Viewing the Registry for a Remote Computer

In the same way that you can use Event Viewer or User Manager to view details on another computer, you can use Registry Editor to view and change the contents of another computer's Registry if the Server services on the remote computer are running.

This ability to remotely view a computer's configuration allows you, as a system administrator, to examine a user's startup parameters, desktop configuration, and other parameters. So you can provide troubleshooting or other support assistance over the telephone while you view settings on the other computer from your own workstation.

Note Auto Refresh is not available when you are viewing the Registry from a remote computer. If Auto Refresh is on, manual refresh is disabled. Therefore, when you open a remote registry, Registry Editor checks to see if Auto Refresh mode is on. If it is, Registry Editor displays the message "Auto Refresh is not available for remote registries; Registry Editor will disable Auto Refresh mode".

To view the Registry for a remote computer

• From the Registry menu, choose the Select Computer command, and then select or type the name of the computer whose Registry you want to access.

  – Or –

  Double-click the name of a computer in the Select Computer list. Under a Windows NT Server, the first name in this list represents the name of a domain. If no computer name appears after this domain name, double-click the domain name to view a list of the computers in that domain.

Two Registry windows appear for the remote computer, one for HKEY_USERS and one for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. You can view or modify the information on keys for the remote computer if the access controls defined for the keys allow you to perform such operations. If you are logged on as a member of the Administrators group, you can perform actions on all keys.