Finding Data
The enhanced search is one of the biggest advantages of O&O RegEditor over the standard Windows Registry Editor. It searches key names, value names, and value data, and collects everything it finds into a result list.
Start A Search
- In the key tree, select the key or branch you want to search. The search covers the selected key and everything beneath it.
- Click Search on the toolbar (or use the corresponding menu command) to open the Find pane.
- Type what you are looking for.
- Choose where to look and how to match (see below).
- Start the search.
Figure: The Find pane with its scope and matching options.
Choose Where To Search
Enable the boxes for the parts of the registry you want to include:
| Scope | Matches against |
|---|---|
| Keys | Key (folder) names. |
| Values | Value names. |
| Data | The data stored in values. |
You can combine them freely — for example, search value names and data but not key names.
Matching Options
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Match case | Distinguishes uppercase and lowercase letters. |
| Whole word | Matches only complete words, not substrings. |
| Regular expression (RegEx) | Interprets the search text as a regular expression. See Regular Expressions. |
When Regular expression is enabled, the Whole word option does not apply and is disabled.
Live Results
O&O RegEditor shows results as you type, so you can refine your search text and immediately see the effect without starting over.
Search Scope Note
Selecting a specific key restricts the search to that branch, which is faster and easier to review. Selecting a main key such as HKEY_CURRENT_USER searches that entire hive.
Next
- Fine-tune matching with Regular Expressions.
- Work with the Search Results, including saving them to a file.