After Microsoft Updates, PI Builder or DataLink users sometimes find that their KST (known servers table) has gone empty. A potential fix is to launch Excel as admin and try to any PI Data Archive in the list.
Under the hood, the KST information would be copied from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch in the registry.
However, this becomes a maintenance issue for large organizations where users don't typically have local admin permissions. Therefore, we request an alternative for regular users to populate their KST.
Further to this we really need a way to use KST without having to fix the registry granting all users READ WRITE access to the HKLM Keys. HKLM SHOULD be read only, changes need by users should be stored elsewhere.
Currently when a user tries to use PI Builder or DataLink, as a Standard user, they are informed that "Unable to write PISDK registry key Access is denied" and can not continue.
https://customers.osisoft.com/s/knowledgearticle?knowledgeArticleUrl=DataLinkregistryediterror-PISDKAccessDenied