Returning value from HKCR using Powershell

Question

I have a function in Powershell that returns the path from where a COM dll is registered; within the function correct path is returned but when this function is invoked, there is an extra string "HKCR" prefixed to the output

function com_registeredpath()
{  
    param([string]$guid)

    New-PSDrive -Name HKCR -PSProvider Registry -Root HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

    $key = Get-Item "HKCR:\CLSID\$guid\InprocServer32"
    $values = Get-ItemProperty $key.PSPath

    [string] $defaultValue = [string] $values."(default)"
    write-host ">>>: $defaultValue" # returns a value like: c:\somefolder\somefile.dll

    remove-psdrive -name HKCR
    return $defaultValue
}

write-host "~~~" (com_registeredpath "{00F97463-DF44-11D1-BED5-00600831F894}") #   returns a value like: HKCR c:\somefolder\somefile.dll

Can some one explain this strange behaviour? I would expect both return values to be same.

Answer 1

I don't get a path prefixed with the reg hive. First, you need to suppress the result of the new psdrive, you don't want the function to return anything but the dll path (I assigned it to null). Lastly, you can get the value without crating a psdrive, just use the provider path for HKCR

function Get-ComRegisteredPath
{
    param( [string]$Guid )

    try
    {
        $reg = Get-ItemProperty "Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\$Guid\InprocServer32" -ErrorAction Stop
        $reg.'(default)'
    }
    catch
    {
        Write-Error $_ 
    }   
}

PS> Get-ComRegisteredPath -Guid '{00F97463-DF44-11D1-BED5-00600831F894}'