database-tools

To retrieve all error events from a system log that occurred yesterday, here is how to calculate the start and stop times: PS> $end = Get-Date...

To create variables that calculate their content each time they are accessed, use access-triggered variable breakpoints. This line, for example,...

Most sophisticated PowerShell editors have built-in debugging support. PowerShell can handle breakpoints natively, too, though. To make PowerShell...

When you digitally sign scripts, you can easily tell whether a script was manipulated or comes from an untrusted source. Here is a function that can...

When you save scripts with the PowerShell ISE script editor, they are saved with the rather unusual "Big Endian Unicode" encoding....

In a previous tip, we illustrated how you access a code signing certificate that was installed on your computer. With such a certificate, you can...

To digitally sign PowerShell scripts, you need a certificate with the purpose "CodeSigning". Here is how you find out which code signing...

To find out the total size of all subfolders in a directory, try this function: function Get-FolderSize($Path=$home) { $code = { ('{0:0.0}...

To scrape valuable information from websites with PowerShell you can download the HTML code and then use regular expressions to extract what you are...

PowerShell comes with great support for regular expressions but the -match operator can only find the first occurrence of a pattern. To find all...

In a previous tip, we illustrated how a function can run inside a PowerShell pipeline. That's an excellent way to create filters. Here is a...

Code inside PowerShell functions always is placed in the begin, process, or end block. You may not have noticed this because when you don't do...

When you handle errors using try/catch/finally, you may wonder what the finally block is for. Here is a demo: try { dir nonexisting:\ -ErrorAction...

To suppress errors in a cmdlet, you can use the common parameter -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue. Here is a sample: Get-WmiObject Win32_BIOS...

To quickly define large integers, use the keyword "E" inside your number: PS> 64E6 64000000 ReTweet this Tip! http://bit.ly/pGRrMP

If a script needs to run only particular commands with full Administrator privileges, you can run those in a separate elevated shell. $code =...

On UAC-enabled systems, to make sure a script is running with full admin privileges, add this code at the beginning of your script:...

PowerShell can read RSS feeds in just a couple of lines of code. Many radio broadcasters maintain RSS feeds with information about speed traps and...

Here is a fun function that converts text to speech. It even has a switch parameter called -Drunk to change the voice accordingly: function Out-Text...

To find out whether a computer is idling for a long time or actually doing something, here is a function that returns the last process that was...

WMI can return network information such as your current IP address and MAC address. Here is a sample how PowerShell can utilize and beautify the...

In a previous tip you learned how to list installed Windows Updates. Unfortunately, this only works for local machines. Provided you have enabled...

Whenever you use Invoke-Command to remotely execute code, you will notice that PowerShell automatically adds the column PSComputerName to your...

There is a not widely known COM object that you can use to list all the installed Windows Updates on a machine. Here is the code: $Session =...

Assume your function wanted to know whether it is the last element in a pipeline or operating in the middle of it. Here is a way for a function to...

Let's assume your script wants to share status information via a balloon message in the system tray area. Here is a sample:...

PowerShell is all about trial and error, and when you want to save your interactive input to a script file, this is how it could be done:...

In a previous tip you learned how you can forward function parameters to cmdlets. But what if you just want to forward some of the parameters? Here...

When disk space gets low, you may want to clean up your temporary folder. The code deletes all files that are older than 30 days to make sure...