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To quickly compare folder content and find out files that exist only in one of two folders, try this example: $list1 = Get-ChildItem...

If you must put a credential object in your script, here is a way how you can convert a secure string into encrypted text: $password = Read-Host...

To quickly get a list of all drive letters in use, try this: #requires -Version 1 [Environment]::GetLogicalDrives() The result is a list of all...

PowerShell 3.0 and later In a previous tip we explained how you can use the Windows product ID stored in the Windows Registry to encrypt some text...

PowerShell 3.0 and later To store secret information, you can use a SecureString object and save it to disk. PowerShell automatically takes the user...

Microsoft Exchange 2013 To find the number of mailboxes, simply use the Exchange cmdlets and have Measure-Object count the results: Get-Mailbox...

PowerShell 2.0 and later When you create PowerShell functions with parameters, make sure you tell PowerShell what kind of values the parameter...

All Versions Cmdlets can declare how severe their impact is. Typically, cmdlets that make changes to the system that cannot be undone will have an...

PowerShell 3.0 ISE and later When you want to select the information returned by a cmdlet, you typically use Select-Object: Get-Process |...

All Versions There are free Active Directory cmdlets from Microsoft (part of the RSAT tools) and Dell (Quest). They take the complexity out of...

All PowerShell versions Some variables are protected and cannot be changed. To identify these, take a look at this line: Get-Variable | Where-Object...

All PowerShell versions To make PowerShell scripts more robust, you can code a lot of requirements right into your script variables. When you do...

All PowerShell versions Variables in PowerShell are volatile. You can overwrite and delete them – unless you create constants. Constants can...

PowerShell 3.0 and later If your script needs additional resources, like text lists of server names, or picture files, or anything else, then make...

PowerShell ISE In the PowerShell console, you can pipe commands to the old-fashioned “more.com”, or better yet, to Out-Host...

All versions To find out which users have a (local) user profile on your machine, and where this profile is located, try this snippet: $path =...

All versions In a previous tip you learned how a one-liner can read multiple registry keys. In part 2, check out this one-liner: $lookup =...

All versions PowerShell code can be extremely dense. Here is a one-liner that reads all associated file extensions from the Windows Registry:...

All Versions Sort-Object is your one-stop solution for sorting. If it’s primitive data, simply pipe it to Sort-Object. If it is object data,...

All versions Let’s assume you would like to open your favorite websites in a browser when you start your day. PowerShell can do this for you...

PowerShell 3.0 and later Sometimes it is important to know just how long a command takes. For example, to monitor web site response times, you could...

PowerShell 3.0 and later Objects can contain nested properties, and the data you are after may be “somewhere” inside an object. To...

All PowerShell Versions Some cmdlets (like Remove-ADGroupMember) automatically ask for confirmation. This can be a problem in scripts running...

PowerShell 3.0 and later Beginning in PowerShell 3.0 PowerShell no longer ships its help files. Instead, you need to download them via Update-Help,...