3 replies to this topic

[David Bajgar]

Hi all,
I need to write to the all HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry keys. I installed the product as Administrator and the entry was in the registry. But if I logged on as David the entry was not in the registry!
How can I add the entry to the all CURRENT_USER keys?

Thanks a lot.

[Taco Bell]

First off, the stuff that's non-user specific (i.e. install location), should be written to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, not HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

However, there are a couple ways to go about what you're trying to do.

The first would be to have the product you're installing creating these keys as necessary.  This is the way a lot of applications work.  For example, if not available, the default toolbar layout would get created on the fly and subsequently re-used in later sessions.

If you don't go this route though, then you need to write to a couple different areas of the registry.  First off, under HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT contain all the inherted keys when new users login.

However, this won't affecting any existing users such as Administrator or David.  These are stored directly off of HKEY_USERS using cryptic security IDs like "S-1-5-21-1255497644-172053269-203352104-500".  You wouldn't have to locate each of these users and its underlying structure will match what you would find in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

Keep in mind this last piece of information is how it works on NT/2000.  The same basic thing exists in Win9x/Me, but I can't say for certain how much they are the same.

Hope it helps.

[David Bajgar]

The key must be in the CURRENT_USER, it is a Borland’s “feature”.
I tested to install the key to the HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT, but a new user didn’t inherit the key.
The cryptic security IDs like "S-1-5-21…” is visible only for the current logged user (e.g. Administrator). The key for ‘David’ account is not available. I don’t know how to get all these Ids.

Thanks anyway for your reply.

[PeterFlickinger]

Hey David,
Every figure out a way to handle this? I've got a similar situation.
thanks.
Peter