Contents:
- [Navigate the Windows Registry Like a File System with PowerShell](https://woshub.com/how-to-access-and-manage-windows-registry-with-powershell/#h2_1)
- [Get a Registry Parameter Value via PowerShell](https://woshub.com/how-to-access-and-manage-windows-registry-with-powershell/#h2_2)
- [Changing Registry Value with PowerShell](https://woshub.com/how-to-access-and-manage-windows-registry-with-powershell/#h2_3)
- [How to Create a New Register Key or Parameter with PowerShell?](https://woshub.com/how-to-access-and-manage-windows-registry-with-powershell/#h2_4)
- [Deleting a Registry Key or Parameter](https://woshub.com/how-to-access-and-manage-windows-registry-with-powershell/#h2_5)
- [How to Rename a Registry Key or a Parameter?](https://woshub.com/how-to-access-and-manage-windows-registry-with-powershell/#h2_6)
- [Search Registry for Keyword Using PowerShell](https://woshub.com/how-to-access-and-manage-windows-registry-with-powershell/#h2_7)
- [Setting Registry Key Permissions with PowerShell](https://woshub.com/how-to-access-and-manage-windows-registry-with-powershell/#h2_8)
- [Getting a Registry Value from a Remote Computer via PowerShell](https://woshub.com/how-to-access-and-manage-windows-registry-with-powershell/#h2_9)
- String (REG\_SZ)
- ExpandString (REG\_EXPAND\_SZ)
- MultiString (REG\_MULTI\_SZ)
- Binary (REG\_BINARY)
- DWord (REG\_DWORD)
- Qword (REG\_QWORD)
- Unknown (unsupported registry data type)
Make sure that the new key and parameter have appeared in the registry.
[](https://woshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/powershell-create-registry-parameter.jpg)
**How to check if a registry key exists?**
If you need to check if a specific registry key exists, use the **Test-Path** cmdlet:
`Test-Path 'HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\NewKey'`
The following PowerShell script will check if a specific registry value exists, and if not, create it.
`regkey='HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\NewKey'$regparam='testparameter'if (Get-ItemProperty -Path $regkey -Name $regparam -ErrorAction Ignore){ write-host 'The registry entry already exist' }else{ New-ItemProperty -Path $regkey -Name $regparam -Value ”woshub_test” -PropertyType "String" }`
Using the **Copy-Item** cmdlet, you can copy entries from one registry key to another:
`$source='HKLM:\SOFTWARE\7-zip\'$dest = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\backup'Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest -Recurse`
If you want to copy everything, including subkeys, add the *–Recurse* switch.
## Deleting a Registry Key or Parameter
The **Remove-ItemProperty** command is used to remove a parameter in the registry key. Let’s remove the parameter SuperParamString created earlier:
`$HKCU_Desktop= "HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop"Remove-ItemProperty –Path $HKCU_Desktop\NewKey –Name "SuperParamString"`
You can delete the entire registry key with all its contents:
`Remove-Item –Path $HKCU_Desktop\NewKey –Recurse`
**Note.** –Recurse switch indicates that all subkeys have to be removed recursively.
To remove all items in the reg key (but not the key itself):
`Remove-Item –Path $HKCU_Desktop\NewKey\* –Recurse`
## How to Rename a Registry Key or a Parameter?
You can rename the registry parameter with the command:
`Rename-ItemProperty –path ‘HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\NewKey’ –name "SuperParamString" –newname “OldParamString”`
In the same way, you can rename the registry key:
`Rename-Item -path 'HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\NewKey' OldKey`
## Search Registry for Keyword Using PowerShell
PowerShell allows you to search the registry. The next following searches the HKCU:\\Control Panel\\Desktop for parameters, whose names contain the \**dpi*\* key.
`$Path = (Get-ItemProperty ‘HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop’)$Path.PSObject.Properties | ForEach-Object {If($_.Name -like '*dpi*'){Write-Host $_.Name ' = ' $_.Value}}`
To find a registry key with a specific name:
`Get-ChildItem -path HKLM:\ -recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*woshub*"}`
## Setting Registry Key Permissions with PowerShell
You can get the current registry key permissions using the Get-ACL cmdlet (the [Get-ACL cmdlet also allows you to manage NTFS permissions on files and folders](https://woshub.com/manage-ntfs-permissions-powershell/)).
`$rights = Get-Acl -Path 'HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\NewKey'$rights.Access.IdentityReference`
[](https://woshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/get-registry-key-permissions-with-powershell.jpg)
In the following example, we will modify the ACL in this registry key to grant write access to the built-in Users group.
Get current permissions:
`$rights = Get-Acl -Path 'HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\NewKey'`
Specify the user or group you want to grant access to:
`$idRef = [System.Security.Principal.NTAccount]"BuiltIn\Users"`
Select access level:
`$regRights = [System.Security.AccessControl.RegistryRights]::WriteKey`
Set permissions inheritance settings :
`$inhFlags = [System.Security.AccessControl.InheritanceFlags]::None$prFlags = [System.Security.AccessControl.PropagationFlags]::None`
Access type (Allow/Deny):
`$acType = [System.Security.AccessControl.AccessControlType]::Allow`
Create an access rule:
`$rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.RegistryAccessRule ($idRef, $regRights, $inhFlags, $prFlags, $acType)`
Add a new rule to the current ACL:
`$rights.AddAccessRule($rule)`
Apply new permissions to the registry key:
`$rights | Set-Acl -Path 'HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\NewKey'`
Make sure the new group appears in the ACL of the registry key.
[](https://woshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/set-registry-ermissions-powershell.jpg)
## Getting a Registry Value from a Remote Computer via PowerShell
PowerShell allows you to access the registry of a remote computer. You can connect to a remote computer either using WinRM ([Invoke-Command](https://woshub.com/invoke-command-run-powershell-scripts-remotely/) or [Enter-PSSession](https://woshub.com/enter-pssession-remote-command-shell/)). To get the value of a registry parameter from a remote computer:
`Invoke-Command –ComputerName srv-fs1 –ScriptBlock {Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\System\Setup' -Name WorkingDirectory}`
Or using a remote registry connection (the RemoteRegistry service must be enabled)
`$Server = "lon-fs1"$Reg = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenRemoteBaseKey('LocalMachine', $Server)$RegKey= $Reg.OpenSubKey("System\Setup")$RegValue = $RegKey.GetValue("WorkingDirectory")`
# PST Mailbox Import Export
This module also includes the [Test-NetConnection](https://woshub.com/checking-tcp-port-response-using-powershell/) cmdlet which can be used to find open TCP ports on remote computers.
Windows may have some [hidden network adapters](https://woshub.com/remove-hidden-ghost-network-adapter-windows/). To show them all, add the **IncludeHidden** parameter:
When copying files to VMs, many administrators have noticed [poor network performance on Windows Server 2019](https://woshub.com/poor-network-performance-hyper-windows-server/) with Hyper-V roles enabled. In this case, reverting the TCP stack settings to the settings that were used in Windows Server 2016 will help to resolve the issues:
`Set-NetTCPSetting -SettingName DatacenterCustom,Datacenter -CongestionProvider DCTCPSet-NetTCPSetting -SettingName DatacenterCustom,Datacenter -CwndRestart TrueSet-NetTCPSetting -SettingName DatacenterCustom,Datacenter -ForceWS Disabled`
To view active TCP/IP sessions on a computer, use the [Get-NetTCPConnection cmdlet](https://woshub.com/get-nettcpconnection-windows-powershell/).
You can use the New-NetIPAddress to [add a second IP address (alias) to a network adapter](https://woshub.com/assign-multiple-ip-addresses-single-nic-windows/).
Display DNS cache contents in Windows::
`Get-DnsClientCache`