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\"" /fI 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.
84 Answers
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.
2Since you're using PowerShell, I'd suggest using the New-Item and New-ItemProperty cmdlets instead of Reg.exe, as they will let you include the escaped quotes.
E.G:
$registryPath = "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\dcpm-notify"
$name = "ImagePath"
$value = "`"C:\Program Files\Dell\CommandPowerManager\NotifyService.exe`""
# If registry path doesn't exist, create it.
If (-NOT (Test-Path $registryPath)) { New-Item $registryPath | Out-Null
}
New-ItemProperty -Path $registryPath ` -Name $name ` -Value $value ` -PropertyType ExpandString ` -Force | Out-NullNote: This example is targeted at the local machine. To run it against remote computer(s), look into using the Invoke-Command PowerShell cmdlet to invoke the above commands on the remote computer(s).
The easiest answer would be to use single quotes around the text so double quotes become text by itself.
Your command would become:
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"' /fTo explain it further:
Powershell knows two ways to work with text.
$test = "This is a test"
$test2 = 'This is also a test'Because the above works, it allows you to do this:
$test3 = 'This is "double quoted" text'
$test4 = "This is 'single quoted' text"And if you need to have a string which has both, you can accomplish it as follows:
$test5 = 'This is "double quoted" and ' + "'single quoted' text in one"[Tested] For anyone that still wants to use reg add in powershell, just add ` after the backslash. The reg commands requires \" when you need to add double quotes in the value of an entry and powershell escapes double quotes by using `
When you run in powershell:
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
The command will be rendered as the original.
