PRB: HKCU Registry Entries Not Propagated on Terminal Services (286100)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Installer 1.1
  • Microsoft Windows Installer 1.2
  • Microsoft Windows Installer 2.0
This article was previously published under Q286100

SYMPTOMS

Registry keys that are written directly under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive by Windows Installer per-computer installations on Windows NT Terminal Server and Windows 2000 with Terminal Services do not get propagated to other users. This causes the Windows Installer to attempt to repair the application for all users. The user that installed the application is not affected.

CAUSE

The keys written at the root of the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive do not get propagated. This is by design. The Windows Installer on Terminal Server computers runs an installation in the context of system so that all changes and updates are redirected into the HKEY_USER\.Default hive. Only the HKEY_USER\.Default\Software hive is propagated. So, each time that a user starts the application, the Windows Installer resiliency gets triggered because it is looking in the HKey_Current_User hive. Rebooting and reinstalling will not fix the problem.

RESOLUTION

If your installation needs to write keys to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive on Terminal Server, then they should be written under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software instead of HKEY_CURRENT_USER\.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

REFERENCES

For additional information on Terminal Services and application integration, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

186498 Terminal Server Application Integration Information

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/2/2003
Keywords:kbnofix kbprb KB286100
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.