Sort-Object is a great and versatile cmdlet to sort anything you want. Simply specify the property or properties you want to use for sorting: Dir...
database-tools
Displaying First Or Last Elements
Select-Object can limit results to only the first or last elements. Simply use -first or -last: dir | select-object -first 10Get-Process |...
Splitting Text Into Words
If you ever need to read in a file and split file content into words, there are a couple of gotchas to keep in mind. First off, remember that...
Passing ByRef vs. ByVal
Usually, when you assign a variable to another variable, its content is copied. Here is an example: $a = "Hello"$b = $a$a = "Hello...
Ejecting CDs
PowerShell can still use COM libraries. Simply use New-Object -comObject and provide the COM library name to load it. With this approach, you can do...
PowerShell Essentials: Get-Member
Get-Member is the third important basic PowerShell cmdlet as it gives you a documentation of what a command returns. It lists all of the object and...
PowerShell Essentials: Get-Help
Get-Help is the second of the three most important PowerShell cmdlets as it retrieves all the Help for any cmdlet. If you just enter Get-Help, you...
PowerShell Essentials: Get-Command
There are only three cmdlets you should know by heart. One is the Get-Command, which can do a lot more than you might think. When called without...
Create PowerShell Shortcuts
If you ever wanted to create shortcut icons on your Desktop, or in your programs menu, to quickly launch PowerShell, here is a way to do it:...
Preserving Alias Definitions
Maybe you have invested some time in creating new aliases, and now you would like to know how to preserve your new aliases so that the next time you...
Deleting Aliases
As you may know aliases are shortcuts to other commands. So, you can easily add new aliases like this: Set-Alias edit notepad.exe The next time you...
Finding PowerShell Background Information
PowerShell comes with a lot of documentation. One thing you should check out is the QuadFold.rtf file. You should use the following line to find and...
Save (and Load) Current PowerShell Configuration
PowerShell can be configured in a multitude of ways. Most often, you use Add-PSSnapin to load additional snap-ins with more cmdlets and providers....
Creating Text Files
PowerShell offers you a multitude of ways to write information to disk. Here's a quick overview. 1. You can use classic redirection:...
Auto-Documenting Script Variables
Ever wanted to get a sorted list of all variables used inside a script? Use this function: simply call Get-ScriptVariables and supply a path to your...
Encrypting Scripts With A Password
In a previous tip, you have learned how you can encrypt a PowerShell script using your identity as a secret key. You might prefer to use a...
Encrypting PowerShell Scripts
Sometimes, you may want to hide the code of your PowerShell script in order to protect passwords contained within the code. One way to safely...
Accessing individual Files and Folders Remotely via WMI
WMI is an excellent way of remotely checking files or folders since it has the ability to access individual files and folders, and also works...
Finding Out Whether A Web Page Is Open
The Shell.Application COM object returns a list of all open windows, including all opened IE browser windows. This way, you can find out whether a...
Accessing Internet Explorer
Accessing Internet Explorer can be useful for obtaining Web content. The usual approach uses a COM object called InternetExplorer.Application like...
Detect DHCP State
You can use WMI and Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration to determine whether a computer uses DHCP to acquire an IP address. Simply look for all...
Select Folder-Dialog
Want to provide your users with a neat dialog to select folders? Simply use a COM object called Shell.Application, which provides the...
Sending Simple SMTP Mail
You need to notify an admin that something happened or something is finished and would like to send a quick e-mail from inside your PowerShell...
Check Online Status
When managing more than just one system, you may want to remotely access those systems. Maybe you use WMI to do that. However, when you try and...