Registry Editor

  • Article

   

Use the Registry editor to establish registry information for your application in the target machine's system registry. In the Registry editor, you can manipulate registry keys and values to add or change default settings and user, program, or machine data.

You open this editor by either:

  • Double-clicking Registry in the Target Machine node in the Project Explorer window.

    –or–

  • Selecting Registry on the Project menu.

As you work in the Registry editor, you can add and delete registry keys and values using one of the following:

  • The context menu.

    Note   You display the context menu by right-clicking in the Registry editor. The activated options differ depending on your current selection in the Registry editor.

  • Options on the Actions menu.

    Note   Actions menu active options differ depending on your current selection in the Registry editor.

  • The DELETE key (for item removal).

Options

Left pane of the Registry editor

The left pane of the Registry editor shows the structure of registry keys in the target machine registry. The target machine registry is structured initially into these root keys, or registry subtrees, which are displayed in the Registry editor:

Root key name Description
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Contains OLE and file-class associations.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER Contains the user profile for the user who is currently logged on, including environment variables, desktop settings, network connections, printers, and application preferences.

Use this registry key to differentiate user-specific application settings and information for multiple users using the same machine.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Contains information about the local computer system, including hardware and operating system data such as bus type, system memory, device drivers, and startup control data.

Use this registry key for application-specific information shared among many users on the same machine.
HKEY_USERS Contains all actively loaded user profiles, including HKEY_CURRENT_USER, which refers to a child of HKEY_USERS, and the default profile. Users who access a server remotely do not have profiles under this key on the server; their profiles are loaded into the registry on their own computers.

Note   The Microsoft recommended best practice guideline is that installer packages rarely write to this registry key.

You can add and delete registry keys while working in the left pane of the Registry editor, using either:

  • The context menu.

    –or–

  • Options on the Actions menu.

Right pane of the Registry editor

The right pane of the Registry editor shows registry value names and data entries. When a registry key is selected in the left pane of the Registry editor, the values maintained in that registry key are displayed in the right pane.

Name

Shows the registry value name.

Value

Shows the data value assigned to the corresponding registry name — that is, the data maintained in the registry entry.

You can add, delete, and set registry values using any of these tools:

  • The context menu.

  • Options on the Actions menu.

  • The Properties window.

You can also select and rename property values in the right pane of the Registry editor.