winreg

What is winreg?

The winreg npm package is a Node.js library for accessing and manipulating the Windows Registry. It allows you to read, write, and delete registry keys and values, making it useful for applications that need to interact with the Windows operating system at a low level.

What are winreg's main functionalities?

Read a registry key

This feature allows you to read a value from a specified registry key. The code sample demonstrates how to read a value named 'MyValue' from the 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MyApp' key.

const Winreg = require('winreg');
const regKey = new Winreg({
  hive: Winreg.HKCU, // HKEY_CURRENT_USER
  key: '\Software\MyApp'
});
regKey.get('MyValue', (err, item) => {
  if (err) console.log('Error:', err);
  else console.log('Value:', item.value);
});

Write a registry key

This feature allows you to write a value to a specified registry key. The code sample demonstrates how to set a string value named 'MyValue' with the data 'MyData' in the 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MyApp' key.

const Winreg = require('winreg');
const regKey = new Winreg({
  hive: Winreg.HKCU, // HKEY_CURRENT_USER
  key: '\Software\MyApp'
});
regKey.set('MyValue', Winreg.REG_SZ, 'MyData', (err) => {
  if (err) console.log('Error:', err);
  else console.log('Value written successfully');
});

Delete a registry key

This feature allows you to delete a value from a specified registry key. The code sample demonstrates how to remove a value named 'MyValue' from the 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MyApp' key.

const Winreg = require('winreg');
const regKey = new Winreg({
  hive: Winreg.HKCU, // HKEY_CURRENT_USER
  key: '\Software\MyApp'
});
regKey.remove('MyValue', (err) => {
  if (err) console.log('Error:', err);
  else console.log('Value removed successfully');
});

Other packages similar to winreg

windows-registry

The windows-registry package is another alternative for interacting with the Windows Registry from Node.js. It provides basic functionality for reading and writing registry keys and values. While it is similar to winreg, it may not be as feature-rich or actively maintained.

README

node-winreg

node module that provides access to the Windows Registry through the REG commandline tool

Installation

npm install winreg 

Usage

Let's start with an example. The code below lists the autostart programs of the current user.

var Winreg = require('winreg')
,   regKey = new Winreg({
      hive: Winreg.HKCU,                                          // HKEY_CURRENT_USER
      key:  '\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run' // key containing autostart programs
    })

// list autostart programs
regKey.values(function (err, items) {
  if (err)
    console.log('ERROR: '+err);
  else
    for (var i in items)
      console.log('ITEM: '+items[i].name+'\t'+items[i].type+'\t'+items[i].value);
});

The following options are processed by the Winreg constructor:

• host the optional hostname, must start with the '\\' sequence
• hive the optional hive id (see below), the default is HKLM
• key the optional key, the default is th root key

The instances of Winreg provide access to a single registry key. The hive id can be one of the following:

• HKLM HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
• HKCU HKEY_CURRENT_USER
• HKCR HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
• HKCC HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
• HKU HKEY_USERS

The key, if specified, has to start, but must not be terminated with a '\' character.

Registry values are returned as objects, containing the following information:

• host the hostname, if it has been set in the options
• hive the hive id, as specified in the options
• key the key, as specified in the options
• name the name of the registry value
• type one of the types listed below
• value a string containing the value

Registry values can have one of the following types:

• REG_SZ a string value
• REG_MULTI_SZ a multiline string value
• REG_EXPAND_SZ an expandable string value
• REG_DWORD a double word value (32 bit integer)
• REG_QWORD a quad word value (64 bit integer)
• REG_BINARY a binary value
• REG_NONE a value of unknown type

Following methods are provided by instances of Winreg:

Method	Parameters	Description
values	callback	list the values under this key
get	name, callback	gets a value by it's name
set	name, type, value, callback	sets a value
remove	name, callback	remove the value with the given key
create	callback	create this key
erase	callback	remove this key