Windows PowerShell Cookbook, 3rd Edition

Chapter 21. The Windows Registry

Introduction

As the configuration store for the vast majority of applications, the registry plays a central role in system administration. It is also generally hard to manage.

Although command-line tools (such as reg.exe) exist to help you work with the registry, their interfaces are usually inconsistent and confusing. The Registry Editor graphical user interface is easy to use, but it does not support scripted administration.

PowerShell tackles this problem by exposing the Windows Registry as a navigation provider: a data source that you navigate and manage in exactly the same way that you work with the filesystem.

Navigate the Registry

Problem

You want to navigate and explore the Windows Registry.

Solution

Use the Set-Location cmdlet to navigate the registry, just as you would navigate the filesystem:

PS > Set-Location HKCU:
PS > Set-Location \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
PS > Get-Location

Path
----
HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Discussion

PowerShell lets you navigate the Windows Registry in exactly the same way that you navigate the filesystem, certificate drives, and other navigation-based providers. Like these other providers, the registry provider supports the Set-Location cmdlet (with the standard aliases of sl, cd, and chdir), Push-Location (with the standard alias pushd), Pop-Location (with the standard alias popd), and more.

For information about how to change registry keys once you get to a registry location, ...