Forum Discussion
Sept Win10 Update breaks PowerShell script
Hello:
I am a newbie at PowerShell scripting. I have been using the following code for the last two years, and this last week (September) it stopped working. I suspect that a windows 10 update changed or updated some aspect of powershell, and the crappy code I was using is no longer valid. Can anyone point me toward a fix, proper syntax, or something to read that will help me clean this up?
$usrName = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Process -Filter "Name = 'explorer.exe'" |
ForEach-Object { $_.GetOwner() | % { "$($_.User)" } } |
Sort-Object -Unique
write-host "Logged in User is: " -NoNewLine
write-host ($usrName)
$upath = "C:\Users"
# $usrPath = join-path -path $upath -ChildPath $usrName
$usrPath = join-path $upath $usrName
write-host "Logged in User PathName is: " -NoNewLine
write-host ($usrPath)
The errors when running, which only started recently with a windows update, are as follows;
PS C:\Users\neali\Desktop> C:\Users\neali\Desktop\Asset-Capture.ps1
Logged in User is: neali
Join-Path : Cannot convert 'System.Object[]' to the type 'System.String' required by parameter 'ChildPath'. Specified method is not supported.
At C:\Users\neali\Desktop\Asset-Capture.ps1:35 char:29
+ $usrPath = join-path $upath $usrName
+ ~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Join-Path], ParameterBindingException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CannotConvertArgument,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.JoinPathCommand
Logged in User PathName is:
Join-Path : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\neali\Desktop\Asset-Capture.ps1:39 char:31
+ $ScratchDir = join-path -path $usrPath -ChildPath "downloads\CopyTemp ...
+ ~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (:) [Join-Path], ParameterBindingValidationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.JoinPathCommand
Test-Path : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\neali\Desktop\Asset-Capture.ps1:40 char:22
+ if(!(Test-Path -Path $ScratchDir )){
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (:) [Test-Path], ParameterBindingValidationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.TestPathCommand
Join-Path : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\neali\Desktop\Asset-Capture.ps1:47 char:30
+ $AssetPath = join-path -path $usrPath -ChildPath $AssetPartial
+ ~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (:) [Join-Path], ParameterBindingValidationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.JoinPathCommand
Thanks in advance for any guidance, mentoring, corrections, or hints.
Neal
As I can see from the error
Cannot convert 'System.Object[]' to the type 'System.String' required by parameter 'ChildPath'. Specified method is not supported
The it seems that the value passed to $usrName is not a string, it seems that you are fetching this value from another source and powershell is failing in dealing with it.
1- Can you try type the path manually and check if it will work
2- what is the output for $usrName.gettype() and $upath.gettype()
OK, I tried your suggested steps.
For the Username, $usrName.gettype() was a system object, not a string.
So I added a pipe to | Out-String, and it does convert $usrName to a string, but
prepends a newline.So, for example, if $upath = "C:\Users", and $usrName is Bill, and then I try to do a
$usrPath = join-path -path $upath -ChildPath $usrName
instead of the expected C:\Users\Bill, I instead get
C:\Users
Bill
Do you know how I get rid of that extra newline? The latest version of PowerShell will
not accept -NoNewLine after | Out-StringLet me demonstrate the problem another way. Take this snippet of code;
#-----------
$usrName = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Process -Filter "Name = 'explorer.exe'" |
ForEach-Object { $_.GetOwner() | % { "$($_.User)" } } |
Sort-Object -Unique | Out-String
write-host "Logged in User is: " -NoNewLine
write-host ($usrName)#----------
and run it in PowerShell. The printed username should be right after the
write-host "Logged in User is: " -NoNewLine
but it is not. Instead, it always prints the username on the next line
AFTER write-host "Logged in User is: " -NoNewLine
Any ideas on what changed in the last few weeks of win updates?
Neal
To share and try to help others that find this thread:
No one offered any real solution. So in the end, I stopped trying to use:
$usrName = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Process -Filter "Name = 'explorer.exe'" |
ForEach-Object { $_.GetOwner() | % { "$($_.User)" } } |
Sort-Object -Unique | Out-Stringto get the logged in username, and instead switched to the following code, which works fine,
provided the output as a string, and did not have the extra newline like the Out-String command:# Get current user
$CurrentUser = [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent().Name# Set the variable to the first string before the "\" character
$CurrentDomainName = $CurrentUser.split("\")[0]
# Set the variable to the second string after the "\" character
$CurrentUserName = $CurrentUser.split("\")[1]
write-host "Logged in User is: " -NoNewLine
write-host ($CurrentUserName)$upath = "C:\Users"
$usrPath = join-path -path $upath -ChildPath $CurrentUserNamewrite-host "Logged in User PathName is: " -NoNewLine
write-host ($usrPath)The above works just fine.
Neal
