HowTo delete a ghost registry key

[Yethie]

Hi all,

I have a problem with the windows registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Render\{fe982967-a45b-4e24-afda-1e1705aa99a"}

this key appears only when enumerating the child keys of its parent, but I fail to:

- Open the key (I get the "file not found" error both in regedit and in code)
- Change the key's ACL
- Take ownership of the key

The OS is Windows 7 x64 and I'm trying to perform the above actions with the administrative rights. I would like to delete it!
Does anybody have an idea about how to deal with this issue?

thanks!
Francesco

 

[Orbital Shark]

Hi, welcome to the forums

You may be running Regedit with admin rights but have you tried the Built In Admin Account?

You may get even greater admin rights from this account


OS

 

[Yethie]

Hi OS,

thanks for your fast reply!
I tried to use the built-in administrator user but I get the same errors.
May the registry be corrupted?

thanks
Francesco

 

[Orbital Shark]

It could be

You may want to try a Repair Install and see if it solves any issues you're having.

   Note

The Repair Install is technically an In-Place Upgrade and should not affact your currently install software or user files. Please read any tutorial in detail before proceeding

OS

 

[Fayla]

Some registry keys use null characters etc which make then impossible to delete through the registry editor. For those types of keys, you can use: RegDelNull

It worked for me after I removed a Sony program (the thing left a un-deletable null key behind.)

Hi OS,

thanks for your fast reply!
I tried to use the built-in administrator user but I get the same errors.
May the registry be corrupted?

thanks
Francesco

 

[gregrocker]

Try the CCleaner's Registry tab first as it cleans out registry shells.

 

[Orbital Shark]

Try the CCleaner's Registry tab first as it cleans out registry shells.

As handy as that is I'd also advise that if it finds the exact key required then only delete that key

A lot of registry cleaners can pick up false information about the registry and could delete valuable keys required by key system resources.

I've seen Ccleaner pick up errors on a 100% (only Ccleaner installed, nothing else) clean system so caution is advised

 

[Bill2]

How is that key hurting you?

 

[gregrocker]

Try the CCleaner's Registry tab first as it cleans out registry shells.

As handy as that is I'd also advise that if it finds the exact key required then only delete that key

A lot of registry cleaners can pick up false information about the registry and could delete valuable keys required by key system resources.

I've seen Ccleaner pick up errors on a 100% (only Ccleaner installed, nothing else) clean system so caution is advised

CCleaner should not be confused with "a lot of Registry cleaners" which are nothing more than sales operations with no genius applied.

CCleaner is a genius app perfected by geniuses over 10+ years to where it simply doesn't make mistakes. It offers to back up any registry keys it cleans which are never active keys, as confirmed by the same algorythm used by Revo Uninstaller which was only made possible by CCleaner's genius.

I haven't had any issues from CCleaner in ten years on hundreds of installs representing thousands of uses. The few issues reported here upon inspection were all attributable to other obvious causes.

CCleaner is perhaps the most highly respected app in the tech world. It has earned this title and doesn't deserve being sold short. For freeware it's value is priceless.

 

[wilywombat]

Spot on Gregrocker! Its one of the most useful tools in the arsenal.

 

[motc7]

CCleaner is a genius app perfected by geniuses over 10+ years to where it simply doesn't make mistakes.

I like CCleaner too, and use it often. But this was a bit over the top don't you think?

 

[gregrocker]

CCleaner is a genius app perfected by geniuses over 10+ years to where it simply doesn't make mistakes.

I like CCleaner too, and use it often. But this was a bit over the top don't you think?

How so?

I personally witnessed the CCleaner team winnow out the errors for more than ten years until it was perfect. I count this as something as impressive as the way Win7 was perfected in beta - which kept me fascinated reading the developers blog there, too.

So I get tired of having to correct misimpressions given carelessly by others doubting CCleaner since it is a favorite app of mine whose development I witnessed. I may write passionately about it, and Windows 7, because I know how far they've come.

Genius deserves it's due as it's ordinarily not recognized by most people who just assume things got that way on their own or from ordinary work. A genius works like Mozart, or like the CCleaner or Win7 developers. It is fascinating to observe.

 

[Dwarf]

I wouldn't worry too much about that key. I also have a couple of keys in that location, and they refer to the on-board audio (in my case, Realtek). One of the keys pertains to analogue (speakers) and the other to digital (SPDIF). When you update the audio driver, the old keys are removed and new ones created in their place, but with different names.

 

[fafhrd]

You may try disabling the audio device and rebooting before trying to delete the key. This works with other devices like printers whose registry keys are protected while the printer is attached.