To check if a string starts with a number in PowerShell, use -match with the pattern ^\d. The caret anchors the match to the start, and \d is any digit: For strict 0 to 9 only, use ^[0-9] instead, because \d accepts digits from other alphabets too. I tested every example in PowerShell 7 and … Read more
To convert Excel to CSV with PowerShell, open the workbook through Excel’s COM object and save it with file format 6 (xlCSV). On a machine without Excel, the ImportExcel module does the same job in one line: The two routes don’t produce the same file, though. Below I convert a real two-sheet workbook both ways … Read more
Rebooting into F10 setup to check one BIOS option gets old fast. HP business PCs expose those options to Windows, so we can read them from a PowerShell window instead. Quick answer: to get HP BIOS settings using PowerShell, run Get-CimInstance against the HP_BIOSEnumeration class in the root\HP\InstrumentedBIOS namespace from an elevated session. Each setting … Read more
“Access to the path is denied” in PowerShell means Windows refused the file operation, usually because of a read-only file, a lock held by another program, an NTFS deny rule or a folder path used as a file. For read-only files, -Force fixes it: The trick is figuring out which cause you’ve hit, because each … Read more
To find an unquoted service path with PowerShell, read every service’s PathName from Win32_Service and flag the ones that don’t start with a quote but have a space inside the .exe part: It’s a defensive audit for machines you manage. Below I run it for real in PowerShell 7 and 5.1, test the regex on … Read more
To convert a canonical name to a distinguished name in PowerShell, split the path on slashes, turn the domain into DC= parts, and add the folders in reverse order. One line handles a simple path: Real paths need more care. Below is a reusable function that handles any depth, the built-in Users container and commas … Read more
PowerShell Out-GridView sends command output to an interactive table in its own window, where you can sort, filter and pick rows instead of scrolling the console. Pipe any command to it: Add -PassThru and the rows you select come back into the pipeline, which turns the grid into a quick picker for scripts. I ran … Read more
To move files by date in PowerShell, filter them with Where-Object on LastWriteTime and pipe what’s left to Move-Item. Move-Item has no date parameter of its own, so this line moves every file older than 30 days: That’s the whole idea. The details matter, though: which date you compare, where a date range ends, and … Read more
To change the Write-Host color in PowerShell, add -ForegroundColor for the text and -BackgroundColor for the area behind it: Both parameters take one of 16 console color names. Below I cover the full list, several colors on one line, a reusable status function, and the ANSI colors that only PowerShell 7 understands. Write-Host -ForegroundColor and … Read more
To show progress when copying files with PowerShell, loop over the files and call Write-Progress before each Copy-Item. The bar’s percentage is the file number divided by the file count: PowerShell 7.4 and later also give Copy-Item a progress bar of its own. Windows PowerShell 5.1 doesn’t have one, so I’ll show both routes, plus … Read more