Powershell

In a previous tip we showed that Trim() is an unsafe way for removing file extensions. A safe way uses .NET methods:...

Some users use Trim() to remove file extensions like this: 'c:\test\file.txt'.Trim('.txt') c:\test\file This seems to work great,...

To find the most useful WMI classes you can use Get-WmiObject, and let PowerShell provide you with a hand-picked list: Select-XML...

PowerShell enhances many .NET types and adds additional information. These changes are defined in xml files. To list all .NET types that get...

There are two great ways to analyze the results a cmdlet returns: you can send the results to Get-Member to get a formal analysis, telling you the...

In a previous tip, you learned that there is a hidden host process named wsmprovhost.exe whenever someone else visits your computer using PowerShell...

Whenever someone connects to your computer using PowerShell remoting, there is a host process called wsmprovhost.exe. You can only see processes...

To control which output from a batch file is considered "a result" and which output should rather always be visible to the user, you can...

To ensure that a given folder exists, you can stick to trial-and-error, and hide error messages: New-Item c:\somefolder\anotherfolder\yetanother...

To view NTFS permissions for folders or files, use Get-Acl. It won't show you the actual permissions at first, but you can make them visible...

Sometimes, you may want to store command results in a variable and at the same time, output it to the console. Once you assign results to a...

In a previous tip, we showed you how to replace multiple different characters in a text using the Switch statement. While this works well, it is not...

First, compare these two code samples: $array = 1..10000 Measure-Command { for ($x=0

If you are using Windows Vista or better, you can pipe text to clip.exe  to copy it to your clipboard: Dir $env:windir | clip   Here is...

If your PowerShell host uses the STA mode, you can easily read clipboard content like this: function Get-Clipboard { if...

By default, the PowerShell console does not use the STA mode whereas the ISE editor does. STA is needed to run Windows Presentation Foundation...

Imagine that you need to replace a number of different characters in a text. For example, you need to remove special characters or escape something....

Did you know that the Switch statement can accept arrays? Use this sample to translate numbers into words: PS> switch ( 1,5,2,4,3,1 ) { 1 {...

Try this if you need to check a single character and find out whether or not it is numeric: PS > [char]::IsNumber('1') True PS >...

You may know the -contains operator. Try using it to check whether an array contains a specific element: PS > $names = dir $env:windir |...

You can add a bunch of interesting new drives to PowerShell with just a single line of code:...

You can no longer assign other types when you strongly type a variable: [Int]$a = 1 $a = 'does not work'   However, you can always...

In a previous tip, we showed you how to create random passwords. Thanks to your feedback, here is an even shorter version: -join...

Do you remember the ancient feature where you could tile or cascade all open windows? These features are still available. However, before you try...