What is better for program path detection?

[mwpeck]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

or

HKEY_USERS?

I have seen another programmer using HKEY_USERS, but I personally, and have seen others, using HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, just wondering if one is better to use than the other or if its all just programmer preference.

As for usage, just simple program install path lookup.

[TheCPUWizard]

It depends. If the intent is that it is for ALL users of that machine, then LOCAL_MACHINE, it it is customizable per user USER.

As a note, NO programs being written today should EVER directly access the registry. You will have major headaches with Vista/Server2008 and it will become (most likely) totally non-functional in vNext.

Use the proper API's for getting this information.

[mwpeck]

"Use the proper API's..." Which would be?

I have my own little program which reads a registry value as read-only, I run Vista64 with all the security features enabled as of what a standard install enables.....it has no problems reading the value I want it to.

[TheCPUWizard]

Here is a starting point....

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9060486