Windows 7 Registry Problem

Question

4.00/5 (1 vote)

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This call is used to open the Registry Key:

C++

HKEY hKey;
LPCTSTR CFDW_Reg_Key = TEXT("SOFTWARE\\Company A\\Application_Name\\1.13"); 

result = RegOpenKeyEx( HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
    CFDW_Reg_Key,
    NULL,           
    KEY_READ | KEY_WRITE,
    &hKey);

The following call works on a Windows XP computer, but returns an error code=2 on my Windows 7 computer.

C++

HKEY hKey;
DWORD buflen;
LPCWSTR REG_INSTALL_PATH_NAME = TEXT("InstallPath");
		
result = RegQueryValueEx(hKey, REG_INSTALL_PATH_NAME, 0, 0, 0, &buflen);

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Scott

Posted 9-May-12 18:20pm

ScottCFD

Updated 9-May-12 18:29pm

Wendelius

v2

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Comments

[no name] 10-May-12 8:31am

Hi,

As the others have hinted at... on a 64 bit OS running a 32 bit application... you will need to add the flag KEY_WOW64_64KEY depending on the return value of IsWow64Process()

Best Wishes,
-David Delaune

2 solutions

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Bernhard Hiller · Answer 1 · 2012-05-09T20:49:00

Solution 1

Return code 2 means ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND...
Does your application run as a 64bit application or as a 32bit application on Windows 7 (you can check that with the task manager)? The problem might arise from the different registry hives for 32bit and 64bit applications. A 32bit program actually looks at HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node when you tell it to open HKLM\Software. Hence I'd suggest to scrutinize these possibilities.

Posted 9-May-12 20:49pm

Bernhard Hiller

Comments

Chuck O'Toole 10-May-12 2:53am

True, it makes a difference. Since the OP's registry key looks like it's related to the installation procedure, another thing to look for is a mismatch between the "bitness" of the install package versus the "bitness" of the running application. I had an issue where the application was 32-bit but the installation was 64-bit so the installation put the key in one registry hive and the code was looking for it in another.

sesha Fan · Answer 2 · 2012-05-09T21:28:00

Solution 2

try this.

C++

REGSAM flag = KEY_WOW64_32KEY or KEY_WOW64_64KEY; // fake code

result = RegOpenKeyEx( HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
    CFDW_Reg_Key,
    NULL,
    KEY_READ | KEY_WRITE | flag,
    &hKey);

Posted 9-May-12 21:28pm

sesha Fan