Registry Key Locator and Access tool

[questorfla]

I am trying to find a utility to create an active virtual link for Windows registry keys that would work to get  any text that refers to a registry key to display and work like an Internet Hyperlink but instead link to that location in the local registry

Maybe display the written text colored and underlined to emphasize it being an active local link which when clicked would open to the local Windows registry at that location (or the nearest possible if it does not yet exist).  I think this would require an indexing of the keys in the windows registry and performing a real-time search of displayed text to add the necessary links.

This would be a useful tool for making registry edits or for comparing a users own registry data to what is shown in the text they are reading.

I have seen a few tools that come close and there very possibly may already exists such a thing.  If so, could someone please point me to it.
Or if anyone has their own favorite tool for working with registry keys, I would appreciate any new tools I could try.

[Curt]

Are you using Firefox? A fast & easy solution is to keep your reg key links on a homemade html page, and use Open RegEdit Key https://addons.mozil...on/open-regedit-key/ However, I have not tested that one, because I am using the old & abandoned Open In RegEdit - but this takes a trick or two to start using. Here is a Danish link!: https://addons.mozil...don/open-in-regedit/

Open In RegEdit

[questorfla]

Thanks Curt. 
I do not use Firefox but your information led me to a similar setup for Chrome using an 'extension'
For some reason it only worked for a day or so then stopped.  I have not yet discovered why.

Everyone who has said this couldn't be done across various programs has said that the issue would be that text is not the same from one application to the next.  Yet I can highlight almost any text on any page in a browser or windows explorer and if it is made up of legible letters, I can highlight to select, right click to copy, then paste to another application as text.

This would seem to indicate some kind of capacity to distinguish 'text' when displayed as words.  If that is the case, then there should be a way to write an application that would be able to also perform a function based on the text highlighted having certain phrases at the front such as HKCU or other norms for a registry key regardless of whether I highlight it in Firefox, or Edge, or Chrome etc.

While I am sure there will be places it cannot be done it seems that any page that is showing directions to a registry location where the info displayed can be copied into regedit to open to that key; why can't I select it and use a right click option to do the same thing?

THIS  is the best I can find for Chrome and it is extremely convoluted to use.

[questorfla]

I gotta learn to be careful what I wish for

Skips all the fun part of figuring it out and gets right to the 'Meat' of what did I want to do with it when i found it.

Apparently it has been around and lately been further improved.  I still don't get to find out how to manually do any of the nifty "copy as text and send to Google search via registry edit " but...

I can still get it there even if I don't know how it happened.  I have never heard of it but I must have been in a vacuum as it has been around since at least 2012.  Heck, I wanted to 'do it myself' but...Oh Well

Spoiler

    http://www.listary.com/       

[questorfla]

Ha!     Well I finally answered my own question.  I have exactly what i wanted for many things and so much more.  When everything came together it just seemed to all fall in place at once.  I may need to post a couple of these on the board for others but not sure how to post an answer without a question 

The first part is a program called ECMenu.  I found it on one of those Windows boards.  But the Documentation as well as some of the commands take a bit of thought to get them right.  The 2nd part is command from sysinternals called regjumper.

And almost at the same time I ran across Clipout which can be used for registry jumping but has better use for putting the contents of Clipboard almost anywhere.

By using ECMenu to provide access to Regjumper i got exactly what I asked for.  highlight the written key, right-click choose jumper and regedit opens to the key.

I should add here that I also found the same functions in the best Secondary Command System in the world:  Nircmd.   
It also has many of the same capabilities and i will probably add it to Ecmenu as well as this is a fully configurable Right-click menu system

Thanks for everyone who gave the problem any thought and more thanks to those any who offered solutions.
If you are ever interested in trying to do any of these things (that no one but me ever wants it seems), I can tell you that these listed so far have been GREAT!  Google them by name.  They are all separate links

[IainB]

Thanks for this interesting thread.
Just for completeness, here are some notes about and links to the main tools mentioned by @questorfla:

• Listary: Sophisticated and powerful search utility for Windows. Listary (FREE) and Listary Pro (Paid) - http://www.listary.com/
  Integrates with and augments various file managers.
  Makes file browsing/searching flexible, specific or fuzzy. Has a minimalist UI.
  Starting to type parts of a file/folder name initiates a very fast search and result.
  Needs to be trialled to be appreciated.
  _______________________________
  
  
• ECMenu:  Extremely useful context (Right-click)  menu manager/editor (FREE from Sordum.org) - Easy Context Menu v1.6
  Needs to be trialled to be appreciated.
  _______________________________
  
  
• RegJump: A very handy command-line tool (FREE from Sysinternals) to jump to the registry path you specify in Regedit - RegJump
  Takes a registry path and makes Regedit open to that path. It accepts root keys in standard (e.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE) and abbreviated form (e.g. HKLM).
  
  usage: regjump <<path>|-c>
  -c   Copy path from clipboard.
  
  e.g.: regjump HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows
  _______________________________
  
  
• Clipout:  A small command-line utility (FREE from jasonfaulkner.com) that outputs/writes the text contents of the Windows Clipboard to the command line console/standard out. If the clipboard does not contain text, no output is produced. A practical usage of this tool is demonstrated in a How-To Geek feature article How to Send the Contents of the Clipboard to a Text File via the Send to Menu
  
  
• Nircmd: A small command-line utility (FREE from NirSoft) that allows you to do some useful tasks without displaying any user interface. By running NirCmd with simple command-line option, you can write and delete values and keys in the Registry, write values into INI file, dial to your internet account or connect to a VPN network, restart windows or shut down the computer, create shortcut to a file, change the created/modified date of a file, change your display settings, turn off your monitor, open the door of your CD-ROM drive, and more.
  _______________________________
  

As a result of reading this thread, I am now trialling Listary with Windows Explorer and xplorer².

One tool that should probably also be mentioned in the context here is:

• RegScanner: A small utility (FREE from NirSoft) that allows you to scan the Registry, find the desired Registry values that match to the specified search criteria, and display them in one list.  After finding the Registry values, you can easily jump to the right value in RegEdit, simply by double-clicking the desired Registry item.  You can also export the found Registry values into a .reg file that can be used in RegEdit.
  _______________________________
  

[Stoic Joker]

One tool that should probably also be mentioned in the context here is:RegScanner: A small utility (FREE from NirSoft) that allows you to scan the Registry, find the desired Registry values that match to the specified search criteria, and display them in one list.  After finding the Registry values, you can easily jump to the right value in RegEdit, simply by double-clicking the desired Registry item.  You can also export the found Registry values into a .reg file that can be used in RegEdit.

-IainB (May 17, 2016, 04:16 AM)

Search registry by string and/or value modification date/time ... Wow...I think I have a new favorite toy!

[4wd]

There's also the AutoIt script: RegJumper

Can run from CLI or double-click it, it'll load regedit at the position of a key in the clipboard.  If the key doesn't exist it'll offer to load the parent.

If you hold down Left SHIFT while double-clicking it'll load regedit with the root otherwise it'll load at the last key opened, (if clipboard has no key).

Keys opened by RegJumper are added to the Favorites menu.

And the source is available if you want to play with it.