RegistryHive.get_key() splits on \ and takes [1:], assuming a leading backslash. Without it, the first real segment (e.g., ControlSet001) is silently dropped:
# FAILS — "ControlSet001" dropped, looks for "Control" under root
reg.get_key("ControlSet001\\Control\\ComputerName\\ComputerName")
# WORKS — leading backslash makes [1:] discard empty string
reg.get_key("\\ControlSet001\\Control\\ComputerName\\ComputerName")