How to query the objects in "Devices and Printers" into an array via PowerShell

Question

I'm having trouble trying to query the items that are in Devices and Printers. The long run goal is to delete everything located in 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Devices' except the devices located in Devices and Printers.

Unless there is another way to do this, I just need an array of the items in "Devices and Printers".

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 15 '18 at 00:57

You can discover commands with Get-Command or gcm.

This should get you going...

C:\WINDOWS\system32> gcm *printer*

CommandType     Name                                               Version    Source                                                                                     
-----------     ----                                               -------    ------                                                                                     
Function        Add-Printer                                        1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Add-PrinterDriver                                  1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Add-PrinterPort                                    1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Get-Printer                                        1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Get-PrinterDriver                                  1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Get-PrinterPort                                    1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Get-PrinterProperty                                1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Read-PrinterNfcTag                                 1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Remove-Printer                                     1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Remove-PrinterDriver                               1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Remove-PrinterPort                                 1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Rename-Printer                                     1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Set-Printer                                        1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Set-PrinterProperty                                1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Function        Write-PrinterNfcTag                                1.1        PrintManagement                                                                            
Cmdlet          Out-Printer                                        3.1.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility                                                               



C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-Printer

Name                           ComputerName    Type         DriverName                PortName        Shared   Published  DeviceType     
----                           ------------    ----         ----------                --------        ------   ---------  ----------     
Send To OneNote 2016                           Local        Send to Microsoft OneN... nul:            False    False      Print          
Microsoft XPS Document Writer                  Local        Microsoft XPS Document... PORTPROMPT:     False    False      Print          
Microsoft Print to PDF                         Local        Microsoft Print To PDF    PORTPROMPT:     False    False      Print          
Fax                                            Local        Microsoft Shared Fax D... SHRFAX:         False    False      Print          
...
...

Thanks @kory-gill ! That will definitely help in the future. However, I'm asking about getting the Name field into an array. For instance the variable $Devices will spit out only 'Send To OneNote 2016, Microsoft XPS Document Writer, etc'. — Devon Fisher, Dec 17 '18 at 16:31

How to query the objects in "Devices and Printers" into an array via PowerShell

1 Answers1