Win32_Registry - powershell.one

The Win32_RegistryâWMI class represents the system registry on a computer system running Windows.

Methods

Win32_Registry has no methods.

Properties

Win32_Registry returns 8 properties:

'Caption','CurrentSize','Description','InstallDate','MaximumSize','Name',
'ProposedSize','Status'

Unless explicitly marked as writeable, all properties are read-only. Read all properties for all instances:

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry -Property *

Most WMI classes return one or more instances.

When Get-CimInstance returns no result, then apparently no instances of class Win32_Registry exist. This is normal behavior.

Either the class is not implemented on your system (may be deprecated or due to missing drivers, i.e. CIM_VideoControllerResolution), or there are simply no physical representations of this class currently available (i.e. Win32_TapeDrive).

Caption

STRING MAX 64 CHAR

A short textual description of the object.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry | Select-Object -Property Name, Caption

CurrentSize

UINT32 “MEGABYTES”

Current physical size of the Windows registry.

Example: 10

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry | Select-Object -Property Name, CurrentSize

Description

STRING

A textual description of the object.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry | Select-Object -Property Name, Description

InstallDate

DATETIME

Indicates when the object was installed. Lack of a value does not indicate that the object is not installed.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry | Select-Object -Property Name, InstallDate

MaximumSize

UINT32 “MEGABYTES”

Maximum size of the Windows registry. If the system is successful in using the ProposedSize property, MaximumSize should contain the same value.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry | Select-Object -Property Name, MaximumSize

Name

KEY PROPERTY STRING

Name of the Windows registry. The maximum length is 256 characters.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry | Select-Object -Property Name

ProposedSize

WRITEABLE UINT32 “MEGABYTES”

Proposed size of the Windows registry. It is the only registry setting that can be modified, and its proposal is attempted the next time the system boots.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry | Select-Object -Property Name, ProposedSize

Status

STRING MAX 10 CHAR

Current status of an object. Various operational and nonoperational statuses can be defined. Available values:

$values = 'Degraded','Error','Lost Comm','No Contact','NonRecover','OK','Pred Fail','Service','Starting','Stopping','Stressed','Unknown'

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry | Select-Object -Property Name, Status

Examples

List all instances of Win32_Registry

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry

Learn more about Get-CimInstance and the deprecated Get-WmiObject.

View all properties

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry -Property *

View key properties only

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry -KeyOnly

Selecting Properties

To select only some properties, pipe the results to Select-Object -Property a,b,c with a comma-separated list of the properties you require. Wildcards are permitted.

Get-CimInstance always returns all properties but only retrieves the ones that you specify. All other properties are empty but still present. That’s why you need to pipe the results into Select-Object if you want to limit the visible properties, i.e. for reporting.

Selecting Properties

The code below lists all available properties. Remove the ones you do not need:

$properties = 'Caption',
              'CurrentSize',
              'Description',
              'InstallDate',
              'MaximumSize',
              'Name',
              'ProposedSize',
              'Status'
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry | Select-Object -Property $properties

Limiting Network Bandwidth

If you work remotely, it makes sense to limit network bandwidth by filtering the properties on the server side, too:

Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_Registry -Property $property | 
Select-Object -Property $property

Selecting Instances

To select some instances, use Get-CimInstance and a WMI Query. The wildcard character in WMI Queries is % (and not “*”).

The parameter -Filter runs a simple query.

Listing all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”

Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_Registry -Filter 'Caption LIKE "a%"' 

Using a WQL Query

The parameter -Query uses a query similar to SQL and combines the parameters -Filter and -Property. This returns all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”, and returns the properties specified:

Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT MaximumSize, Caption, InstallDate, Status FROM Win32_Registry WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'"

Any property you did not specify is still present but empty. You might need to use Select-Object to remove all unwanted properties:
Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT MaximumSize, Caption, InstallDate, Status FROM Win32_Registry WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'" | Select-Object -Property MaximumSize, Caption, InstallDate, Status

Accessing Remote Computers

To access remote systems, you need to have proper permissions. User the parameter -ComputerName to access one or more remote systems.

Authenticating as Current User

# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'

# authenticate with your current identity:
$result = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Registry -ComputerName $list 
$result

Authenticating as Different User

Use a CIMSession object to authenticate with a new identity:

# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'

# authenticate with a different identity:
$cred = Get-Credential -Message 'Authenticate to retrieve WMI information:'
$session = New-CimSession -ComputerName $list -Credential $cred

$result = Get-CimInstance Win32_Registry -CimSession $session

# remove the session after use (if you do not plan to re-use it later)
Remove-CimSession -CimSession $session

$result

Learn more about accessing remote computers.

Requirements

To use Win32_Registry, the following requirements apply:

PowerShell

Get-CimInstance was introduced with PowerShell Version 3.0, which in turn was introduced on clients with Windows 8 and on servers with Windows Server 2012.

If necessary, update Windows PowerShell to Windows PowerShell 5.1, or install PowerShell 7 side-by-side.

Operating System

Win32_Registry was introduced on clients with WindowsÂ Vista and on servers with Windows ServerÂ 2008.

Namespace

Win32_Registry lives in the Namespace Root/CIMV2. This is the default namespace. There is no need to use the -Namespace parameter in Get-CimInstance.

Implementation

Win32_Registry is implemented in CIMWin32.dll and defined in CIMWin32.mof. Both files are located in the folder C:\Windows\system32\wbem:

explorer $env:windir\system32\wbem
notepad $env:windir\system32\wbem\CIMWin32.mof

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