If I am not an administrator but I want to read the registry, what is easiest way to do it?

Non-administrators have the same registry 'read' rights as administrators.

You also have full write access (Full Control) to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key.

To open the registry:

• Open the Windows Start Menu
• Type in "regedit" and press 'Enter' on the keyboard
• Workstations which are a member of a domain will prompt for a password - just enter the password for your non-administrator account.

Please note:

• Some sections of the registry are locked to all users (Admin or Non-Admin), for example HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY

• If your system is configured to disallow the use of 'regedit' you will need to speak with your system administrator. Giving advice on how to circumvent this would be unethical and likely against the superuser terms of use.

Use reg query in cmd. It does not need admin privileges.