Saves the specified key and all of its subkeys and values to a new file, in the standard format.

To specify the format for the saved key or hive, use the RegSaveKeyEx function.

Syntax

LONG WINAPI RegSaveKey(
  __in      HKEY hKey,
  __in      LPCTSTR lpFile,
  __in_opt  LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpSecurityAttributes
);

Parameters

hKey [in]

A handle to an open registry key.

lpFile [in]

The name of the file in which the specified key and subkeys are to be saved. If the file already exists, the function fails.

If the string does not include a path, the file is created in the current directory of the calling process for a local key, or in the %systemroot%\system32 directory for a remote key. The new file has the archive attribute.

lpSecurityAttributes [in, optional]

A pointer to a SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES structure that specifies a security descriptor for the new file. If lpSecurityAttributes is NULL, the file gets a default security descriptor. The ACLs in a default security descriptor for a file are inherited from its parent directory.

Return Value

If the function succeeds, the return value is ERROR_SUCCESS.

If the function fails, the return value is a nonzero error code defined in Winerror.h. You can use the FormatMessage function with the FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM flag to get a generic description of the error.

If the file already exists, the function fails with the ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS error.

Remarks

If hKey represents a key on a remote computer, the path described by lpFile is relative to the remote computer.

The RegSaveKey function saves only nonvolatile keys. It does not save volatile keys. A key is made volatile or nonvolatile at its creation; see RegCreateKeyEx.

You can use the file created by RegSaveKey in subsequent calls to the RegLoadKey, RegReplaceKey, or RegRestoreKey functions. If RegSaveKey fails part way through its operation, the file will be corrupt and subsequent calls to RegLoadKey, RegReplaceKey, or RegRestoreKey for the file will fail.

RegSaveKey is often used in conjunction with RegRestoreKey to copy subtrees in the registry. An alternative to this approach is to use the SHCopyKey function.

The calling process must have the SE_BACKUP_NAME privilege enabled. For more information, see Running with Special Privileges.

Requirements

See Also

RegCreateKeyEx

RegDeleteKey

Registry Files

Registry Functions

RegLoadKey

RegReplaceKey

RegRestoreKey

RegSaveKeyEx

SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES

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Build date: 10/8/2009