Disable-PSv2

Disabling PowerShell v2 with Group Policy

This script will disable the PowerShell v2 Engine on Windows 10/Server 2012/16/19, if any other version is detected no changes are made.

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature does not work correctly when used as a startup script, so instead dism.exe is called directly in this script.

Script flow:

• Check the current OS version.
  • If Windows 10/Server 12/16/19, PowerShell v2 will be disabled.
    • If PowerShell v2 is already disabled, no changes will be made.
  • Any other OS, no changes will be made.

Script log data saved to: C:\Windows\Logs\Disable-PSv2-Log.txt

This script is designed to be deployed as a Group Policy Startup Script.

Policy: Computer Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Scripts (Startup/Shutdown)
Script Name: Disable-PSv2.ps1
Parameters: -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NonInteractive -NoProfile

Author - Rob Willis
Blog post - http://robwillis.info/2020/01/disabling-powershell-v2-with-group-policy/

Example usage:

C:\PS> powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NoProfile -NonInteractive -WindowsStyle Hidden .\Disable-PSv2.ps1