DeleteKey

Deletes 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.

param
(
  [Parameter(Mandatory)]
  [UInt32]
  $hDefKey,

  [Parameter(Mandatory)]
  [String]
  $sSubKeyName
)


Invoke-CimMethod -ClassName StdRegProv -MethodName DeleteKey -Arguments $PSBoundParameters

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

param
(
  [Parameter(Mandatory)]
  [UInt32]
  $hDefKey,

  [Parameter(Mandatory)]
  [String]
  $sSubKeyName,

  [String[]]
  $ComputerName,

  [PSCredential]
  $Credential
)


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

Invoke-CimMethod -ClassName StdRegProv -MethodName DeleteKey -Arguments $PSBoundParameters -CimSession $session

Remove-CimSession -CimSession $session

Learn more about Invoke-CimMethod and invoking WMI methods.

Syntax

uint32 DeleteKey(
  [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 deleted.

hDefKey

[Flags()]Enum StdRegProvhDefKey
{
  HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT     = 2147483648 # 
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER     = 2147483649 # 
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE    = 2147483650 # 
  HKEY_USERS            = 2147483651 # 
  HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG   = 2147483653 # 
}

Return Value

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

See Also

Additional methods implemented by StdRegProv:

CheckAccess()

CheckAccess() verifies that the user has the specified access permissions.

CreateKey()

CreateKey() creates a subkey.

DeleteValue()

DeleteValue() deletes a named value.

EnumKey()

EnumKey() enumerates subkeys.

EnumValues()

EnumValues() enumerates the named values of a key.

GetBinaryValue()

GetBinaryValue() gets the binary data value of a named value.

GetDWORDValue()

GetDWORDValue() gets the DWORD data value of a named value.

GetExpandedStringValue()

GetExpandedStringValue() gets the expanded string data value of a named value.

GetMultiStringValue()

GetMultiStringValue() gets the multiple string data values of a named value.

GetQWORDValue()

GetQWORDValue() gets the QWORD data values of a named value.

GetSecurityDescriptor()

GetSecurityDescriptor() gets the security descriptor for a key.

GetStringValue()

GetStringValue() gets the string data value of a named value.

SetBinaryValue()

SetBinaryValue() sets the binary data value of a named value.

SetDWORDValue()

SetDWORDValue() sets the DWORD data value of a named value.

SetExpandedStringValue()

SetExpandedStringValue() sets the expanded string data value of a named value.

SetMultiStringValue()

SetMultiStringValue() sets the multiple string values of a named value.

SetQWORDValue()

SetQWORDValue() sets the QWORD data values of a named value.

SetSecurityDescriptor()

SetSecurityDescriptor() sets the security descriptor for a key.

SetStringValue()

SetStringValue() sets the string value of a named value.

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/CIMv2. This is the default namespace. There is no need to use the -Namespace parameter in Get-CimInstance.

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