PotentPowershell

Peering through the portal of PowerShell, Perched a repository, most powerful. Packed with scripts of all shapes and sizes, Poised to pounce on your admin crises.

A dual-purpose PowerShell repository: an educational reference for learning PowerShell deeply, and a practical toolkit of real utility scripts.

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Repository Structure

PotentPowershell/
├── Learn/                          # Annotated learning files (CC BY-SA 3.0)
│   ├── 01-Basics/
│   │   ├── 01-datatypes-and-operators.ps1
│   │   ├── 02-variables-and-collections.ps1
│   │   └── 03-control-flow.ps1
│   ├── 02-Functions/
│   │   └── 01-functions.ps1
│   ├── 03-Modules/
│   │   └── 01-modules.ps1
│   ├── 04-Classes/
│   │   └── 01-classes-and-inheritance.ps1
│   └── 05-Advanced/
│       └── 01-advanced-topics.ps1
│
└── Scripts/                        # Practical utility scripts
    ├── AWS/
    │   ├── Invoke-AwsConfigure.ps1
    │   └── New-AwsAccount.ps1
    ├── Discord/
    │   └── Send-RichEmbed.ps1
    ├── Fun/
    │   └── Get-PiApproximation.ps1
    ├── Gaming/
    │   ├── Start-EDMultiAccount.ps1
    │   └── Invoke-SteamVerification.ps1
    └── Windows/
        ├── Maintenance/
        │   ├── Invoke-SystemUpgrade.ps1
        │   ├── Invoke-DiskCheck.ps1
        │   ├── Get-ErrorReport.ps1
        │   └── Invoke-SfcDism.ps1
        ├── PackageManagers/
        │   ├── Import-ChocolateyPackages.ps1
        │   ├── Update-PythonInstallation.ps1
        │   └── Invoke-ScoopBrowser.ps1
        ├── SafeMode/
        │   ├── Enter-SafeMode.ps1
        │   └── Exit-SafeMode.ps1
        └── Utilities/
            ├── Get-OpenWindows.ps1
            ├── Set-AdminAutoElevate.ps1
            ├── Remove-Silverlight.ps1
            ├── Get-ScreenGeometry.ps1
            ├── Sync-Directories.ps1
            └── Start-MSRewards.ps1

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Learn/ — Recommended Reading Order

The Learn/ files are annotated transcriptions of the LearnXInYMinutes PowerShell guide, with deep commentary on why PowerShell works the way it does. Comments explain concepts that seem weird compared to Python, Bash, C#, or JavaScript.

#	File	Key concepts covered
1	01-Basics/01-datatypes-and-operators.ps1	Numbers, Banker's rounding, strings, escape characters, booleans, comparison operators (-eq, -lt), logical operators (-and, -or)
2	01-Basics/02-variables-and-collections.ps1	The $ sigil, fixed-size arrays, ArrayList, hashtables, ordered hashtables, splatting, tuples
3	01-Basics/03-control-flow.ps1	if/elseif/else, switch (no fall-through!), foreach vs ForEach-Object, try/catch/finally, -ErrorAction Stop
4	02-Functions/01-functions.ps1	Parameters, implicit return, [CmdletBinding()], BEGIN/PROCESS/END blocks, ValidateSet, splatting
5	03-Modules/01-modules.ps1	Install-Module vs Chocolatey/Scoop, PSGallery, writing modules, dot-sourcing
6	04-Classes/01-classes-and-inheritance.ps1	::new() vs New-Object, inheritance, $this, static members, enums, flags
7	05-Advanced/01-advanced-topics.ps1	Pipeline objects vs text (Bash comparison), jobs, PSRemoting, & vs Invoke-Expression, execution policy

Things explained in unusual depth

• Banker's rounding — why [Math]::Round(2.5) returns 2, not 3
• Fixed-size arrays — why += is O(n²) and when to use ArrayList instead
• Tuples — what immutability actually gives you (safety, intent, thread-safety)
• $ sigil — where it comes from (Unix shell heritage)
• -eq on arrays — why it filters instead of comparing
• -and/-or instead of &&/|| — why the shell reserved those symbols
• Backtick escape — why not backslash (Windows paths)
• [CmdletBinding()] — every common parameter you get for free
• BEGIN/PROCESS/END — why without PROCESS you only get the last pipeline item
• & vs Invoke-Expression — scope difference and why iex is dangerous
• Pipeline objects vs Bash text — the single biggest conceptual shift

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Scripts/ — Quick Reference

Windows Maintenance

Script	What it does	Admin required
Invoke-SystemUpgrade.ps1	Installs Chocolatey if missing, runs SFC + DISM in background, upgrades all Chocolatey packages, upgrades pip, installs Windows Updates (no forced reboot)	Yes
Invoke-DiskCheck.ps1	Runs chkdsk C: /f /r (auto-elevates; on a live C: drive, check is scheduled for next reboot)	Auto-elevates
Get-ErrorReport.ps1	Application/System event log error summary. Parameters: -DaysBack (default 7), -ErrorThreshold (default 10)	Recommended
Invoke-SfcDism.ps1	Reference script — documents every SFC and DISM repair command with annotations. Not meant to be run top-to-bottom; copy individual commands as needed.	Yes (per command)

Package Managers

Script	What it does	Admin required
Import-ChocolateyPackages.ps1	Scans Program Files for executables that have matching Chocolatey packages; installs Chocolatey if missing, pins found packages, then upgrades them	Yes
Update-PythonInstallation.ps1	Detects installed Python versions via Chocolatey or registry; upgrades to latest, removes older versions, upgrades pip, optionally deletes virtualenvwrapper-style venvs (~\Envs)	Yes
Invoke-ScoopBrowser.ps1	Interactive Scoop package browser — shows info for each package and installs selected ones as background jobs	No

Safe Mode

Script	What it does	Admin required
Enter-SafeMode.ps1	Sets bcdedit Safe Mode with Networking flag and immediately reboots. Will reboot the machine.	Yes
Exit-SafeMode.ps1	Clears the bcdedit safeboot value. Does not reboot — restart manually when ready.	Yes

Utilities

Script	What it does	Admin required
Get-OpenWindows.ps1	Lists all processes with visible windows and their titles	No
Set-AdminAutoElevate.ps1	Sets execution policy to Unrestricted for current user, creates the PowerShell profile if absent, appends an auto-elevation snippet. Note: Unrestricted is broader than RemoteSigned.	Auto-elevates
Remove-Silverlight.ps1	Silently uninstalls Silverlight, removes registry entries, deletes remaining files from disk and AppData. Safe no-op if Silverlight is not installed.	Recommended
Get-ScreenGeometry.ps1	Reports full bounds and working area (excluding taskbar) for all connected monitors	No
Sync-Directories.ps1	Robocopy-based directory sync (/E /XC /NP /ETA /MT:64). Parameters: -Source, -Destination (both mandatory)	No
Start-MSRewards.ps1	Opens Edge to the MS Edge Search Clicker page and closes it after a configurable wait. Parameter: -WaitSeconds (default 120). Hardcodes Edge path; exits with a warning if Edge is not found there.	No

AWS

Script	What it does	Admin required
Invoke-AwsConfigure.ps1	Interactive AWS CLI setup: checks for saved credentials, offers to reuse them, installs/upgrades awscli + awstools.powershell via Chocolatey, prompts for region selection, validates with aws s3 ls	Yes (for Chocolatey)
New-AwsAccount.ps1	Guided AWS account hardening walkthrough: IAM user/group/policy, billing budget + SNS alerts, CloudTrail, admin account, SSO. Note: several steps are stubs (VPC/EC2 deferred to Terraform); some cmdlets (Enable-IAMMFA, Test-IAMMFA, AWSPowerShellSSO) may not exist in all AWS.Tools versions — verify module availability before running.	No (uses AWS APIs)

Gaming

Script	What it does	Admin required
Start-EDMultiAccount.ps1	Launches multiple Elite Dangerous accounts simultaneously via Sandboxie Plus. Requires editing the $Accounts and $Sandboxes arrays in the USER CONFIG section before use.	No
Invoke-SteamVerification.ps1	Locates Steam via registry and runs -verify_all on the base installation. Known issue: per-game verification loop searches for appmanifests inside game subdirectories, but Steam stores them as appmanifest_<appid>.acf in the steamapps root — the per-game loop will silently find nothing. Only the base install verification works reliably.	Yes (registry)

Fun

Script	What it does	Admin required
Get-PiApproximation.ps1	Approximates Pi using the Leibniz formula. Parameter: -Iterations (default 1,000,000). Slow to converge — millions of terms for a few correct digits.	No

Discord

Script	What it does	Admin required
Send-RichEmbed.ps1	Posts a rich embed to a Discord channel webhook. Parameters: -WebhookUrl, -Title, -Description (all mandatory); -Color (decimal int, default 65280 = green), -Thumbnail (URL), -Author (hashtable with name/icon_url). Color must be decimal — Discord does not accept hex strings.	No

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Quick Start

# Run any script directly (some require admin)
.\Scripts\Windows\Maintenance\Invoke-SystemUpgrade.ps1

# Get help for any script
Get-Help .\Scripts\Windows\Utilities\Sync-Directories.ps1 -Full

# Open a Learn file in VS Code
code .\Learn\01-Basics\01-datatypes-and-operators.ps1

For full per-script documentation, caveats, and troubleshooting, see the GitHub wiki.

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Attribution

Learn/ files are based on the LearnXInYMinutes PowerShell guide by Wouter Van Schandevijl and Andrew Ryan Davis, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Annotations and commentary by Quadstronaut.

Scripts/ are original work by Quadstronaut unless otherwise noted in individual file headers.

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Resources

• PowerShell Documentation
• LearnXInYMinutes — PowerShell
• PowerShell Gallery
• Approved Verbs for PowerShell Commands