PowerShell can use Add-Type to access internal Windows API functions. This way, it is easy to bring any process window into the foreground. Here is...
database-tools
Process Data (Part 3)
In parts 1 and 2, you learned how a PowerShell function can process information that was submitted to parameters or piped via the pipeline. In our...
Process Data (Part 2)
In part 1 we showed how a PowerShell function can receive input both from a parameter and via the pipeline, and process it in real-time. This is the...
5 Things You Can Do in SQL Diagnostic Manager That You May Not Know
There is a library of ‘how-to’ videos created for SQL Diagnostic Manager showcasing how to perform certain tasks and how to troubleshoot specific...
Processing Data (Part 1)
This is the first of the three tips showing you how a PowerShell function can accept data via pipeline or parameter. In part 1, the function...
Get UI Information for Processes
PowerShell can use UIAutomation calls to find out useful UI information about any process. You can find out whether a process accepts keyboard...
Compressing to ZIP Files
In PowerShell 5.0, Compress-Archive can easily compress files and folders to a ZIP file: PS C:\> Compress-Archive -Path c:\sourcefolder...
Quickly Scanning for Malware
If you have Windows Defender installed on your machine, you can use this PowerShell command to run a quick scan on a drive of your choice: PS>...
Enabling Telnet Client and Watching Star Wars
By default, the Telnet client is disabled on Windows systems. You can easily enable it with a one liner in PowerShell, though. Just launch a...
Enabling PowerShell Remoting with NTLM
By default, PowerShell remoting uses Kerberos authentication and works only in domain environments, and only when you specify computer names, not IP...
February #SQLChat – “Automating Your Environment”
It’s that time again! IDERA’s next Twitter Chat will be held on Wednesday, February 17 from 11 AM to 12 PM (CST). This chat will revolve around...
Validate Read-Host Input
Beginning in PowerShell 4.0, you can use validators for variable assignments. This gives you a quick and easy way of validating user input, too. The...
Embarcadero and the Object/Relational Mismatch – by Robin Bloor
The introduction of object-oriented (OO) programming languages provoked an unfortunate schism in the world of software development. Relational...
January #SQLChat Wrap-Up
A new year means new beginnings! And, what a better way to celebrate than with a Twitter Chat centered around SQL Server and starting a new job....
Restore PowerShell ISE Defaults
To restore custom settings in PowerShell ISE to factory defaults, try running these lines: $PSise.Options.RestoreDefaults()...
Fixing Remoting Bug
Have you ever tried to enable PowerShell remoting with Enable-PSRemoting, and just got an error complaining about not being able to check the...
Refreshing Icon Cache
Sometimes, Windows Explorer does not show correct icons. When you update to PowerShell 5.0, for example, both PowerShell and PowerShell ISE got new...
Cost Threshold and Max Degree of Parallelism
SQL Server has many options for configuring a database system. Most do not become apparent until some part of the system does not function...
Formatting Text Output
If you need to return multiple items in a nicely formatted text report, here is a simple trick: get yourself an ordered hash table (supported in...
Pinging Multiple Systems Fast
Test-Connection can ping multiple computers only sequentially, and it does not let you specify a timeout. So when you need to check a large number...
Test-Connection with Timeout
The Test-Connection cmdlet implements a simple ping to check whether a system responds to an ICMP request. Unfortunately, you cannot specify a...
Correct Encoding with PowerShell Remoting
When you run a native console command via PowerShell remoting, special characters like German Umlauts will be damaged because remoting uses a rather...
Finding Current File System Path
PowerShell supports not just the file system, so you can set the current path to a different provider (Set-Location). Here is a trick that always...
Creating New Objects by Hash Table Conversion
Beginning in PowerShell 3.0, you can create pre-initialized objects by using a hash table. Simply add the properties you want to preinitialize, then...