My.Computer.Registry.LocalMachine Property 

Returns a RegistryKey type, which provides access to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

' Usage
Dim value As Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey = My.Computer.Registry.LocalMachine
' Declaration
Public ReadOnly Property LocalMachine As Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey

Return Value

RegistryKey

Remarks

The My.Computer.Registry object offers methods and properties for working with registry keys. See My.Computer.Registry Object for more information.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is usually used to store settings that do not vary from user to user in Windows. All users of the computer share this key. Its five subkeys (Hardware, SAM, Security, Software, and System) hold configuration data for the local machine.

The RegistryPermission class, which is in the System.Security.Permissions namespace, controls access to registry variables. Registry variables should not be stored in memory locations where code without RegistryPermission can access them. Similarly, when granting permissions, grant the fewest privileges necessary to get the job done.

Registry permission access values are defined by the RegistryPermissionAccess enumeration. The following table details its members.

Value	Description
AllAccess	Create, read, and write access to registry variables.
Create	Create access to registry variables.
NoAccess	No access to registry variables.
Read	Read access to registry variables.
Write	Write access to registry variables.

Tasks

The following table lists examples of tasks involving the My.Computer.Registry object.

To	See
Create a registry key	How to: Create a Registry Key and Set Its Values in Visual Basic
Delete a registry key	How to: Delete a Registry Key in Visual Basic
Determine whether a value exists in a registry key	How to: Determine if a Value Exists in a Registry Key in Visual Basic
Read a value from a registry key	How to: Read a Value from a Registry Key in Visual Basic
Set a value in a registry key	How to: Set Values in Registry Keys in Visual Basic

Example

This example opens the subkey Software\MyCompany\Preferences and sets the value FontColor to "red".

My.Computer.Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey _ 
("Software\MyCompany\Preferences", True)
My.Computer.Registry.LocalMachine.SetValue("FontColor", "red")

Requirements

Namespace: Microsoft.VisualBasic.MyServices

Class: RegistryProxy (provides access to Registry)

Assembly: Visual Basic Runtime Library (in Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)

Permissions

No permissions are required.

See Also

Tasks

Troubleshooting: Manipulating the Registry

Reference

My.Computer.Registry Object
Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey
Microsoft.Win32.Registry.LocalMachine

Concepts

Common Registry Tasks
Security and the Registry
Reading from and Writing to the Registry Using My