title: How to access the 64-bit registry from a 32-bit Powershell instance?
body: <p>If you launch a 32-bit instance of Powershell (%SystemRoot%\syswow64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe), then the registry provider only sees the limited 32-bit parts of the registry.</p>
  
  <pre><code>**32-bit console**
  PS&gt; (dir HKLM:\SOFTWARE | measure).count - (dir HKLM:\SOFTWARE\wow6432node | measure).count
  
  0
  
  **64-bit console**
  PS&gt; (dir HKLM:\SOFTWARE | measure).count - (dir HKLM:\SOFTWARE\wow6432node | measure).count
  
  -5
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>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.</p>