Read 64-Bit Registry Values Using VB.NET

Question

5.00/5 (1 vote)

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Friends,

I have a problem. I think anyone among you can help me. My Problem is that I have a function which reads a value from registry and returns a string value. But this function works well in 32 -Bit OS and in 64-Bit OS it has a null reference. How to get red of this problem ?
My Function is :

VB

Public Shared Function GetOSProductKey() As String
        If GetOSIs64Bit() = False Then
            Try
                Dim regKey As RegistryKey = _
                    Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion", False)
                Dim digitalPid() As Byte = CType(regKey.GetValue("DigitalProductID"), Byte())
                If digitalPid IsNot Nothing Then
                    Dim key(14) As Byte '0-14 = 15 bytes
                    Array.Copy(digitalPid, 52, key, 0, 15)
                    Dim characters As String = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
                    Dim productKey As String = ""
                    For j As Integer = 0 To 24
                        Dim curValue As Short = 0
                        For i As Integer = 14 To 0 Step -1
                            curValue = CShort(curValue * 256 Xor key(i))
                            key(i) = CByte(Int(curValue / 24))
                            curValue = CShort(curValue Mod 24)
                        Next
                        productKey = characters.Substring(curValue, 1) & productKey
                    Next
                    For i As Integer = 4 To 1 Step -1
                        productKey = productKey.Insert(i * 5, "-")
                    Next

                    Return productKey
                Else
                    Return mUnknown
                End If
            Catch ex As Exception
                Return mUnknown
            End Try
End Function

Posted 28-Oct-13 16:54pm

Debabrata TPX

Updated 29-Oct-13 9:04am

RaisKazi

v2

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Member 741145 14-May-14 9:58am

Is there a way, once the product key has been returned, to use code to revert it back?

4 solutions

Solution 4

Friends use this Format to Read 64-Bit Registry values :

VB

Dim rk1 As RegistryKey
Dim rk2 As RegistryKey
rk1 = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, RegistryView.Registry64)
rk2 = rk1.OpenSubKey("HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\BIOS")
Dim PID As String = rk2.GetValue("SystemProductName").ToString

Posted 29-Oct-13 4:18am

Debabrata TPX

Comments

[no name] 10-Dec-15 12:36pm

thanks a ton.. i was about to give up in the next 5 minutes after struggling for more than 24 hours.

Solution 5

Thank you .. solution was a lifesaver :)

Posted 13-May-15 18:59pm

Rambadaz

Comments

Deepu S Nair 14-May-15 1:54am

Please don't post your comment as solution.

CHill60 14-May-15 3:42am

Further to the comment from Deepu S Nair, you should use the "Have a Question or comment?" link next to the relevant post. As it is we have no idea which of the 3 surviving solutions was a lifesaver! Use the star rating system to upvote solutions which work (Note that a star rating of 1 or 2 is a down-vote = not a good solution, 4 or 5 is an up-vote = a good solution)

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Ron Beyer · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-28T16:59:00

Solution 1

On 64-bit windows you can use the RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey[^] with the RegistryView[^] as Registry64. This allows you to read the 64-bit registry.

[Edit]
Just a side-note, you can use this method and pass Registry64 whether you are on a 32-bit system or a 64-bit system and you will get the proper result. The key text is this in the second link I posted:

Quote: MSDN Article
If you request a 64-bit view on a 32-bit operating system, the returned keys will be in the 32-bit view.

Posted 28-Oct-13 16:59pm

Ron Beyer

Updated 28-Oct-13 17:02pm

v3

Comments

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 28-Oct-13 23:03pm

5ed. I recently answered to something similar, please see Solution 2 with some more detail.
—SA

Joezer BH 29-Oct-13 2:21am

5ed!

ledtech3 29-Oct-13 12:04pm

I see the RegistryView Start working with .Net 4.0 and not available in .net 3.5
Good to know about RegistryView it can save some code then.

Dinesh Kumar Dora 6-Feb-19 8:53am

I need the solution for dotnet 2.0 framework + VB.net...Can someone help here please.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-28T17:02:00

Solution 2

This is because part of the registry has separate 64-bit and 32-bit parts, with 32-bit part used by the 32-bit application executed under WoW64. This is called "views".
Please see my answer: Getting issue to read registry value . It always returning "null"[^].

You can also use the node "HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node" from a 64-bit application:
Getting issue to read registry value . It always returning "null"[^].

—SA

Posted 28-Oct-13 17:02pm

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

Updated 28-Oct-13 17:03pm

v2

Comments

Ron Beyer 28-Oct-13 23:14pm

5'd too, it can be very confusing on how to access the registry and that there are two running side-by-side...

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 29-Oct-13 0:23am

Thank you, Ron. "Confusing" is the immanent part of this topic. :-)
—SA