{"id":3056,"date":"2026-04-09T20:10:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/?p=3056"},"modified":"2026-04-09T20:18:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:18:50","slug":"3-things-powershell-does-that-are-otherwise-difficult-in-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/?p=3056","title":{"rendered":"3 things PowerShell does that are otherwise difficult in Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I usually try and avoid the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/learning-the-windows-command-line-heres-where-to-start\/?utm_source=syndication&amp;pubDate=20260403\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">command line<\/a> as much as possible. PowerShell, feels like one of those things you only touch if something has gone very wrong. It looks outdated, not exactly welcoming, and at first glance feels like you need to memorize a bunch of cryptic commands just to get anything done. But after spending some time with it, I have realized that it&#8217;s not nearly as complicated as it seems. Once you get past the interface, PowerShell is just a faster, more direct way to interact with Windows, and in some cases, it gives you access to things the normal interface simply doesn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"find-duplicate-files-windows-can-39-t-detect\" class=\"article-sub-heading\">Find duplicate files Windows can&#8217;t detect<\/h2>\n<p id=\"use-powershell-to-compare-files-and-uncover-exact-matches\" class=\"article-sub-heading\">Use PowerShell to compare files and uncover exact matches<\/p>\n<div class=\"responsive-image\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA206TDk\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container in-div polished\" data-test-id=\"AA206TDk\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\"><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"A screenshot of Windows 11 File Explorer open. Powershell is typed into the address bar and highlighted in red.\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA206TDk.img?w=768&amp;h=473&amp;m=6\" alt=\"A screenshot of Windows 11 File Explorer open. Powershell is typed into the address bar and highlighted in red.\" \/><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-test-id=\"AA206TDk\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\"><\/div>\n<div data-test-id=\"AA206TDk\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\">Windows does not give you an easy way to find duplicate files. You can sort and search in File Explorer, but there\u2019s nothing built in that actually compares files and confirms what\u2019s identical. That becomes a problem fast if you&#8217;ve got years of downloads, photo backups, or copied folders. It&#8217;s one of those big gaps that becomes obvious once you run into it.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-test-id=\"AA206TDk\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\">\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">PowerShell fills that gap by comparing files using hashes, which are essentially unique fingerprints based on a file&#8217;s contents. If two files have the same hash, they&#8217;re identical, even if the names are different. To try it, open the folder you want to scan in File Explorer, click the address bar, type\u00a0<strong>powershell.exe<\/strong>, and press\u00a0<strong>Enter<\/strong>. That launches PowerShell directly in that location, so you don&#8217;t have to deal with file paths.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">From there, run a single command that scans every file, generates hashes, and groups matches:<\/p>\n<pre>Get-ChildItem -Recurse | Get-FileHash | Group-Object Hash | Where-Object {$_.Count -gt 1} | ForEach-Object {$_.Group | Select-Object Path}<\/pre>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">This returns sets of duplicate files in seconds. The results will show matching files listed back-to-back, with each pair or group representing identical files stored in different locations. It&#8217;s not flashy, but it&#8217;s far more accurate than anything built into Windows, and once you use it, it&#8217;s hard to go back to doing this manually.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"remove-built-in-apps-windows-won-rsquo-t-let-you-uninstall\" class=\"article-sub-heading\">Remove built-in apps Windows won\u2019t let you uninstall<\/h2>\n<p id=\"use-powershell-to-find-and-remove-hidden-or-stubborn-apps\" class=\"article-sub-heading\">Use PowerShell to find and remove hidden or stubborn apps<\/p>\n<div class=\"responsive-image\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA2078qB\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container in-div polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA2078qB\"><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"A screenshot of Windows 11 search box with powershell typed in it. The Windows Powershell right click context menu is open.\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA2078qB.img?w=768&amp;h=768&amp;m=6\" alt=\"A screenshot of Windows 11 search box with powershell typed in it. The Windows Powershell right click context menu is open.\" \/><\/button><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-image-container in-div polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA2078qB\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Windows gives you a way to uninstall apps, but only the ones it wants you to remove. Plenty of built-in apps either don\u2019t show up in Settings at all or can\u2019t be fully removed, especially across all users. That becomes frustrating if you\u2019re trying to clean up a system or just get rid of things you\u2019ll never use.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">PowerShell gives you full visibility into every installed app package, including the ones Windows hides. To use it properly here, you\u2019ll need to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/this-one-powershell-command-showed-me-everything-windows-was-hiding\/?utm_source=syndication&amp;pubDate=20260403\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">open PowerShell<\/a>\u00a0as an administrator. The easiest way is to press Start, type\u00a0<strong>PowerShell<\/strong>, then right-click it and choose\u00a0<strong>Run as administrator<\/strong>. Without admin access, some apps won\u2019t show up or can\u2019t be removed.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Once it opens, run:<\/p>\n<pre>Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers<\/pre>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">This will show everything installed on the system, not just what appears in Settings. Once you find the app you want to remove, copy its PackageFullName and run:<\/p>\n<pre>Remove-AppxPackage -Package<\/pre>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">It&#8217;s more manual than clicking Uninstall, but it gives you control the interface simply doesn&#8217;t, especially when dealing with apps the interface won\u2019t touch.<\/p>\n<div class=\"emaki-custom note\">\n<div class=\"custom_block-content note\">\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Not every app can be removed, as some core system apps are marked as non-removable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"see-startup-programs-windows-doesn-rsquo-t-show-you\" class=\"article-sub-heading\">See startup programs Windows doesn\u2019t show you<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"use-powershell-to-reveal-everything-launching-when-your-pc-starts\" class=\"article-sub-heading\">Use PowerShell to reveal everything launching when your PC starts<\/p>\n<div class=\"responsive-image\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA206QIH\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container in-div polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA206QIH\"><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA207sQ6&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsscienceandtechnology&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;HowToGeek&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;BB1loBHK&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;technology&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;software&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;PowerShell does 3 things Windows Settings simply can't, no matter how hard you try&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"A screenshot of Windows 11 Powershell with the command run that shows all the startup files.\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA206QIH.img?w=768&amp;h=593&amp;m=6\" alt=\"A screenshot of Windows 11 Powershell with the command run that shows all the startup files.\" \/><\/button><\/div>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Windows gives you a startup tab in Task Manager, but it only shows part of what actually runs when your system boots. Plenty of entries live outside that list, including scheduled tasks, registry-based launches, and other background processes that never show up in the usual interface. That makes it harder to understand what\u2019s really slowing down your system or running behind the scenes. It\u2019s another example of Windows giving you a simplified view instead of the full picture.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">PowerShell gives you a complete view. Run this command:<\/p>\n<pre>Get-CimInstance Win32_StartupCommand<\/pre>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">You\u2019ll get a much more complete list of what\u2019s configured to launch at startup, along with details like the command path and where it\u2019s being triggered from. Once you have that list, you can scan for anything unfamiliar, track down its file location, and decide whether it should be there. If something looks suspicious or unnecessary, you can disable or remove it through Task Manager, the Registry, or the app itself. It\u2019s not as polished as a GUI, but it gives you the full picture, which makes it much easier to understand and control what\u2019s actually starting with your system.<\/p>\n<div class=\"emaki-custom note\">\n<div class=\"custom_block-content note\">\n<h2 id=\"this-one-command-is-like-a-full-system-report-in-seconds\">Full system report in seconds. Run it once and see everything Windows knows about your PC<\/h2>\n<p>If you only learn one PowerShell command, make it this one:<\/p>\n<pre><code>Get-ComputerInfo<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>That&#8217;s it. No installs, no extra tools, no digging through menus. Open PowerShell, run it, and Windows pulls data from all over the OS, details you&#8217;d normally have to piece together from Settings, Task Manager, Device Manager, and System Information, and lays it out in a single, scrollable output. The first time you run it, it almost feels like overkill, but that&#8217;s exactly the point.<\/p>\n<p>What makes this command so useful isn&#8217;t just how much it shows, it&#8217;s how quickly you can get answers. When I&#8217;m trying to diagnose a problem, I don&#8217;t want to click through five different screens just to confirm a BIOS version or double-check a Windows build number. It&#8217;s basically the closest thing Windows has to a built-in &#8220;tell me everything about this PC&#8221; button, it just happens to live in PowerShell instead of a polished UI.<\/p>\n<p>It pulls system details Windows keeps buried.<\/p>\n<p>The first time you run\u00a0<code>Get-ComputerInfo<\/code>, it almost feels like information overload. You&#8217;re not just getting the basics, you&#8217;re getting everything Windows knows about that machine in one place. That includes the obvious stuff like your CPU, RAM, and Windows version, but it goes a lot deeper than what you&#8217;ll see in Settings. You&#8217;ll find your BIOS version and firmware details, the exact date Windows was installed, your system model and manufacturer, and even things like Secure Boot status and virtualization support. These are all things Windows technically exposes, but never in one clean, unified view.<\/p>\n<p class=\"adsninja-injected-repeatable-ad-afterend\">If you&#8217;ve ever tried to confirm a BIOS version, you know it&#8217;s not exactly front and center. Same with install dates or certain security features. With this command, it&#8217;s all just there. No clicking through menus, no second guessing if you&#8217;re looking in the right place. It&#8217;s the kind of output that makes you realize Windows isn&#8217;t hiding information so much as it&#8217;s just not prioritizing it for everyday users.<\/p>\n<p>The downside is obvious the second you scroll. It&#8217;s a wall of text, and unless you know what you&#8217;re looking for, it can be overwhelming. That&#8217;s where a little filtering goes a long way. Instead of dumping everything, you can pull just the fields you care about. For example, if you only want a quick snapshot of key details, you can use:<\/p>\n<pre><code>Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object CsModel, WindowsVersion, BiosVersion, CsTotalPhysicalMemory<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>You can also search through the output for specific terms, which is a lot faster than manually scrolling:<\/p>\n<pre><code>Get-ComputerInfo | findstr \/i \"bios\"<\/code><\/pre>\n<pre>Note:\r\nThe alias for <strong>Get-ComputerInfo<\/strong> is <strong>gin<\/strong>. So, gin is all you have to type.\"<strong>findstr<\/strong>\" isn't native to PowerShell. While it works, it's unnecessary. Simply pipe the command to the Select statement and a search term with wildcards (asterisks). \r\nE.g., \r\n++ To get all the attributes that include a search term, run: <strong>gin | Select *SEARCHTERM*<\/strong> . \r\n++ To run the output to your Windows clipboard for pasting elsewhere, run: <strong>gin | clip<\/strong> . \r\n++ To run the output to a given file at a given path, run: <strong>gin | Out-File \"FULLPATH\\NAME.txt\"<\/strong><\/pre>\n<p class=\"adsninja-injected-repeatable-ad-afterend\">Once you start doing this, the command becomes a lot more practical. Instead of being overwhelmed by hundreds of lines, you&#8217;re using it like a targeted tool to answer specific questions. That&#8217;s really where this command shines. It lets you zero in on exactly what you need without digging through half a dozen different parts of Windows, but that flexibility also highlights its biggest weakness.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest downside is how raw the output is.\u00a0<code>Get-ComputerInfo<\/code>\u00a0doesn&#8217;t try to guide you or highlight what matters, it just dumps everything at once. There&#8217;s no structure beyond a long list of properties, so if you don&#8217;t already know what you&#8217;re looking for, it can feel like noise instead of insight.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s also not very user-friendly. There&#8217;s no interface, no sorting, no way to click into anything. You either scroll, filter, or search manually. Some people will always prefer tools like\u00a0<code>msinfo32<\/code>\u00a0for that reason alone, even if they&#8217;re less flexible overall.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"one-command-worth-remembering-when-windows-won-rsquo-t-give-straight-answers\" class=\"adsninja-injected-repeatable-ad-beforebegin\">One command worth remembering when Windows won\u2019t give straight answers<\/h4>\n<p>If you spend any time\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/troubleshoot-windows-command-prompt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">troubleshooting Windows<\/a>, this is one of those commands worth committing to memory. Get-ComputerInfo doesn\u2019t replace every tool, but it gives you a fast, complete snapshot of what\u2019s really going on without jumping between menus or second-guessing where to look. It\u2019s already built into Windows, it takes seconds to run, and once you start filtering it down to what you actually need, it becomes one of the most practical ways to get straight answers about your PC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4 id=\"powershell-isn-39-t-as-intimidating-as-it-looks\" class=\"article-sub-heading\">PowerShell isn&#8217;t as intimidating as it looks<\/h4>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">PowerShell might look outdated and a little intimidating at first, but once you get past that, it opens up parts of Windows that you simply can&#8217;t access any other way. You don&#8217;t need to learn scripting or memorize dozens of commands to get real value out of it either. A few targeted commands can solve problems Windows still doesn&#8217;t address, give you better visibility into what your system is doing, and make everyday tasks a lot easier. It&#8217;s not about replacing the interface, it&#8217;s about filling in the gaps where Windows falls short.<\/p>\n<p id=\"the-biggest-drawback-is-how-raw-the-output-feels\">The biggest drawback is how raw the output feels, Powerful, but not exactly user-friendly<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I usually try and avoid the command line as much as possible. PowerShell, feels like one of those things you only touch if something has gone very wrong. It looks outdated, not exactly welcoming, and&hellip;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"excerpt-readmore\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/?p=3056\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-related","odd"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/windoze-powershell.avif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3056"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3061,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3056\/revisions\/3061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}