# Registry difference between Win10 and Win 11? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registry-difference-between-win10-and-win-11/961232 "2022-03-17T05:27:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registry-difference-between-win10-and-win-11/961232/1 "2022-03-17T05:27:18Z")
To fix a certain technical problem (an Open NUL error in msiexec), we had users go to the registry entry HKEY\_LOCAL\_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Services/Null and change it to 2. Now in Win11 that Null key does not seem to exist at all, but we have some users getting the same Open NUL error. I’m hoping we have some brilliant Windows tech here who can find the missing key for us - thanks! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registry-difference-between-win10-and-win-11/961232/2 "2022-03-17T06:13:37Z")
I don’t have any deeper knowledge, but have you tried to create the missing key and set it to 2? Maybe that resolves the issue. Just the first idea I had. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registry-difference-between-win10-and-win-11/961232/3 "2022-03-17T07:44:34Z")
Yeah, I’d suggest exporting the registry key from a Win10 machine and importing it on the Win11 machine. Low risk of anything bad happening from creating a key like this - most likely if it doesn’t do the thing you want, it won’t have any effect at all, but back up any important local documents/files first. (I mean, do that anyway) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registry-difference-between-win10-and-win-11/961232/4 "2022-03-17T21:43:23Z")
Thanks folks! I turns out one of the cases actually has that registry key but changing it does not have the effect it did under Win10. I suspect that Win11 installation was an in-place upgrade from Win10 so that registry entry was just a leftover. I suspect there must be some other entry that now does the same function in Win11 that the one above does in Win10. I guess I’ll just have to do a registry search for keys called Null and hope I can spot it, if no one knows for sure. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registry-difference-between-win10-and-win-11/961232/5 "2022-03-17T21:44:56Z")
I got sidetracked last night and forgot. I updated my VM of Windows 11 to check and see what was going on. And the key does seem to exist. (Do note that you have to type it with \, not /, so you type `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Null` into the regedit address bar. I also believe it is the `Start` setting you’ll need to change. If you still can’t find it, the fact that I found it on my copy suggests it still works. Here’s the .reg file that represents all the default options, but with `Start` changed to 2. ```json Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Null] "ErrorControl"=dword:00000001 "Group"="Base" "Start"=dword:00000002 "Tag"=dword:00000001 "Type"=dword:00000001 ``` ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/registry-difference-between-win10-and-win-11/961232/6 "2022-03-17T23:35:48Z")
Thanks to you too! But as I say above, even in a Win11 installation that already has that key, changing it does not fix the problem that it used to under Win10. My guess is the same function is done elsewhere in Win 11. BTW here is why that function ever gets changed from 2 to usually 4: [https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/a-non-paged-pool/209717ac-c688-46c0-b8ec-86632cbf63b3](https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/a-non-paged-pool/209717ac-c688-46c0-b8ec-86632cbf63b3) Why that setting has the effect on our app installing via msiexec I have no idea!