Windows Vista® Inside Out Deluxe Edition

Changing Registry Key Permissions

By default, administrators and the System account have full control over all registry keys. The creator/owner of a particular key has full control over that key. (For example, a user typically has full control over all subkeys of HKCU while that user is logged on.) In other registry contexts, a user’s default permissions allow read access but nothing more. If you attempt to change a registry key for which you have read access only, Registry Editor presents the appropriate editing dialog box but rejects your edit.

You can prevent changes to an individual registry key and its subkeys (but not to individual values) by editing the permissions for that key. Registry permissions work the same way as permissions assigned ...