RegSaveKeyExA function (winreg.h)
Saves the specified key and all of its subkeys and values to a registry file, in the specified format.
Applications that back up or restore system state including system files and registry hives should use the Volume Shadow Copy Service instead of the registry functions.
Syntax
LSTATUS RegSaveKeyExA(
[in] HKEY hKey,
[in] LPCSTR lpFile,
[in, optional] const LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpSecurityAttributes,
[in] DWORD Flags
);
Parameters
[in] hKey
A handle to an open registry key.
This function does not support the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT predefined key.
[in] lpFile
The name of the file in which the specified key and subkeys are to be saved. If the file already exists, the function fails.
The new file has the archive attribute.
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.
[in, optional] lpSecurityAttributes
A 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. The ACLs in a default security descriptor for a file are inherited from its parent directory.
[in] Flags
The format of the saved key or hive. This parameter can be one of the following values.
Return value
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.
If more than one of the possible values listed above for the Flags parameter is specified in one call to this function—for example, if two or more values are OR'ed— or if REG_NO_COMPRESSION is specified and hKey specifies a key that is not the root of a hive, this function returns ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER.
Remarks
Unlike RegSaveKey, this function does not support the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT predefined key.
If hKey represents a key on a remote computer, the path described by lpFile is relative to the remote computer.
The RegSaveKeyEx 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 RegSaveKeyEx in subsequent calls to the RegLoadKey, RegReplaceKey, or RegRestoreKey function. If RegSaveKeyEx fails partway through its operation, the file will be corrupt and subsequent calls to RegLoadKey, RegReplaceKey, or RegRestoreKey for the file will fail.
Using RegSaveKeyEx together with RegRestoreKey to copy subtrees in the registry is not recommended. This method does not trigger notifications and can invalidate handles used by other applications. Instead, use the SHCopyKey function or the RegCopyTree function.
The calling process must have the SE_BACKUP_NAME privilege enabled. For more information, see Running with Special Privileges.
Note
The winreg.h header defines RegSaveKeyEx as an alias that automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that is not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.
Requirements
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Minimum supported client | Windows XP [desktop apps only] |
| Minimum supported server | Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only] |
| Target Platform | Windows |
| Header | winreg.h (include Windows.h) |
| Library | Advapi32.lib |
| DLL | Advapi32.dll |