Why does RegOpenKeyEx return "0" value?

Question

I use CodeBlocks version 20.03 (x86) as IDE.

Here are my codes:

#include "iostream"
#include "windows.h"
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    HKEY hkRegedit;
    long longHataKodu;

    longHataKodu = RegOpenKeyExA(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, "Software\\Microsoft\\Chkdsk", 0, KEY_ALL_ACCESS | KEY_WOW64_64KEY, &hkRegedit);

    cout << longHataKodu;

    getchar();

    return 0;
}

But the problem is even I run my program without administrator privileges, my program returns 0.

Here is the screenshot of my program:

How is that possible even I have written HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and KEY_ALL_ACCESS?

As far as I know, value 0 means ERROR_SUCCESS.

That's what RegOpenKeyEx returns when it's successful. What else do you expect it to return? — Miles Budnek
– Miles Budnek, Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 4:39
@molbdnilo It is not possible to access HKLM with KEY_ALL_ACCESS if you do not run the program with administrator privileges. So, I think there is a bug related Codeblocks or MinGW compiler. — user10825637
– user10825637, Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 6:07
@ÇAĞATAYKAYA It is absolutely 100% certain that the problem is not with the IDE or the compiler, and it is possible in some cases. Did you check the details in that virtualization article? — molbdnilo
– molbdnilo, Commented Sep 19, 2022 at 7:13

Anders · Accepted Answer · 2022-09-20 18:00:53Z

0

Registry virtualization is a compatibility shim for old applications that redirects writes to HKEY_USERS\<User SID>_Classes\VirtualStore instead of causing access denied errors.

To turn it off, add a manifest to your application with a requestedExecutionLevel node to mark yourself Vista/UAC compatible.

edited Sep 20, 2022 at 18:00

answered Sep 19, 2022 at 9:47

Anders

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1 Comment

user10825637 Over a year ago

Adding a manifest to my application has been fixed my problem. And I think there is a little good in all evil. In this way I have learnt what "Registry Virtualization" is. I did not even know this technology until I encountered this error. Now my application throws "Access is denied." error (Error Code: 5).

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