Have you ever needed to pull dates out of log files, email subjects, filenames, or messy text data? Maybe you’re parsing server logs to find when errors occurred, or you need to extract invoice dates from a pile of documents. Finding and extracting dates from strings is one of those tasks that seems simple until … Read more
If you manage Active Directory, you’ve probably noticed that computer accounts tend to pile up over time. Machines get replaced, users switch laptops, or systems are decommissioned — but those old computer objects? They often stick around in AD. These stale computer accounts aren’t just clutter. They can create security vulnerabilities (imagine an attacker reactivating … Read more
While working with Exchange public folders, I was required to find public folder paths. Most Exchange PowerShell cmdlets require the complete folder path in the -Identity parameter. In this tutorial, I will show several efficient ways to find public folder paths quickly using PowerShell. I will also explain how to search for folders by name … Read more
I will explain a fundamental topic today, PowerShell for loop 1 to 10. The simple “loop from 1 to 10” is the perfect starting point because it teaches you the fundamental pattern you’ll use to automate countless repetitive tasks. Once you understand this basic structure, you’ll be able to adapt it to loop through anything: … Read more
Suppose, you’re looping through thousands of files, user accounts, or log entries, searching for one specific item. Once you find it, why keep looping through the rest? That’s where breaking out of a foreach loop becomes very useful. It saves processing time, makes your scripts more efficient, and prevents unnecessary work. In this tutorial, I … Read more
If you’ve ever built a PowerShell hash table to store configuration data, user information, or server details, you’ve probably run into this scenario: you need to find something, but you’re not sure which key it’s under—or maybe you need to search through all the values to see what matches. Hash tables are fantastic for quick … Read more
Let’s be honest: people still store passwords in plain text files. I’ve seen it countless times — a “passwords.txt” sitting on someone’s desktop, a Word doc named “Important Logins.docx,” or configuration files with hardcoded credentials. It’s a security nightmare waiting to happen. But you can use PowerShell to scan directories quickly and identify potential security … Read more
If you manage Windows systems—whether you’re a sysadmin, security analyst, or just someone who wants to keep their environment secure—there’s a surprisingly common vulnerability hiding in plain sight: unquoted service paths. In this tutorial, I will explain how to find unquoted service paths with PowerShell using different methods. But let us first understand why it … Read more
If you’ve ever been working peacefully on your Windows PC only to have a blue PowerShell window suddenly flash on your screen—sometimes repeatedly—you know how frustrating it can be. Not only is it annoying, but it can also make you worry: “Is my computer infected? Did I break something?” The good news? We can fix … Read more
One of our development team members was struggling to find the first match value in a PowerShell array. I suggested different methods, so I thought I would share those examples. In this tutorial, I will explain how to find the first match in an array and return the value in PowerShell using several methods with … Read more
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