database-tools

When launching powershell.exe directly, you get a console with black background and only 300 lines of buffer text. When you launch PowerShell from...

Get-Help is great for discovering cmdlet and function syntax but sometimes it fails on PowerShell v.2. Take a look at this: Get-Help...

In a previous tip, you learned how to add Comment-Based Help information to your own functions so that Get-Help can auto-document the usage....

PowerShell v.2 allows your functions to seamlessly integrate with the built-in PowerShell Help system. All you need to do is a Comment-Based- Help...

Another new feature in PowerShell v.2 is the introduction of a new block comment. Basically, anything you place between <# and #> will be...

PowerShell v.2 has a new trick for creating your very own objects that you can then pass to other cmdlets. It is a two-step process. First, create a...

Many cmdlet parameters have built-in alias names that you can use instead of the full parameter name. So instead of "dir -ErrorAction...

You can shorten parameter names since cmdlet parameters are sometimes long and hard to type in. You will only need to enter as much of a parameter...

Use this line if you need to get a quick list of all parameters that a given cmdlet supports along with a short description: Get-Help dir -para * |...

You can find out which cmdlet parameters are positional by using this line: get-help dir -parameter * | Where-Object { $_.Position -as [Int] } |...

Cmdlets typically support a lot of parameters. For convenience, the most important ones have an assigned "position" so you can specify...

In a previous tip, we created a Check-Online filter to eliminate offline systems from a list of IP addresses and computer names. Now, find out what...

If you need to collect hardware and/or software information from a bunch of remote systems, you should take advantage of the Check-Online filter...

Even PowerShell v.1 has remarkable remoting capabilities--as long as you can make sure the target systems are online. Otherwise, you run into...

You can use a cmdlet called Test-Path to test whether a given path exists. However, existing drives not currently in use, such as a CD-ROM drive,...

What if you needed to map network drives during log-on? You could use fixed drive letters, but what if those drive letters are already in use? Here...

Certificates are digital identities, and when you already own the private key to a certificate, you own this identity. You can then use these...

PowerShell has a cert: drive that lets you explore all certificates installed on your system. Once you locate a certificate, you can then export it...

As you probably know, PowerShell cmdlets adhere to a strict verb-noun syntax. You cannot choose just any verb when you compile your own cmdlets in a...

In a previous tip, you learned how to use BITS on Windows 7 to download files in the background. One issue with this approach is that the download...

Windows 7 comes with a new module called BitsTransfer. This allows you to schedule downloads so they can download in the background using the BITS...

While Get-Command delivers a list of available cmdlets, sometimes you'd like to find out which new cmdlets come from a specific snap-in....

You will find cmdlets available in PowerShell can come from two sources: PowerShell-SnapIns and (new in v.2) modules. Try this to see which cmdlets...

It is a good idea to check out how PowerShell v.2 automatically detects and loads all available system modules. Simply look at the definition of the...