Windows – using REG ADD in PowerShell to add registry key with double quotes

powershellwindows-registry

I am trying to add registry keys to Windows 10 using a PowerShell script. The key in the registry must have double quotes included in the data field so I understand I must escape the double quote with a backslash.

The following example command throws a syntax error when executed in Powershell but works perfectly in a Command prompt window:

REG ADD \\COMPUTER1\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\dcpm-notify /v ImagePath /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d "\"C:\Program Files\Dell\CommandPowerManager\NotifyService.exe\"" /f

I have tried changing the escape characters to ` and using """ etc but I cannot get any combination to work in a PowerShell.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Best Answer

You can use [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey] to add the key.

For example:

$RemoteReg = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenRemoteBaseKey('LocalMachine',$TargetComp)
$NewKey = $RemoteReg.OpenSubKey("SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\")
$NewKey.CreateSubKey('dcpm-notify`)
$NewValue = $RemoteReg.OpenSubKey("SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\dcpm-notify")
$NewValue.SetValue('ImagePath', 'C:\Program Files\Dell\CommandPowerManager\NotifyService.exe')

Where $TargetComp is a computer you want to edit the registry for.

Please note that I have not tested the exact code, but I have used something very similar to this in the past and works without any issues. So run this on a test system first if anything.

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HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Test
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Use REG ADD with the "/f" parameter to force overwrite.

REG ADD /? explains the parameters.

REG ADD KeyName [/v ValueName | /ve] [/t type] [/s Separator] [/d Data] [/f]

KeyName     [\\Machine\]FullKey

Machine     Name of remote machine - omitting defaults to the current machine 
            Only HKLM and HKU are available on remote machines
FullKey     ROOTKEY\SubKey ROOTKEY [ HKLM | HKCU | HKCR | HKU | HKCC ] SubKey 
            The full name of a registry key under the selected ROOTKEY
/v          The value name, under the selected Key, to add
/ve         adds an empty value name <no name> for the key
/t          RegKey data types
            [ REG_SZ | REG_MULTI_SZ | REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN | REG_DWORD | 
              REG_BINARY | REG_DWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN | REG_NONE | REG_EXPAND_SZ ]
            If omitted, REG_SZ is assumed
/s          Specify one character that you use as the separator in your data 
            string for REG_MULTI_SZ. If omitted, use "\0" as the separator
/d          The data to assign to the registry ValueName being added
/f          Force overwriting the existing registry entry without prompt

To insert a new value or toggle a string value from "false" to "true", use a command like this:

reg add HKCU\Software\Citrix\Receiver /t REG_SZ /v UpgradeDone /d true /f

Example which reads an existing value and appends some string before writing it back:

set append=XXXXXX
set key=HKCU\Software\myTest
set value=myValue
set oldVal=

for /F "skip=2 tokens=3" %%r in ('reg query %key% /v %value%') do set oldVal=%%r
echo previous=%oldVal%

set newVal=%oldVal%%append% 

reg add %key% /v %value% /d %newVal% /f

Note: This sample assumes that the old value and the new value have no blanks. Otherwise one has to add quotes and change the "tokens" parameter. Extra error checking omitted for brevity. However, all registry manipulating code definitely must do adequate error checking.

Best Answer

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