To filter files with Get-ChildItem, pass a wildcard pattern to -Filter. Add -Recurse to search subfolders too: Output: -Filter is the fastest option because the file system does the matching. Below I compare it with -Include and -Exclude, show a gotcha that returns nothing, and filter by date and size. All of it runs in … Read more
To kill a process by name in PowerShell, run Stop-Process -Name followed by the process name, without .exe. It stops every running process with that name: For the tests in this guide, I started a few hidden ping.exe processes, so nothing real was harmed. Here the command stops two of them: Output: I ran every … Read more
To find a folder by name in PowerShell, run Get-ChildItem with -Directory, -Recurse and the folder name in -Filter. The match ignores case: Output: I searched a sample Projects folder so the output stays the same. Every example ran in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1 with the same results. Find folders by partial name … Read more
To enable BitLocker with PowerShell, open PowerShell as administrator, add a recovery password, back it up, then run Enable-BitLocker with a TPM protector: Encryption then runs in the background. Below I cover the checks to do first, every protector type, data drives, backing up the recovery key and tracking progress. I ran the read-only checks … Read more
To find which ports are in use with PowerShell, list the listening TCP ports with Get-NetTCPConnection and add the process that owns each one: Below I find who’s using one specific port, write a quick in-use test, check UDP ports, compare with netstat and test ports on other computers. A list of my own PC’s … Read more
To find the location of an executable in PowerShell, run Get-Command and read its Source property. It searches the folders in your PATH, just like running the program does: Output: Below I look up several programs at once, list every copy with -All and where.exe, and find where a running program lives. I used only … Read more
To find the most recent file in a directory with PowerShell, list the files with Get-ChildItem, sort them by LastWriteTime from newest to oldest, and keep the first one: Output: LastWriteTime is the date Windows shows as Date modified. I ran every example in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1 against the same sample folder, … Read more
To get all properties of an object in PowerShell, pipe it to Format-List with an asterisk. You get every property name with its value: To see just the names and types, use Get-Member -MemberType Property instead. Below I compare both, loop through properties in a script, find hidden members and dig into nested objects. I … Read more
To get BIOS information using PowerShell, query the Win32_BIOS class with Get-CimInstance. It shows the manufacturer, BIOS version, release date and serial number without a restart: It works without admin rights in PowerShell 7 and 5.1. Below I pick the useful properties, check UEFI and Secure Boot, query remote PCs and build an inventory report. … Read more
To run PowerShell as a different user, start a new PowerShell process with the other account’s credentials. The quickest way is Start-Process with Get-Credential, which asks for the password in a secure prompt: Below I check who you’re running as now, show every way to switch accounts, and explain how this differs from Run as … Read more