Vista - Registry in a Least Privileged Environment

Greetings.

I work on an application which I would like to be able to run on Vista in a
"least privileged environment," and I have a some questions regarding the
registry in Vista.

1. Am I right to understand that, in a least privileged environment, apps
should not write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software anymore?
2. Is it MS's recommended practice that app should write to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software instead?
3. In the case where I want an app to run with the same settings under
all user accounts, is there a registry hive for "ALL Users," or would I be
better off saving global app settings in a flat file under the C:\Users\All
Users directory?

I will be grateful for any help.

will f

"will f" <null@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:%23zGPXRLZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Greetings.
>
> I work on an application which I would like to be able to run on Vista in
> a "least privileged environment," and I have a some questions regarding
> the registry in Vista.
>
> 1. Am I right to understand that, in a least privileged environment,
> apps should not write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software anymore?
> 2. Is it MS's recommended practice that app should write to
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software instead?
> 3. In the case where I want an app to run with the same settings under
> all user accounts, is there a registry hive for "ALL Users," or would I be
> better off saving global app settings in a flat file under the
> C:\Users\All Users directory?
>
> I will be grateful for any help.
>
> will f
>


Be a man and write where you like. Don't get pushed around by a set of
guidelines.

--
Jon

Here's a quick attempt to answer these:

1/ Yes
2/ Yes
3/ In general changes to the system that effect all users should require
admin rights. So you could save 'all users' settings in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
and allow individual users to override the defaults in HKEY_CURRENT_USERS,
or you could save defaults in a file.


"will f" <null@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:%23zGPXRLZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Greetings.
>
> I work on an application which I would like to be able to run on Vista in
> a "least privileged environment," and I have a some questions regarding
> the registry in Vista.
>
> 1. Am I right to understand that, in a least privileged environment,
> apps should not write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software anymore?
> 2. Is it MS's recommended practice that app should write to
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software instead?
> 3. In the case where I want an app to run with the same settings under
> all user accounts, is there a registry hive for "ALL Users," or would I be
> better off saving global app settings in a flat file under the
> C:\Users\All Users directory?
>
> I will be grateful for any help.
>
> will f
>

Mr. Wood.

Thanks. One more question that maybe you can answer - or point me to a
resource for more Vista registry info.
I need to add some file associations to the registry, so that files created
by my app can be opened by just double-clicking on them. I normally write
the following:

Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xyz
Value Name: <default>
Data: xyzfile

Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\xyzfile\Shell\Open\Command
Value Name: <default>
Data: C:\Program Files\Company\MyApp\MyApp.exe %%1

Will Windows Vista permit me to create and enforce these file associations
even for a standard user account?

Thank you for your help.

- will f

"Dave Wood [MS]" <davewood@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:O9Ou%23zMZHHA.2432@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Here's a quick attempt to answer these:
>
> 1/ Yes
> 2/ Yes
> 3/ In general changes to the system that effect all users should require
> admin rights. So you could save 'all users' settings in
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and allow individual users to override the defaults in
> HKEY_CURRENT_USERS, or you could save defaults in a file.
>
>
> "will f" <null@nospam.net> wrote in message
> news:%23zGPXRLZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Greetings.
>>
>> I work on an application which I would like to be able to run on Vista in
>> a "least privileged environment," and I have a some questions regarding
>> the registry in Vista.
>>
>> 1. Am I right to understand that, in a least privileged environment,
>> apps should not write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software anymore?
>> 2. Is it MS's recommended practice that app should write to
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software instead?
>> 3. In the case where I want an app to run with the same settings under
>> all user accounts, is there a registry hive for "ALL Users," or would I
>> be better off saving global app settings in a flat file under the
>> C:\Users\All Users directory?
>>
>> I will be grateful for any help.
>>
>> will f
>>
>

Yes, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT is actually a 'merge' of
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Sotware\Classes and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes,
so if you add your keys in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes they will show
up in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT for just that user.

"will f" <null@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:uwYixkNZHHA.4872@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Mr. Wood.
>
> Thanks. One more question that maybe you can answer - or point me to a
> resource for more Vista registry info.
> I need to add some file associations to the registry, so that files
> created by my app can be opened by just double-clicking on them. I
> normally write the following:
>
> Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xyz
> Value Name: <default>
> Data: xyzfile
>
> Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\xyzfile\Shell\Open\Command
> Value Name: <default>
> Data: C:\Program Files\Company\MyApp\MyApp.exe %%1
>
> Will Windows Vista permit me to create and enforce these file associations
> even for a standard user account?
>
> Thank you for your help.
>
> - will f
>
> "Dave Wood [MS]" <davewood@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:O9Ou%23zMZHHA.2432@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Here's a quick attempt to answer these:
>>
>> 1/ Yes
>> 2/ Yes
>> 3/ In general changes to the system that effect all users should require
>> admin rights. So you could save 'all users' settings in
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and allow individual users to override the defaults
>> in HKEY_CURRENT_USERS, or you could save defaults in a file.
>>
>>
>> "will f" <null@nospam.net> wrote in message
>> news:%23zGPXRLZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>> Greetings.
>>>
>>> I work on an application which I would like to be able to run on Vista
>>> in a "least privileged environment," and I have a some questions
>>> regarding the registry in Vista.
>>>
>>> 1. Am I right to understand that, in a least privileged environment,
>>> apps should not write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software anymore?
>>> 2. Is it MS's recommended practice that app should write to
>>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software instead?
>>> 3. In the case where I want an app to run with the same settings
>>> under all user accounts, is there a registry hive for "ALL Users," or
>>> would I be better off saving global app settings in a flat file under
>>> the C:\Users\All Users directory?
>>>
>>> I will be grateful for any help.
>>>
>>> will f
>>>
>>
>
>