Access Windows Registry in C++ with CRegKey - c++

Question

I tried to access the Windows Registry with this Code:
CRegKey key;
LPTSTR szBuffer = new TCHAR[50];
ULONG cchBuffer = 257;
key.Open(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, L"HARDWARE", KEY_READ);
ULONG chars;
CString str;
if (key.QueryStringValue(L"Test", 0, &chars) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
{
key.QueryStringValue(L"Test", str.GetBuffer(chars), &chars);
str.ReleaseBuffer();
}
key.Close();
It returned an Error of the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library:
Debug Assertation Failed!
Program: ...
File: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio
11.0\VC\ATLMFC\INCLUDE\altbase.h Line: 6146
Expression: m_hkey != 0
For information Blah blah
After pressing Ignore it crashes.
I'm not sure what compiler is used because I (think I have) configured Qt Creator to use Visual C++ but the output Directory os called ..._._MinGW_Qt_SDK_DEBUG
What to do now?

Answer 1

I don't have a Windows machine nearby, but I think that there is no subkey named HARDWARE into HKEY_CURRENT_USER: it is into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
That, added to the fact that you are not checking the Open call for errors suggests that what you really want to do is:
key.Open(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, L"HARDWARE", KEY_READ);
Anyway, it is always a good idea to handle the error, just in case.