))
    {
        var myVal= key.GetValue("Enable");
        MessageBox.Show(myVal.ToString());
    }
}

If still doesn't work, try with RegistryView.Registry32 instead.

EDIT

You can actually set RegistryView dynamically using Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem:

using (var root = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, 
                           Environment.Is64BitOperatingSystem
                                      ? RegistryView.Registry64
                                      : RegistryView.Registry32))
{
    using (var key = root.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\Test Key\dev", false))
    {
        var myVal= key.GetValue("Enable");
        MessageBox.Show(myVal.ToString());
    }
}

This will only work if the registry entry exists for the current platform (It could happen that it was just saved in the 32 bit version of the registry).

Upvotes: 1

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