How to access the 64-bit registry from a 32-bit Powershell instance?

Question

If you launch a 32-bit instance of Powershell (%SystemRoot%syswow64WindowsPowerShellv1.0powershell.exe), then the registry provider only sees the limited 32-bit parts of the registry.

**32-bit console**
PS> (dir HKLM:SOFTWARE | measure).count - (dir HKLM:SOFTWAREwow6432node | measure).count

0

**64-bit console**
PS> (dir HKLM:SOFTWARE | measure).count - (dir HKLM:SOFTWAREwow6432node | measure).count

-5

Is there any way to force the provider into 64-bit mode? I could drop down to [Microsoft.Win32] .Net APIs, or maybe WMI, but I'd rather not. I'm using Powershell v2 CTP3 if that expands the possibilities at all.

Answer 1

With .NET API you can read 64-bit values like this:

$key = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenBaseKey([Microsoft.Win32.RegistryHive]::LocalMachine, [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryView]::Registry64)
$subKey =  $key.OpenSubKey("SOFTWAREMicrosoft.NETFramework")
$root = $subKey.GetValue("InstallRoot")