How to Manage Registries Using Windows PowerShell

1. What is a Registry in PowerShell
2. Securing the Backup Registry in Windows PowerShell
3. Importing Registry Files in PowerShell
4. Getting a Value of a Registry Using PowerShell

The Registry Editor may be convenient when editing registries, a possibility of a human-made error may still occur. Furthermore, editing the registry is very delicate, and most local machines are dependent on it.

In Windows PowerShell, we can easily manage registries, and in this article, we will show you how to manage these registries using Windows PowerShell safely.

What is a Registry in PowerShell

The Windows Registry stores much of the settings and information for hardware devices, software programs, user preferences, and operating-system configurations.

For example, when a new application is installed, a new set of operating system configurations and program references are added to the registry in a specific location for the program.

Others that may interact with it may refer to the registry for settings to use in the program, for more information like where the files are located, and many more.

In many ways, the Windows Registry can be compared as a kind of DNA for the Windows operating system, and as much as possible, we should never tamper with it unless we need to.

Securing the Backup Registry in Windows PowerShell

It’s better to back up your registry before making any changes to it. As mentioned, any accidental and unnecessary changes within the registry may cause an error to your files, software, or worse, the whole operating system.

However, with a backup copy of the registry you’re changing stored safely in a different directory, we will feel comfortable knowing you can undo any changes that might result in problems in your system.

You may use the legacy commands reg export to quickly backup your registry. For example, the syntax below will backup the whole HKLM registry.

reg export HKLM C:\RegBack\HKLM.Reg /y

Importing Registry Files in PowerShell

Your backed-up registry keys will export in a .REG file format. Therefore, you can quickly restore backed-up registry keys by double-clicking the registry file and following the prompts.

However, if we need to include a function of importing registry files in a script, we may use the legacy command reg import to facilitate this process.

reg import C:\RegBack\HKLM.Reg

Getting a Value of a Registry Using PowerShell

The Get-ItemProperty is a PowerShell cmdlet used to return registry entries in a more readable format than its relative command Get-Item.

We can also get the value of a specific registry key using the Get-ItemProperty cmdlet.

Get-ItemProperty -Path Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Output:

ProgramFilesDir
CommonFilesDir
ProgramFilesDir (x86)
CommonFilesDir (x86)
CommonW6432Dir
DevicePath
MediaPathUnexpanded
ProgramFilesPath
ProgramW6432Dir
SM_ConfigureProgramsName
SM_GamesName