Walkthrough: Creating a Registry Key and Changing Its Values (Visual Basic)

This walkthrough demonstrates how to create an application that will browse to registry keys on the computer so users can create and delete keys, as well as how to read, get, set, and delete values.

To create the main form

1. Select New Project in the File menu and click Windows Application.

2. Add a TextBox named Value to the form. In the Properties window in the lower-right corner, in the (Name) field, type Value.

3. Add a ListBox named History to the form. In the Properties window in the lower-right corner, in the (Name) field, type History.

4. Create the additional variable and add it immediately after the class declaration.

   Dim tempKey As Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey
   

To browse registry keys in a ComboBox

1. Add to your form a ComboBox named selectHive, which will display the registry hives and allow you to select one. Populate it by adding the following code to the form's load event.

   selectHive.Items.Add("ClassesRoot")
   selectHive.Items.Add("CurentConfig")
   selectHive.Items.Add("CurrentUser")
   selectHive.Items.Add("LocalMachine")
   selectHive.Items.Add("PerformanceData")
   selectHive.Items.Add("Users")
   

2. Attach the following code after your class declaration.

   Dim registryObject As Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey = Nothing
   

3. Add the following code to the selectHive SelectedIndexChanged event.

   Select Case selectHive.Text
     Case "ClassesRoot"
       registryObject = My.Computer.Registry.ClassesRoot
     Case "CurrentConfig"
       registryObject = My.Computer.Registry.CurrentConfig
     Case "CurrentUser"
       registryObject = My.Computer.Registry.CurrentUser
     Case "LocalMachine"
       registryObject = My.Computer.Registry.LocalMachine
     Case "PerformanceData"
       registryObject = My.Computer.Registry.PerformanceData
     Case "Users"
       registryObject = My.Computer.Registry.Users
   End Select
   

To read a value in a registry key

1. Add to the form a Button named ReadValueButton with the text "Read Value".

2. Add to the form a TextBox named showSubKey with the text "Enter Subkey".

3. Add the following code to the ReadValueButton Click event.

   tempKey = registryObject
   If tempKey Is Nothing Then
     MsgBox("Please select a registry hive.")
     Return
   End If
   Value.Text = CStr(tempKey.GetValue(ShowSubKey.Text))
   History.Items.Add("Read Value " & selectHive.Text & 
                     "\" & ShowSubKey.Text)
   

4. Test your application by entering the name of an existing subkey into the showSubKey textbox. When the ReadValueButton is clicked, the Value text box displays the value.

To set a value in a registry key

1. Add to the form a button named SetValueButton with the text "Set Value".

2. Add the following code to its Click event.

   tempKey = registryObject
   If tempKey Is Nothing Then
     MsgBox("Please select a registry hive.")
     Return
   End If
   If Value.Text Is Nothing Then
     MsgBox("Please enter a value.")
     Return
   End If
   tempKey.SetValue(showSubKey.Text, Value.Text)
   tempKey.Close()
   History.Items.Add("Set Value " & selectHive.Text & 
                     "\" & showSubKey.Text)
   

3. Test your application by entering a new value for a subkey in the Value text box and then confirming that the value has been changed with the button named ReadValueButton.

To create a registry key

1. Add to the form a button named CreateButton with the text "Create Key".

2. Add the following code to its Click event.

   registryObject.CreateSubKey(showSubKey.Text)
   History.Items.Add("Create Key " & selectHive.Text & 
                     "\" & showSubKey.Text)
   

3. Test your application by entering a new key name in the showSubKey text box and using the Registry Editor to confirm that your key has been created.

To delete a registry key

1. Add a button to the form named DeleteButton with the text "Delete Key".

2. Add the following code to its Click event.

   tempKey = registryObject
   If tempKey Is Nothing Then
     MsgBox("Please select a registry hive.")
     Return
   End If
   If showSubKey.Text Is Nothing Then
     MsgBox("Please enter a subkey.")
     Return
   End If
   registryObject.DeleteSubKey(showSubKey.Text)
   History.Items.Add("Delete Key " & selectHive.Text & 
                     "\" & showSubKey.Text)
   

3. Test your code by deleting a subkey and using the Registry Editor to confirm that the key was deleted.

See Also

Tasks

Troubleshooting: Manipulating the Registry (Visual Basic)

Concepts

Common Registry Tasks (Visual Basic)

Security and the Registry (Visual Basic)

Reading from and Writing to the Registry Using My (Visual Basic)

Reading from and Writing to the Registry Using the Microsoft.Win32 Namespace (Visual Basic)