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Managing Windows Server 2012 Systems : Managing the Registry (part 4) - Registry administration - Modifying the registry

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Registry administration

Windows Server 2012 provides several tools for working with the registry. The main tool, of course, is Registry Editor, which you start by typing regedit or regedt32 at the command line or in the Run dialog box. Another tool for working with the registry is the REG command. Both tools can be used to view and manage the registry. Keep in mind that although both tools are considered editors, Windows Server 2012 applies any changes you make immediately. Thus, any change you make is applied automatically to the registry without you having to save the change.

Caution

As an administrator, you have permission to make changes to most areas of the registry. This allows you to make additions, changes, and deletions as necessary. However, before you do this, you should always make a backup of the system state along with the registry first.This helps ensure that you can recover the registry in case something goes wrong when you are making your modifications.

Searching the registry

One of the common tasks you’ll want to perform in Registry Editor is to search for a particular key. You can search for keys, values, and data entries using the Find option on the Edit menu.

Don’t let the simplicity of the Find dialog box, shown in Figure 5, fool you—there is a bit more to searching the registry than you might think. So, if you want to find what you’re looking for, do the following:

  • The Find function in Registry Editor searches from the current node forward to the last value in the final root key branch. So, if you want to search the complete registry, you must select the Computer node in the left pane before you select Find on the Edit menu or press Ctrl+F.

  • Type the text you want to find in the Find What box. You can search only for standard American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text. So, if you’re searching for data entries, Registry Editor searches only string values (REG_SZ, REG_EXPAND_SZ, and REG_MULTI_SZ) for the specified text.

  • Use the Look At options to control where Registry Editor looks for the text you want to find. You can search on key names, value names, and text within data entries. If you want to match only whole strings instead of searching for text within longer strings, select the Match Whole String Only check box.

Searching the registry.
Figure 5. Searching the registry.

After you make your selections, tap or click Find Next to begin the search. If Registry Editor finds a match before reaching the end of the registry, it selects and displays the matching item. If the match isn’t what you’re looking for, press F3 to search again from the current position in the registry.

Modifying the registry

When you want to work with keys and values in the registry, you typically are working with subkeys of a particular key. This allows you to add a subkey and define its values and to remove subkeys and their values. You cannot, however, add or remove root keys or insert keys at the root node of the registry. Default security settings within some subkeys might also prohibit you from working with their keys and values. For example, by default you cannot create, modify, or remove keys or values within HKLM\SAM and HKLM\SECURITY.

Modifying values

The most common change you’ll make to the registry is to modify an existing value. For example, a Knowledge Base article might recommend that you change a value from 0 to 1 to enable a certain feature in Windows Server 2012 or from 1 to 0 to disable it. To change a value, locate the value in Registry Editor, and then in the right pane double-tap or double-click the value name. This opens an Edit dialog box, the style of which depends on the type of data you are modifying.

The most common values you’ll modify are REG_SZ, REG_MULTI_SZ, and REG_DWORD. Figure 6 shows the Edit String dialog box, which is displayed when you modify REG_SZ values. In the dialog box, you typically replace the existing value shown in the Value Data box with the value you need to enter.

Using the Edit String dialog box.
Figure 6. Using the Edit String dialog box.

Figure 7 shows the Edit Multi-String dialog box, which is displayed when you modify REG_MULTI_SZ values. In this example, there are three separate string values. In the dialog box, each value is separated by a new line to make the values easier to work with. If directed to change a value, you typically need to replace an existing value, making sure you don’t accidentally modify the entry before or after the entry you are working with. If directed to add a value, you begin typing on a new line following the last value.

Using the Edit Multi-String dialog box.
Figure 7. Using the Edit Multi-String dialog box.

Figure 8 shows the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, which is displayed when you modify REG_DWORD values. In this example, the value is displayed in hexadecimal format. Typically, you won’t need to worry about the data format. You simply enter a new value as you’ve been directed. For example, if the Current value entry represents a flag, the data entry of 1 indicates the flag is on (or true). To turn off the flag (switch it to false), you replace the 1 with a 0.

Using the Edit DWORD Value dialog box.
Figure 8. Using the Edit DWORD Value dialog box.

Note

The Windows Clipboard is available when you are working with Registry Editor. This means you can use the Copy, Cut, and Paste commands just as you do with other Windows programs. If there is a value in a Knowledge Base article that’s difficult to type, you might want to copy it to the Clipboard and then paste it into the Value Data box of the Edit dialog box.

Adding keys and values

As noted previously, you can add or remove keys in most areas of the registry. The exceptions pertain to the root node, root keys, and areas of the registry where permissions prohibit modifications.

You add new keys as subkeys of a selected key. Access the key with which you want to work, and then add the subkey by pressing and holding or right-clicking the key and selecting Edit, New, and then Key. Registry Editor creates a new key and selects its name so that you can set it as appropriate. The default name is New Key #1.

The new key has a default value entry associated with it automatically. The data type for this default value is REG_SZ. Just about every key in the registry has a similarly named and typed value entry, so don’t delete this value entry. Either set its value by double-tapping or double-clicking it to display the Edit String dialog box, or create additional value entries under the selected key.

To create additional value entries under a key, press and hold or right-click the key, and then select New followed by one of these menu options:

  • String Value Used to enter a fixed-length string of Unicode characters. The type is REG_SZ.

  • Binary Value Used to enter raw binary data without any formatting or parsing. The type is REG_BINARY.

  • DWORD (32-bit) Value Used to enter binary data type in which 4-byte integer values are stored. The type is REG_DWORD.

  • QWORD (64-bit) Value Used to enter binary data type in which 8-byte integer values are stored. The type is REG_QWORD.

  • Multi-String Value Used to enter a multiple-parameter string. The type is REG_MULTI_SZ.

  • Expandable String Value Used to enter a variable-length string that can include environment variables that are to be expanded when the data is read. The type is REG_EXPAND_SZ.

Creating a new value adds it to the selected key and gives it a default name of New Value #1, New Value #2, and so on. The name of the value is selected for editing so that you can change it immediately. After you change the value name, double-tap or double-click the value name to edit the value data.

Removing keys and values

Removing keys and values from the registry is easy but should never be done without careful forethought to the possible consequences. That said, you delete a key or value by selecting it and then pressing the Delete key. Registry Editor will ask you to confirm the deletion. After you do this, the key or value is permanently removed from the registry. Keep in mind that when you remove a key, Registry Editor removes all subkeys and values associated with the key.

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