PowerShell 2.0: One Cmdlet at a Time 14 Start-Process

Continuing the series looking at new cmdlets available in PowerShell 2.0. This time we look at the Start-Process cmdlet.

What can I do with it?

Start a process on the local computer.

Examples:

Start an instance of Notepad

Start-Process Notepad

Open the file Test.txt using its associated application Notepad

Start-Process C:\Scripts\Test.txt

How could I have done this in PowerShell 1.0?

You could have used the .NET System.Diagnostics.Process class and the Start method.

[System.Diagnostics.Process]::Start(“Notepad”)

and to open a specific file with Notepad

[System.Diagnostics.Process]::Start(“Notepad”,“C:\Scripts\Test.txt”)

Alternatively you could have used WMI and this option would also give you the ability to start a process on a remote computer.

([WMICLASS]"\\Server01\ROOT\CIMV2:win32_process").Create(“Notepad”)

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