Finding a Key in the Registry

A Registry key might be in a different place in the tree structure of your computer's Registry than where it is described in this chapter, depending on whether a computer is running Windows NT Workstation or Windows NT Server, and on other factors as well.

You can search for a specific key name in the Registry tree. Key names appear in the left pane of the Registry Editor window. The search begins from the currently selected key. A search beginning from a predefined key searches all its descendent keys.

Each search is local to the subtree where the search begins. That is, if you search in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree window, the search does not include keys found under any other subtree.

To search for a key by using Regedt32

From the View menu, click Find Key.

In the Find What box of the Find Key dialog box, type the name of the key that you want to find.

• If you want to restrict the scope of the search or define the search direction, select the Match Whole Word Only box, the Match Case option, or select Up or Down in the Direction box.
• To see the next occurrence of the key name you specified, click Find Next.

Click Find.

Key names are not unique. To be sure you find the key you want, it's a good idea to search for additional occurrences of a specific key name.

Tip

Some key names include spaces, underscores, or a continuous string (such as KeyboardPort/PointerPort). To ensure that you find the key you want, search for a portion of the name, and make sure that the Match Whole Word Only check box in the Find dialog box is cleared .

To find specific keys or value entries related to specific topics, you can also use Regentry.hlp, the Registry Help file on the Windows NT Workstation Resource Kit CD.

In Regedt32, you can search only for keys and subkeys of the Registry. Regedit, however, has an expanded search capability: you can search for value entries and values as well as keys and subkeys. In addition, you determine the level at which Regedit searches. This can expedite a search for a subkey by preventing Regedit from looking at every value entry.

To search for a key by using Regedt32

From the Edit menu, click Find.

In the Find dialog box, enter the name of the key, subkey, value entry, or value you want to find. Use the check boxes to limit or expand your search. Click OK.

To see the next occurrence of the entry, from the Edit menu, click Find Next or press F3.