You probably need to re-evaluate some of your assumptions about this arbitrary supposed limit for powershell. it's easy to start seeing false patterns. process or file monitor utilities are helpful. Also "send the cat to the vet" as i like to call it, i.e. cat -vet thefile.txt on unix/cygwin to look for strange characters that can break reading a file. As has been mentioned you can use Tie::Registry, or even send a .reg file directly to windows registry editor etc.