Use the Registry Correctly

[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]

The following guidelines relate to making appropriate use of the Microsoft® Windows® registry:

• Register native data file types. (Required)
• Ask before reassigning file-extension associations. (Best Practice)
• Do not add to Win.ini or System.ini. (Required)
• Support informational keys in the registry. (Required)
• Use the correct access mask when opening a registry key. (Recommended)
• Register classes on a per-user basis in HKCU. (Recommended)
• Do not write default profile settings to the registry. (Recommended)
• Do not register hard-coded paths. (Best Practice)
• Use REG_EXPAND_SZ strings on Windows NT 5.0. (Best Practice)
• Do not register strings as REG_BINARY. (Best Practice)
• Register policy keys in a standard location. (Best Practice)
• Store hardware-independent machine settings in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. (Best Practice)
• Store hardware-dependent settings in HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG. (Best Practice)