CreateKey

Creates a subkey.

Creates a subkey.

Example

Do not run below example code just to see what happens next. Many methods seriously affect your system. Always make sure you actually understand what the method and the code do.

# define the arguments you want to submit to the method
# remove values that you do not want to submit
# make sure you replace values with meaningful content before running the code
# see section "Parameters" below for a description of each argument.
$arguments = @{
    hDefKey         = [UInt32](12345)  # replace 12345 with a meaningful value
    sSubKeyName     = 'someText'  # replace 'someText' with meaningful text
}


Invoke-CimMethod -ClassName StdRegProv -Namespace Root/default -MethodName CreateKey -Arguments $arguments

To run this method on one or more remote systems, use New-CimSession:

$ComputerName = 'server12','server14'  # adjust to your server names
$Credential   = Get-Credential         # submit a user account with proper permissions

# define the arguments you want to submit to the method
# remove values that you do not want to submit
# make sure you replace values with meaningful content before running the code
# see section "Parameters" below for a description of each argument.
$arguments = @{
    hDefKey         = [UInt32](12345)  # replace 12345 with a meaningful value
    sSubKeyName     = 'someText'  # replace 'someText' with meaningful text
}


$session = New-CimSession -ComputerName $ComputerName -Credential $Credential

Invoke-CimMethod -ClassName StdRegProv -Namespace Root/default -MethodName CreateKey -Arguments $arguments -CimSession $session

Remove-CimSession -CimSession $session

Learn more about Invoke-CimMethod and invoking WMI methods.

Syntax

uint32 CreateKey(
  [in] uint32 hDefKey = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
  [in] String sSubKeyName
);

Parameters

Name Type Description
hDefKey UInt32 Optional parameter that specifies the tree that contains the sSubKeyName path. The default value is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (0x80000002). The following trees are defined in Winreg.h:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (0x80000000)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER (0x80000001)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (0x80000002)
HKEY_USERS (0x80000003)
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG (0x80000005)
HKEY_DYN_DATA (0x80000006)
Note that HKEY_DYN_DATA is a valid tree for Windows 95 and Windows 98 computers only.
sSubKeyName String Contains the key to be created. The CreateKey method creates all subkeys specified in the path that do not exist. For example, if MyKey and MySubKey do not exist in the following path, CreateKey creates both keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MyKey\MySubKey

Return Value

Returns a value of type UInt32. Typically, a value of 0 indicates success.

Requirements

To use StdRegProv, 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

StdRegProv was introduced on clients with Windows Vista and on servers with Windows Server 2008.

Namespace

StdRegProv lives in the Namespace Root/default. This is not the default namespace. Use parameter -Namespace root/default with all CIM cmdlets..

Implementation

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

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