How to Manage Per User Registry Settings in Visual Studio Setup Projects

In today’s blog post, we address a common dilemma faced by developers working with legacy applications: How to manage user-specific registry settings during the installation of a software application created with Visual Studio 2003.

The Problem: User-Specific Registry Entries

If your application requires configurations that vary from user to user, it’s crucial to store these settings in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU) rather than HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM). However, developers often encounter challenges in creating installation setups that manage these registry settings on a per-user basis.

One of the main questions that arise is whether it’s possible to add these entries during the installation process without altering the core functionality of the application itself.

The concerns highlighted include:

1. The feasibility of this approach: Is it truly possible?
2. Best practices: Should the setup project handle user-specific entries, or should this be covered by the application itself after installation?

The Solution: Best Practices for Managing User Registry Settings

1. Understand the Role of Your Application

The first takeaway is recognition that managing user-specific settings is more aligned with the application’s responsibilities than the installer’s. Each time a new user profile is created, the application should automatically ensure that it retrieves or generates the necessary settings. This minimizes potential issues with installations and ensures future-proofing against new user profiles.

2. Leverage HK_USERS for Registry Entries

While Visual Studio’s Setup project may not allow you to directly add entries to HKCU for every user, you can utilize the HKEY_USERS (HK_USERS) hive in the Windows Registry. This method provides a way to target user-specific keys after they’ve been established, ensuring that any settings apply to existing and new profiles.

Here’s a simplified overview of the process:

• Monitor User Creation: The application should check for existing settings in HKCU; if none are found, use default configurations.
• Use HTKEY_USERS: Access the user-specific settings through HK_USERS once profiles are created.

3. An Example Using VBScript

While you may not directly apply VBScript in your Visual Studio setup, it’s beneficial to look at examples to understand how registry management can be accomplished via scripts. Below is a relevant script that demonstrates how you can enumerate through user keys in HK_USERS and apply registry entries:

const HKEY_USERS = &H80000003
strComputer = "."
Set objReg = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv")
strKeyPath = ""
objReg.EnumKey HKEY_USERS, strKeyPath, arrSubKeys
strKeyPath = "\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinTrust\Trust Providers\Software Publishing"
For Each subkey In arrSubKeys
    objReg.SetDWORDValue HKEY_USERS, subkey & strKeyPath, "State", 146944
Next

• This script retrieves all the user profiles in HK_USERS and sets a specific registry value for each, showcasing a practical approach to manipulating user registry configurations programmatically.

4. Conclusion: Let the Application Handle User Settings

Ultimately, the best practice is to limit your setup project’s responsibility in user-specific settings management. With careful design, you allow your application to seamlessly handle these configurations.

Key Takeaways

• The role of installation setups is limited when it comes to managing user-specific data.
• Utilize HKEY_USERS as an approach for setting user registry entries.
• Understand that upon user creation, the application should ensure the correct settings are applied.

This thoughtful design ensures that the application remains flexible and capable of managing configurations, embracing new user profiles with minimal friction.

Feel free to revisit this structure as you continue to enhance your setup processes with practicality and ease of maintenance in mind!