You Can Only Import Binary Registry Files

Hello,
I\'m new to PowerShell, so the answer may be staring me in the face..
I\'m building a script to modify various registry entries using a .csv as an input file.
The environment is a Win 7 environment, with PowerShell 3.0..

I\'m stuck on properly creating the values for binary entries.
The section of script is simply adding sites to the \'Allowed Sites\' list for the pop-up blocker in IE 10 and/or 11 (GPOs are not an option).

Here\'s the code-everything seems to work, except that the value is not as expected..

#Create an array using a .csv file that is formatted and populated with data as indicated below
# Name,Type,Value
#Site1,Binary,\'00,00\'
$as = @(import-csv \'somepathAllowed.csv\')
foreach ($a in $as)
{
$a.Name,$a.Type,$a.Value
new-itemproperty -path \'HKCU:softwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerNew WindowsAllow\' -name $a.name -type $a.type -Value $a.value
}

Running the script against the input file, I consistently get a registry value of {0}, rather than {0,0}. However, if I run the new-itemproprty cmdlet with the -value property discretely entered as 00,00.the value returns {0,0}.
i.e. \'new-itemproperty -path \'HKCU:softwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerNew WindowsAllow\' -name $a.name -type *a.type -Value 00,00\' returns values as expected..

I presume my error lies in the properties of the .value noteproperty string value? I\'d like to expand the base script to additional registry keys, so I need to make sure I get values to populate properly from the array properties. Am I missing a blatant conversion step, or is my issue more subtle?

Thanks for any help!

Charlie O

Can you manually add that value with no problem?

I\'ve found an example format of what binary values should look like:
([byte[]](0x00,0xFF))

The issue is due to the data type from the csv file. The binary data is being stored as a string and when you write the value to the registry key the sting is converted to a byte data type.

to properly write the value from the csv you will need to convert $a.Value from a string to a CharArray

also take a look at https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/scriptcenter/en-US/a97a34bb-40cc-4b74-a44d-f90bc733a412/how-to-change-registry-string-and-binary-values-with-powershell?forum=ITCG for more examples of working with binary registry keys

Hi Charles,

Jonathan actually gave you a far more useful answer than me, and taught me something in reading it myself.

Just do some trial an error, for example, try swapping out $value1, $value2 and $value3. I\'ve never attempted what you\'re attempting, but just play around with it 🙂

\'0x00,0x00\'-the script throws \'Cannot convert value \'0x00,0x00\' to type \'System.Byte. tells me this is all along the right lines..

Please let me know what worked!

You can store the string value in your csv and use your code to convert to the binary value

Here is some helpful info about what you see when you look at the registry key
http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2005/02/24/how-can-i-write-binary-data-to-the-registry.aspx

Are you sure you\'re writing out your binary in a valid format?

Here\'s what I would do:
Test out some example strings you find on the internet, For Example \'(0x00,0xFF)\'. Put it in a variable and try to convert it, once you\'ve converted it successfully and pipe it to get-member to see if it\'s what you want.

Then, use the string you\'re trying to use, does it convert? does it work as expected?

I don\'t have a direct answer for you, but hopefully if this is helpful you\'ll come back and tell me how it\'s done 🙂

Hello,
I\'m new to PowerShell, so the answer may be staring me in the face..
I\'m building a script to modify various registry entries using a .csv as an input file.
The environment is a Win 7 environment, with PowerShell 3.0..

I\'m stuck on properly creating the values for binary entries.
The section of script is simply adding sites to the \'Allowed Sites\' list for the pop-up blocker in IE 10 and/or 11 (GPOs are not an option).

Here\'s the code-everything seems to work, except that the value is not as expected..

#Create an array using a .csv file that is formatted and populated with data as indicated below
# Name,Type,Value
#Site1,Binary,\'00,00\'
$as = @(import-csv \'somepathAllowed.csv\')
foreach ($a in $as)
{
$a.Name,$a.Type,$a.Value
new-itemproperty -path \'HKCU:softwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerNew WindowsAllow\' -name $a.name -type $a.type -Value $a.value
}

Running the script against the input file, I consistently get a registry value of {0}, rather than {0,0}. However, if I run the new-itemproprty cmdlet with the -value property discretely entered as 00,00.the value returns {0,0}.
i.e. \'new-itemproperty -path \'HKCU:softwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerNew WindowsAllow\' -name $a.name -type *a.type -Value 00,00\' returns values as expected..

I presume my error lies in the properties of the .value noteproperty string value? I\'d like to expand the base script to additional registry keys, so I need to make sure I get values to populate properly from the array properties. Am I missing a blatant conversion step, or is my issue more subtle?

Thanks for any help!

Charlie O

Can you manually add that value with no problem?

I\'ve found an example format of what binary values should look like:
([byte[]](0x00,0xFF))

The issue is due to the data type from the csv file. The binary data is being stored as a string and when you write the value to the registry key the sting is converted to a byte data type.

to properly write the value from the csv you will need to convert $a.Value from a string to a CharArray

also take a look at https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/scriptcenter/en-US/a97a34bb-40cc-4b74-a44d-f90bc733a412/how-to-change-registry-string-and-binary-values-with-powershell?forum=ITCG for more examples of working with binary registry keys

Hi Charles,

Jonathan actually gave you a far more useful answer than me, and taught me something in reading it myself.

Just do some trial an error, for example, try swapping out $value1, $value2 and $value3. I\'ve never attempted what you\'re attempting, but just play around with it 🙂

\'0x00,0x00\'-the script throws \'Cannot convert value \'0x00,0x00\' to type \'System.Byte. tells me this is all along the right lines..

Please let me know what worked!

You can store the string value in your csv and use your code to convert to the binary value

Here is some helpful info about what you see when you look at the registry key
http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2005/02/24/how-can-i-write-binary-data-to-the-registry.aspx

Are you sure you\'re writing out your binary in a valid format?

Here\'s what I would do:
Test out some example strings you find on the internet, For Example \'(0x00,0xFF)\'. Put it in a variable and try to convert it, once you\'ve converted it successfully and pipe it to get-member to see if it\'s what you want.

Then, use the string you\'re trying to use, does it convert? does it work as expected?

I don\'t have a direct answer for you, but hopefully if this is helpful you\'ll come back and tell me how it\'s done 🙂