Check in Python if Windows registry key already exists

Question

Got the following code:

    aReg = ConnectRegistry(None,HKEY_CURRENT_USER)
aKey = OpenKey(aReg, r"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run", 0, KEY_WRITE)
try:   
   SetValueEx(aKey,registry_key_name,0, REG_SZ, r"" + folder + "\" + file_name) 
except EnvironmentError:                                          
    print "Encountered problems writing into the Registry..."
CloseKey(aKey)
CloseKey(aReg)

I would like to add some check if not already exists so only add it if there is no such Key

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

6

From this question I guess the best option is to use _winreg.OpenKey and handle the WindowsError exception gracefully assuming as registry key non existent.

from _winreg import *
exists = True
aReg = ConnectRegistry(None,HKEY_CURRENT_USER)
try:
    aKey = OpenKey(aReg, r"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run", 0, KEY_WRITE)
except WindowsError:
    exists = False

try:
    if not exists:
        SetValueEx(aKey,registry_key_name,0, REG_SZ, r"" + folder + "\" + file_name) 
except EnvironmentError:                                          
    print "Encountered problems writing into the Registry..."

CloseKey(aKey)
CloseKey(aReg)

edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

Community

1
1

answered Mar 29 '13 at 02:56

joamag

1,382
1
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@joamagI don't see how it checks to see the key file_name only the folder \Run – Boris Daka Apr 12 '13 at 14:58
`aKey = OpenKey(aReg, r"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" + "file_name", 0, KEY_WRITE)` is this right? – Boris Daka Apr 12 '13 at 15:00
Where is the lib `_winreg`? – Timo Nov 14 '19 at 20:37
@Timo you should do from winreg import * now. It is a built-in python library. – Billy Cao Nov 04 '21 at 10:46

Check in Python if Windows registry key already exists

1 Answers1