Unable to Set local group policy using powershell

Question

I try to set local group policy using PowerShell. My goal is to enable

Disable changing home page settings

Below is the PowerShell script:

# Set the values as needed
$dchps_control_panel = "HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel"
$dchps_main = "HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main"
$homepage = "HomePage"
$enabled = 1
$startpage = "Start Page"
$startpage_value = "www.google.com"

# Test if the Registry Key exists already
if(-not (Test-Path $dchps_control_panel) -or -not (Test-Path $dchps_main) )
{
    # Create Control Panel Key to enable and Main Key
    New-Item -Path $dchps_control_panel -Force
    New-Item -Path $dchps_main -Force
}

# Enable Disable changing home page settings
Set-ItemProperty -Path $dchps_control_panel -Name $homepage -Value $enabled -Type DWord
#
# Set Start Page
Set-ItemProperty -Path $dchps_main -Name $startpage  -Value $startpage_value -Type String

The registry keys both get created. However, when I check the "gpedit.msc" the setting still remains to disable and nothing was configured.

Thanks

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 26 '17 at 19:33

As expected, you need additional tools. If you run procmon during the change it'll show you the actual registry key which is under a GUID that I haven't found a way to resolve programmatically.

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects\{<GUID>}User\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page

Also, if you check the registry.pol you'll see the entry, but you won't be able to edit it directly.

gc C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\User\Registry.pol -Encoding Unicode

Unable to Set local group policy using powershell

1 Answers1