Share via


Protected Registry Keys and Values

4/8/2010

Windows Mobile does not support all the registry security functionality that Windows-based desktop operating systems support. Windows Mobile restricts access to certain registry keys by any application that is considered not privileged. A privileged application is one that is certified by an OEM. Unprivileged applications are unable to modify keys or values under the protected registry keys. You can add your own protected keys during boot. **The following table shows the protected registry keys and values and corresponding descriptions.

Registry key Description

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm

Stores communications and network configuration data, including network adapters and protocols.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Drivers

Stores data for device drivers that are loaded at boot time.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE

Stores hardware configuration data.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM

Stores data for programs that must be started with the operating system.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Init

Stores system configuration data such as power settings and date format.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\WDMDrivers

Stores a list of Windows Driver Model (WDM) device drivers that are loaded on startup.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Services

Stores data for system services.

Unprivileged applications receive the error code ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED if they attempt to use the following registry functions in any of these registry keys or any of the subkeys below them:

RegSetValueEx

RegCreateKeyEx

RegDeleteKey

RegDeleteValue

All applications, including unprivileged applications, can still read any registry key or value.

Because the rest of the registry is unprotected, place all important registry information in the protected registry directories.

See Also

Concepts

Registry Keys
Registry Operations

Other Resources

Registry Overview