RegSaveKey

The RegSaveKey function saves the specified key and all of its subkeys and values to a new file.

LONG RegSaveKey(
  HKEY hKey,       // handle to key where save begins
  LPCTSTR lpFile,  // address of filename to save to
  LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpSecurityAttributes 
                   // address of security structure
);
 

Parameters

hKey

Specifies a handle to the key where the save operation is to begin, or any of the following predefined reserved handle values:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
HKEY_USERS

lpFile

Pointer to a null-terminated string containing the name of the file in which the specified key and subkeys are saved.

Windows 95: RegSaveKey does not support long file names. To save a registry hive to a file with a long file name, first save the hive to a short file name, then rename the resulting file to its long file name.

Windows NT: If the file already exists, the function fails with the ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS error.

Windows 95: If the file already exists, the function fails with the ERROR_REGISTRY_IO_FAILED error.

Windows NT: If the string does not include a path, the file is created in the current directory of the calling process for a local key, or in the %systemroot%\system32 directory for a remote key.

Windows 95: If the string does not include a path, the file is created in the Windows root directory for local and remote keys. See GetWindowsDirectory.

lpSecurityAttributes

Windows NT: Pointer to a SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES structure that specifies a security descriptor for the new file. If lpSecurityAttributes is NULL, the file gets a default security descriptor.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is ERROR_SUCCESS.

If the function fails, the return value is a nonzero error code defined in WINERROR.H. You can use the FormatMessage function with the FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM flag to get a generic description of the error.

Remarks

If hKey represents a key on a remote computer, the path described by lpFile is relative to the remote computer.

The RegSaveKey function saves only nonvolatile keys. It does not save volatile keys. A key is made volatile or nonvolatile at its creation; see RegCreateKeyEx.

You can use the file created by RegSaveKey in subsequent calls to the RegLoadKey, RegReplaceKey, or RegRestoreKey functions. If RegSaveKey fails part way through its operation, the file will be corrupt and subsequent calls to RegLoadKey, RegReplaceKey, or RegRestoreKey for the file will fail.

Windows NT: The new file has the archive attribute.

Windows 95: The new file has the archive, hidden, read-only, and system attributes.

Windows NT: The calling process must have the SE_BACKUP_NAME privilege enabled. For more information about privileges, see Privileges.

QuickInfo

  Windows NT: Requires version 3.1 or later.
  Windows: Requires Windows 95 or later.
  Windows CE: Unsupported.
  Header: Declared in winreg.h.
  Import Library: Use advapi32.lib.
  Unicode: Implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions on Windows NT.

See Also

Registry Overview, Registry Functions, RegCreateKeyEx, RegDeleteKey, RegLoadKey, RegReplaceKey, RegRestoreKey, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES