Use Powershell to create a "fake" program in the programs and features list for indexing purposes

For a reason I won't go in to here I recently had to create a fake program in the programs and features list of a computer. One example when this might be useful is for indexing purposes but there are other usecases for it as well.

Since this list is saved in the registry adding a new program to it is easy. I tend to follow the "code should document itself" approach since I never know who might have to modify my code at a later date, to that end I decided to make a function out of this instead of adding a lot of stuff to the registry inside the main script.

If you find another usecase for this script I would be happy to hear it.

Function New-PopsFakeProgram {
    <#
    .SYNOPSIS
        Add a fake program to programs & features
    .DESCRIPTION
        Add a fake program to programs & features
    .PARAMETER Name
        The internal name
    .PARAMETER DisplayName
        The name that should be shown
    .PARAMETER Publisher
        The name of the publisher
    .PARAMETER DisplayVersion
        The version number
    .PARAMETER DisplayIcon
       Path to a display icon, can be an exe file
    .PARAMETER UninstallString
        The string for uninstalling the program
    .PARAMETER NoRemove
        Remove Uninstall option in appwiz
    .PARAMETER NoModify
        Remove Modify option in appwiz
    .EXAMPLE
        New-PopsFakeProgram -Name "MyFakeProgram" -DisplayName "My fake program"
    .NOTES
    .LINK
        scriptingnerd.com/2020/03/13/use-powershell-to-create-a-fake-program-in-the-programs-and-features-list-for-indexing-purposes
    #>
    
    Param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$DisplayName,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$Publisher = "Dummy",
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$DisplayVersion = $(Get-Date -Format "yyyy.dd.MM.HHmm"),
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$DisplayIcon = "C:\Windows\explorer.exe",
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$UninstallString = "DummyUninstall",
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [switch]$NoRemove,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [switch]$NoModify
    )
    
    if ( -not (Test-Path -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -PathType Container) ) {
        New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" -Name $Name | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -Name "DisplayName" -Type String -Value $DisplayName -Force | Out-Null
    New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -Name "Publisher" -Type String -Value $Publisher -Force | Out-Null
    New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -Name "DisplayVersion" -Type String -Value $DisplayVersion -Force | Out-Null
    New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -Name "DisplayIcon" -Type String -Value $DisplayIcon -Force | Out-Null
    New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -Name "UninstallString" -Type String -Value $UninstallString -Force | Out-Null
    
    If ($NoRemove) {
        New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -Name "NoRemove" -Type Dword -Value 1 -Force | Out-Null
    }

    If ($NoModify) {
        New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -Name "NoModify" -Type Dword -Value 1 -Force | Out-Null
    }
}
    

Function Remove-PopsFakeProgram {
    <#
    .SYNOPSIS
        Remove a program from programs & features
    .DESCRIPTION
        Remove a program from programs & features
    .PARAMETER Name
        The internal name, this is probably not the one you see in programs & features
    .EXAMPLE
        Remove-PopsFakeProgram -Name "MyFakeProgram"
    .NOTES
    .LINK
        scriptingnerd.com/2020/03/13/use-powershell-to-create-a-fake-program-in-the-programs-and-features-list-for-indexing-purposes
    #>
    Param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$Name
    )
    if ( Test-Path -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -PathType Container ) {
        Remove-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$Name" -Recurse -Force  
    }
        
}