RegSetValueEx requires run as administrator to work?

Question

I have created a small vb6 application which edits the registry in HKLM hive. It makes use of function RegSetValueEx. But when run the exe file in windows 7 and windows 8 pc it does not edit the registry even if run it in administrator user.

In windows XP it works fine.If i run same application as "run as administrator"(by right clicking exe and then run as) in windows 7 and 8 then it works properly.I think the windows 7 and 8 id designed to work like this only. But is there any method i can edit it without running as administrator? Or is there any code in vb6 which does the same.

Here is my small code

Important: When checking the code create exe and then run the exe and click on button(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Demo registry gets added in wow32 node because vb6 is a 32 bit appliaction).Running the code directly by opening code allows the registry to change.But creating the exe and then running it gives the problem which is the real time scenario in any application.

Answer 1

Microsoft has been warning developers since Windows 2000 that access to the HKLM branch of the registry should not be performed as normal user, as it will sooner or later be restricted to administrators. They also said you should not write to Program Files.

They didn't enforce that rule until Windows Vista, so nobody felt the need to change anything.

Now you have it: don't write to HKLM as normal user - it doesn't work. Don't write your settings to Program Files. It doesn't work.

Application run by the normal user may write their data to user folders and user hives in the registry, nowhere else.

Answer 2

If your application's sole purpose is to write to that value in the HKLM hive then you will need to add a "requiresAdministrator` manifest to the executable, causing Windows to prompt the user for admin access every time it's run.

If this is a small part of a larger project, then you should use COM elevation or just run a small stub executable with the manifest above, allowing windows to only prompt when it's required.

If your application doesn't require admin access at all then you should stop it trying to write to admin restricted locations, and instead use the user's own HKCU hive.