powershell-pro

# PowerShell Pro Advanced PowerShell operations for system automation, process management, WMI queries, and REST API calls — all without leaving the terminal. ## When to Use - User asks to list, start, or stop a Windows process or service - User wants to query system info via WMI (CPU, RAM, disk, motherboard) - User needs to call a REST API from the command line - User wants to automate a task or write a reusable script - User asks about scheduled tasks, environment variables, or system events ## How to Use ### List running processes (sorted by CPU) ```powershell Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 15 Name, Id, CPU, WorkingSet ``` ### Kill a process by name ```powershell Stop-Process -Name "notepad" -Force ``` ### Query system info via WMI ```powershell # CPU info Get-WmiObject Win32_Processor | Select-Object Name, NumberOfCores, MaxClockSpeed # RAM total (Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem).TotalPhysicalMemory / 1GB # Disk drives Get-WmiObject Win32_DiskDrive | Select-Object Model, Size, MediaType ``` ### REST API call with Invoke-RestMethod ```powershell $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.example.com/data" ` -Method GET ` -Headers @{ "Authorization" = "Bearer $env:API_TOKEN" } $response | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 5 ``` ### List scheduled tasks ```powershell Get-ScheduledTask | Where-Object State -ne 'Disabled' | Select-Object TaskName, TaskPath, State | Sort-Object TaskName ``` ### Read Windows Event Log (last 20 errors) ```powershell Get-EventLog -LogName System -EntryType Error -Newest 20 | Select-Object TimeGenerated, Source, Message ``` ### Export output to CSV ```powershell Get-Process | Select-Object Name, Id, CPU, WorkingSet | Export-Csv -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\processes.csv" -NoTypeInformation ``` ## Examples **"Show me what's eating memory right now"** → `Get-Process | Sort-Object WorkingSet -Descending | Select-Object -First 10 Name, Id, @{N='MB';E={[math]::Round($_.WorkingSet/1MB,1)}}` **"Call the GitHub API and get my rate limit status"** → `Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.github.com/rate_limit" -Headers @{Authorization="Bearer $env:GITHUB_TOKEN"}` **"List all scheduled tasks that run on startup"** → `Get-ScheduledTask | Where-Object { $_.Triggers | Where-Object CimClass -match 'BootTrigger' }` ## Cautions - `Stop-Process -Force` kills without saving — confirm with user before running on critical processes - WMI queries can be slow on first run; subsequent calls are faster - Invoke-RestMethod requires `-UseBasicParsing` on older PowerShell versions - Environment variables set in a script session don't persist to the OS — use `[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable()` for persistence