[RESOLVED] delete registry key and all subkeys

[Ellis Dee]

Here's a much easier way:

' Public Enumerations
Public Enum RegistryRootEnum
    rrClassesRoot = &H80000000
    rrCurrentConfig = &H80000005
    rrCurrentUser = &H80000001
    rrDynData = &H80000006
    rrLocalMachine = &H80000002
    rrUsers = &H80000003
End Enum

Private Declare Function RegCloseKey Lib "advapi32.dll" (ByVal hKey As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function RegOpenKeyEx Lib "advapi32.dll" Alias "RegOpenKeyExA" (ByVal hKey As Long, ByVal lpSubKey As String, ByVal ulOptions As Long, ByVal samDesired As Long, phkResult As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function SHDeleteKey Lib "shlwapi.dll" Alias "SHDeleteKeyA" (ByVal hKey As Long, ByVal pszSubKey As String) As Long

Public Sub DeleteKey(ByVal Key As String, Optional ByVal Root As RegistryRootEnum = rrCurrentUser)
    Const ERROR_SUCCESS = 0&
    Const KEY_ALL_ACCESS = &H3F
    Dim strKey As String
    Dim lngPos As Long
    Dim lngHandle As Long

    lngPos = InStrRev(Key, "\")
    If lngPos = 0 Then
        strKey = Key
        Key = ""
    Else
        strKey = Mid$(Key, lngPos + 1)
        Key = Left$(Key, lngPos - 1)
    End If
    If RegOpenKeyEx(Root, Key, 0&, KEY_ALL_ACCESS, lngHandle) = ERROR_SUCCESS Then
        SHDeleteKey lngHandle, strKey
        RegCloseKey lngHandle
    End If
End Sub

Usage:

DeleteKey "Software\MyCompany\MyApp"
DeleteKey "Software\MyCompany\MyApp", rrLocalMachine

SHDeleteKey kicks all kinds of ass by being able to delete a key in one shot even if it has subkeys, so there's no need for cumbersome recursive calls. Note that you don't have to specify a root if you're deleting from CurrentUser.

My signature has a link to a whole slew of registry functions wrapped up into a class. This code is from that class.