views:

24

answers:

2

I have a program which writes to the HKCU registry key during startup. Does this require administrator privileges in Vista and Win7?

+1  A: 

By default the answer is no, it doesn't require admin privs. But it is possible to change the permissions on any key, so it's not a guarantee it will work. But by default, assuming no one else is screwing around in the registry where you want to write, it should be ok.

OmnipotentEntity
Right, UAC won't keep you out, but regular ordinary permissions issues might.
Kate Gregory
+1  A: 

While OmnipotentEntity's answer is mostly correct, there are (at least) two keys in HKCU that a normal user cannot write to in the default system configuration:

  • HKCU\Software\Policies
  • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies
Anders