RegDeleteKeyEx function

Deletes a subkey and its values from the specified platform-specific view of the registry. Note that key names are not case sensitive.

To delete a subkey as a transacted operation, call the RegDeleteKeyTransacted function.

Syntax

LONG WINAPI RegDeleteKeyEx(
  _In_       HKEY    hKey,
  _In_       LPCTSTR lpSubKey,
  _In_       REGSAM  samDesired,
  _Reserved_ DWORD   Reserved
);

Parameters

hKey [in]

A handle to an open registry key. The access rights of this key do not affect the delete operation. For more information about access rights, see Registry Key Security and Access Rights.

This handle is returned by the RegCreateKeyEx or RegOpenKeyEx function, or it can be one of the following predefined keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

HKEY_USERS

lpSubKey [in]

The name of the key to be deleted. This key must be a subkey of the key specified by the value of the hKey parameter.

The function opens the subkey with the DELETE access right.

Key names are not case sensitive.

The value of this parameter cannot be NULL.

samDesired [in]

An access mask the specifies the platform-specific view of the registry.

Value	Meaning
KEY_WOW64_32KEY 0x0200	Delete the key from the 32-bit registry view.
KEY_WOW64_64KEY 0x0100	Delete the key from the 64-bit registry view.

 

Reserved

This parameter is reserved and must be zero.

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.

Remarks

A deleted key is not removed until the last handle to it is closed.

On WOW64, 32-bit applications view a registry tree that is separate from the registry tree that 64-bit applications view. This function enables an application to delete an entry in the alternate registry view.

The subkey to be deleted must not have subkeys. To delete a key and all its subkeys, you need to enumerate the subkeys and delete them individually. To delete keys recursively, use the RegDeleteTree or SHDeleteKey function.

If the function succeeds, RegDeleteKeyEx removes the specified key from the registry. The entire key, including all of its values, is removed.

Requirements

See also

RegCreateKeyEx

RegDeleteKeyTransacted

Registry Redirector

Registry Functions

RegOpenKeyEx