Creates a subkey underHKEY_USERS orHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and loads the data from the specified registry hive into that subkey.

Applications that back up or restore system state including system files and registry hives should use theVolume Shadow Copy Service instead of the registry functions.

Syntax

LSTATUS RegLoadKeyA(  [in]           HKEY   hKey,  [in, optional] LPCSTR lpSubKey,  [in]           LPCSTR lpFile);

Parameters

[in] hKey

A handle to the key where the subkey will be created. This can be a handle returned by a call toRegConnectRegistry, or one of the following predefined handles:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEHKEY_USERSThis function always loads information at the top of the registry hierarchy. TheHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT andHKEY_CURRENT_USER handle values cannot be specified for this parameter, because they represent subsets of theHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE andHKEY_USERS handle values, respectively.

[in, optional] lpSubKey

The name of the key to be created underhKey. This subkey is where the registration information from the file will be loaded.

Key names are not case sensitive.

For more information, seeRegistry Element Size Limits.

[in] lpFile

The name of the file containing the registry data. This file must be a local file that was created with theRegSaveKey function. If this file does not exist, a file is created with the specified name.

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 theFormatMessage function with the FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM flag to get a generic description of the error.

Remarks

There are two registry hive file formats. Registry hives created on current operating systems typically cannot be loaded by earlier ones.

IfhKey is a handle returned byRegConnectRegistry, then the path specified inlpFile is relative to the remote computer.

The calling process must have the SE_RESTORE_NAME and SE_BACKUP_NAME privileges on the computer in which the registry resides. For more information, seeRunning with Special Privileges. To load a hive without requiring these special privileges, use theRegLoadAppKey function.

Requirements

See also

RegConnectRegistry

RegDeleteKey

RegLoadAppKey

RegReplaceKey

RegRestoreKey

RegSaveKey

RegUnLoadKey

Registry Functions

Registry Hive