David, thanks for the suggestion. I didn't think to explicitly try setting that in the registry, but that does indeed work. I was able to code it up so the app establishes this key for me before I bind to the runtime. Code might go something like this if anyone else is trying to do this.
Private Sub rotateRegistryKey()
Try
Dim pRuntimeInfo As IEnumerable(Of ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeInfo) = ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.InstalledRuntimes
For Each item As ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeInfo In pRuntimeInfo
Dim version As String = item.Version
Dim productName As String = Nothing
Select Case item.Product
Case Is = 1
productName = "Desktop"
Case Is = 2
productName = "Engine"
End Select
If Not productName Is Nothing Then
Dim appKey As RegistryKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("Software\ESRI\" & productName & version & "\Symbology\Settings", True)
If Not appKey Is Nothing Then
'REGISTRY KEY EXISTS - CHECK DWORD VALUE
Dim regString As String = appKey.GetValue("RotateWithTransform")
If regString Is Nothing Then
'DWORD DOES NOT EXIST - CREATE AND SET VALUE TO 0 TO PREVENT POINT FEATURES FROM ROTATING
appKey.SetValue("RotateWithTransform", 0)
Else
If regString <> 0 Then
'SETTING EXISTS BUT ROTATION IS CURRENTLY ENABLED. SET TO 0 TO PREVENT POINTS FROM ROTATING
appKey.SetValue("RotateWithTransform", 0)
End If
End If
End If
End If
Next
Catch ex As Exception
WriteLog("ERROR WITH ROTATION TRANSFORM KEY IN REGISTRY.")
End Try
End Sub
