>_  easy𝓅ea𝓈y

Productivity boost for Windows using PowerShell

The easypeasy PowerShell module simplifies and automates common tasks in Windows environments:

• manage locations on the system path
• manage environment variables
• create start menu shortcuts
• create scheduled tasks
• switch between light and dark themes
• create timestamps
• show disk usage
• verify administrator privileges

---

Examples

🅰️ = requires Administrator privileges

System PATH

List the folders in the system PATH

in a specific scope (machine or user)
default: effective in current shell

> path

Location
--------
C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7
C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\bin
C:\Python
C:\Windows\system32
C:\Windows
...

path is an alias for Get-SystemPath, which you should use in scripts.

> path | where Location -like "*Windows*"

Location
--------
C:\Windows\system32
C:\Windows
...

Add or remove a folder to/from the system PATH permanently

in a specific scope (machine 🅰️ or user)
default: machine scope

> Add-SystemPathLocation "C:\Program Files\MyApp"
> Add-SystemPathLocation -User "C:\Program Files\MyApp"
> Add-SystemPathLocation -Front "C:\Program Files\MyApp" # this folder will be searched first

> Remove-SystemPathLocation "C:\Program Files\MyApp" # removes every occurrence of this path

Back up the effective system PATH environment variable to a file in the temp folder

> Backup-SystemPath

Environment Variables

Get the value of a variable

in a specific scope (effective, machine or user)
default: effective in current shell

> getenv JAVA_HOME
> getenv -Machine JAVA_HOME
> getenv -User JAVA_HOME

C:\Java\jdk-21

getenv is an alias for Get-EnvironmentVariable, which you should use in scripts.

Set the value of a variable or remove it permanently

in a specific scope (machine 🅰️ or user)
default: machine scope

> setenv JAVA_HOME "C:\Java\jdk-21"
> setenv -User JAVA_HOME "C:\Java\jdk-21"

> rmenv JAVA_HOME
> rmenv -User JAVA_HOME

setenv and rmenv are aliases for Set-EnvironmentVariable and Remove-EnvironmentVariable respectively, which you should use in scripts.

Start Menu Shortcuts

Create a shortcut for MyApp in the Start Menu for all users 🅰️

The shortcut will be created as MyApp in the MyApp programs folder. The argument -Debug will be passed to the executable. The shortcut will be created with the "Run as administrator" option.

> New-StartMenuShortcut -AppName MyApp -Executable "C:\Program Files\MyApp\MyApp.exe" `
        -Arguments "-Debug" -RunAsAdministrator

Add shortcut to a PowerShell command to the start menu

> New-PowershellStartMenuShortcut -AppName "Kill Node.js" -Command "Stop-Process -Name node -Force"
> New-PowershellStartMenuShortcut -AppName "Run System Update" `
       -Script "C:\Scripts\system-update.ps1" `
       -Maximized -KeepOpen -Admin

-Script is an alias for -Command that can be used for expressiveness.
-Admin is an alias for -RunAsAdministrator that can be used for conciseness.

Start an application at logon

equivalent to checking Process Explorer's menu item Options > Run At Logon 🅰️

Register-LogonTask `
    -Name "Process Explorer-${env:\USERDOMAIN}-${env:USERNAME}" `
    -Executable "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\WindowsApps\procexp.exe" `
    -Argument "/t" `
    -Force

Dark Mode

Switch between light and dark theme

> theme

theme is an alias for Switch-Theme, which you should use in scripts.

Restart Windows Explorer when switching theme

Windows Explorer windows don't handle the registry change (#10)

> theme -RestartExplorer

theme is an alias for Switch-Theme, which you should use in scripts.

> theme dark
> theme light

Utilities

Quick timestamp creation

> time

2024-01-01_20.15.00

> & .\system-update.ps1 > "$env:TEMP\system-update-$(time).log"

time is an alias for Get-Timestamp, which you should use in scripts.

Verify that the current user is an administrator

> Assert-Administrator
Assert-Administrator: This operation requires administrator privileges.

Output the disk usage for the current folder

> Get-Usage
> du

Name                           Sum (MB)      Sum
----                           --------      ---
C:\easypeasy\systempath.ps1    0,011    11297,00
C:\easypeasy\startmenu.ps1     0,006     5961,00
C:\easypeasy\environment.ps1   0,006     5873,00
C:\easypeasy\easypeasy.psd1    0,005     5748,00
C:\easypeasy\README.md         0,005     5243,00
C:\easypeasy\theme.ps1         0,003     2692,00
C:\easypeasy\task.ps1          0,001     1497,00
C:\easypeasy\specialfolder.ps1 0,001     1299,00
C:\easypeasy\.vscode           0,001     1116,00
C:\easypeasy\LICENSE           0,001     1070,00
C:\easypeasy\shortcut.ps1      0,001      991,00
C:\easypeasy\volume.ps1        0,001      628,00
C:\easypeasy\timestamp.ps1     0,001      541,00
C:\easypeasy\explorer.ps1      0,000      481,00
C:\easypeasy\.github           0,000      432,00
C:\easypeasy\administrator.ps1 0,000      374,00
C:\easypeasy\easypeasy.psm1    0,000      349,00

Installation

Installation from PowerShell Gallery

To install the easypeasy module from the PowerShell Gallery, run the following command in PowerShell:

Install-Module easypeasy

Manual Installation

To install the easypeasy module, follow these steps:

1. Download the module folder from GitHub to your computer.

2. Open PowerShell and run the following command to check the installation path for PowerShell modules: $env:PSModulePath

3. Copy the easypeasy module folder to one of the paths listed in the output of the previous command, e.g. the user's module path: $HOME\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\

4. Open a new PowerShell session or reload your profile to make the module available. You can check if the module is available by running: Get-Module -ListAvailable

Contributing

Please contribute to the easypeasy module. Issues and pull requests are very welcome. Thank you!

License

The easypeasy module is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to everyone supporting and contributing to easypeasy.