Here is a line of code that often puzzles PowerShell users:
Get-Service | Select-Object -ExcludeProperty Name
When you use Select-Object, its -ExcludeProperty parameter does not seem to do anything. The truth is: -ExcludeProperty only works when you also use -Property. So this works:
Get-Service | Select-Object -ExcludeProperty Name -Property Status, DisplayName, Name
However, this is ridiculous: why would you specify properties with -Property only to exclude them again with -ExcludeProperty? This would be much easier:
Get-Service | Select-Object -Property Status, DisplayName
In practice, -ExcludeProperty makes sense only when you use wildcards:
PS> Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_BIOS | Select-Object -Property *BIOS* -ExcludeProperty *major*, *minor*
PrimaryBIOS : True
BiosCharacteristics : {7, 9, 11, 12...}
BIOSVersion : {DELL - 1072009, 1.6.1, American Megatrends - 5000B}
SMBIOSBIOSVersion : 1.6.1
SMBIOSPresent : True
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