Invalid registry value and registry key enumeration

[majkinetor]

There is a problem, this (and other) plugin(s) enumerates the uninstall keys if there is an invalid entry.

On my computer I had to remove the invalid key NoModify in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\nbi-nb-base-8.1.0.0.201510222201 and recreated it as a valid DWORD with value 1. From then on the problem was gone.

The entry was an invalid DWORD. AFAIK it was written with the wrong length information (8 instead of 4 bytes)

My System runs Windows 10.

Luckily I indeed exported the relevant registry entry before deleting and recreating it (with value 1):

--<snip>---
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\nbi-nb-base-8.1.0.0.201510222201]
"NoModify"=hex(4):01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
--</snip>---

Link: https://disqus.com/home/discussion/chocolatey/chocolatey_gallery_wkhtmltopdf_099/#comment-2679706558

[majkinetor]

I confirm this behavior.

Here is the regedit screenshot

After the import:

$local_key       = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*'
$machine_key     = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*'
$machine_key6432 = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*'

PS> Get-ItemProperty @($machine_key6432, $machine_key, $local_key)
Get-ItemProperty : Specified cast is not valid.
At line:1 char:15
+ ... rray]$key = Get-ItemProperty @($machine_key6432, $machine_key, $local ...
+                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Get-ItemProperty], InvalidCastException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.InvalidCastException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetItemPropertyCommand

This is related to the mm-choco-extension module, but the same code is in chocolatey template itself (although I don't use it).

[majkinetor]

Now, this is not a bug because Get-ItemProperty fails, which is Powershell function. It doesn't expect such value. I can probably work around it and display a warning. Seems like it happens to some number of people.

I am also not sure how is this actually allowed to pass into registry ?! Might be an registry bug...

[majkinetor]

chocolatey/choco#739

[majkinetor]

Ok, i classify it as a bug since there is a workaround and I should use https://chocolatey.org/docs/helpers-get-uninstall-registry-key.

[2chg]

I am also not sure how is this actually allowed to pass into registry ?! Might be an registry bug...
(Comment on Bug #15)

For netbeans the culrpit is found in a programming error:
Bug 251538 - Your Installer is Creating Invalid Data for the NoModify DWORD Key […]