database-tools

This small piece of code prompts for a new registered owner name, then updates the value in the Windows Registry. Note that this requires...

Invoke-WebRequest can download files from the internet for you. This example downloads a 33MB public NASA video to your computer, then starts to...

It is routine for scripts to check whether a folder exists, and if it is missing, to create it: #requires -Version 1 $path = 'c:\testfolder'...

Invoke-Expression takes any string and treats it as PowerShell code. This way, you could construct dynamic code, and then execute it....

Beginning with PowerShell 3.0, the cmdlet Invoke-WebRequest can download web page content quite easily. This would scrape all links from...

Occasionally, you may see a bunch of processes named "svchost" in your task monitor or Get-Process output. These processes are hosts for Windows...

Group-Object is a great cmdlet to create lookup tables. If you wanted to identify a Windows service by its process ID, here is a way: $serviceList =...

PowerShell introduces class support in PowerShell 5.0, but you can define your own classes in other PowerShell versions as well. Simply use C# code...

To quickly open new test hosts inside the PowerShell ISE that ships with PowerShell 3.0 and better, here is a small helper function: #requires...

The PowerShell ISE shipping with PowerShell 3.0 and better is actually a multi-host. It can host multiple separate instances of PowerShell. To add a...

PowerShell can define defaults for any parameter, so if you wanted to always submit a default value for Get-ChildItem‘s –Path parameter,...

If you’d like to assign the results of a command to a variable, and at the same time output the results, too, here are two approaches. You can...

Cmdlets and advanced PowerShell functions can have their own parameters, but they also always inherit common parameters. To see a list of common...

Sometimes you may want to get a good overview of the data contained in an object. For example, if you query the PowerShell process and display it in...

Profile scripts are PowerShell scripts that launch automatically once PowerShell starts. The path to the primary profile file can be found in...

Sometimes you may want to create your own objects to store multiple pieces of information. Here is a pretty dense oneliner that illustrates a quick...

If you migrated from VBScript to PowerShell, you may remember how VBScript mapped network drives. This option is still available in PowerShell....

Beginning with PowerShell 3.0, you can use New-PSDrive to map network drives. They will be visible in File Explorer as well. Here is some sample...

PowerShell supports console commands, so if you need to map a network drive, often the most reliable way is to use good old net.exe like this:...

Start-Process can start processes but does not support a timeout. If you wanted to kill a runaway process after a given timeout, you could use an...

If you need to run selected parts of your script with Administrator privileges, you could temporarily launch a second PowerShell with Administrator...

Here is a simple function to find out the reserved drive letters: #requires -Version 3 function Get-DriveLetter { (Get-WmiObject -Class...

To quickly (and permanently) set a bunch of environment variables, here is a nice approach: $hashtable = @{ Name = 'Weltner' ID = 12 Ort =...

To quickly locate a PowerShell script anywhere in your MyDocuments folder, take a look at this Find-Script function: #requires -Version 3 function...