Test-Path Remove-Item issue - powershell

Question

I have a powershell script to install a very large application (15gb source media) from a location its been delivered to on the C drive.
At the end of the script, to ensure that the software is installed I perform a test-path of the HKLM Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Uninstall path for the GUID, and if successful, clear the source media from the C drive.
If (Test-Path("HKLM:pathname")) { Remove-Item $path -force -recurse }
The problem I have is that the above command works via Powershell ISE when run individually. It knows the key exists so should perform Remove-Item. When run as a script, or via a deployment mechanism, it will not remove the folder.
I have even gone further and used:
GCI $Path -Recurse | Remove-Item -force -recurse
... to no avail.
Prior to introducing the Test-Path, I only had the Remove-Item $Path -force -recurse and this worked!!
So despite Test-Path correctly judging, it appears to prevent Remove-Item from doing anything. (I wrote to a log file to check the If routing)
Any thoughts? Sorry for any typos, I did not copy / paste any part of the script.

Answer 1

If you can't delete the key immediately after, that probably means it has a write lock that's been applied by the Test-Path cmdlet.
Try finding out if a lock exist using Sysinternals Handle command and then release it using the handle.exe -c argument, referencing the hexadecimal number.
Make sure the format used in $path matches the format used by handle.exe
$lock = & handle.exe -nobanner -a -p ($PID) ($path)
if (-not ($lock -like '*No matching handles found*')){
& handle.exe -nobanner -p ($PID) -c ($lock[0].split(':')[0].Trim(' ')) -y
}
This will only work if you have the permission to close handles.