Performing Management tasks using Cimcmdlets [2] – Computer Hardware
As part of this blog series we are sharing PowerShell snippets for a few Computer Management tasks. In this post we will be going over the samples for Computer Hardware management.
The Visual Basic samples for Computer Hardware Management are at: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394587(v=vs.85).aspx
The corresponding PowerShell samples are below:
1. Determine how much free memory a computer has:
PS:> # Get Instance of Win32_OperatingSystem PS:> $os = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem –Namespace root/cimv2 PS:> # Look for FreePhysicalMemory property PS:> $os | Select FreePhysicalMemory |
2. Determine whether a computer has a DVD drive:
# Look for instances of Win32_CDROMDrive $insts = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_CDROMDrive –Namespace root/cimv2 # Loop through them and print DeviceID, Description and Name foreach($inst in $insts) { $inst | Select Name, DeviceID, Description } |
3. Determine how much RAM is installed in a computer:
PS:> # Get instance of Win32_ComputerSystem PS:> $inst = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_ComputerSystem PS:> # Print Name of the System and the Total Physical Memory PS:> $inst | Select Name, TotalPhysicalMemory |
4. Determine if a computer has more than one processor:
PS:> # Get instance of Win32_ComputerSystem PS:> $inst = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_ComputerSystem –Namespace root/cimv2 PS:> # Print Name of the system and Number of Processors PS:> $inst | Select Name, NumberOfProcessors |
5. Determine whether a computer has a PCMCIA slot:
# Use the Win32_PCMCIAController class and check the value of the Count property. # If Count is 0, then the computer has no PCMCIA slots. $insts = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_PCMCIAController –Namespace root/cimv2 if($insts -ne $null) { $count = $insts.Count if($count -eq $null) { $count = 1 } Write-Host "Number of PCMCIA slots: $count" } else { Write-Host "Number of PCMCIA slots: 0" } |
6. Identify devices that are not working (those marked with an exclamation point icon in Device Manager)?
# Use the Win32_PnPEntity class # Use the following clause in your WQL query. WHERE ConfigManagerErrorCode <> 0 $query = "Select * from Win32_PnPEntity WHERE ConfigManagerErrorCode <> 0" $insts = Get-CimInstance -Query $query # Loop through all such devices and print their information. foreach($inst in $insts) { $inst | Format-Table -Property @("ClassGuid", "Description", "DeviceID", "Manufacturer", "Name", "PNPDeviceID", "Service") } |
7. Determine the properties of the mouse used on computer:
# Use the Win32_PointingDevice class. # This returns the properties of all pointing devices, not just mouse devices. $insts = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_PointingDevice # Loop though instances of Win32_PointingDevice and print the properties. foreach($inst in $insts) { $inst | Format-Table –Property @(“Description", “DeviceID", “DeviceInterface", “DoubleSpeedThreshold", “Handedness", “HardwareType", “InfFileName", “InfSection", “Manufacturer", “Name", “NumberOfButtons", “PNPDeviceID", “PointingType", “QuadSpeedThreshold", “Resolution", “SampleRate", “Synch") } |
8. Determine the speed of a processor installed in a computer:
# Use the Win32_Processor class and check the value of the MaxClockSpeed property. $insts = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_Processor –Namespace root/cimv2 foreach($inst in $insts) { $inst | Select ProcessorId, MaxClockSpeed } |
9. Determine whether a computer is a tower, a mini-tower, a laptop, and so on:
# Use the Win32_SystemEnclosure class and check the value of the ChassisType property. $colChassis = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_SystemEnclosure –Namespace root/cimv2 # Loop though the collection of chassis foreach($chassis in $colChassis) { # Look though the Chassis Types foreach($item in $chassis.ChassisTypes) { Write-Host "Chassis Type: $item" } } |
10. Get the serial number and asset tag of a computer:
# Use the Win32_SystemEnclosure class, and the properties SerialNumber and SMBIOSAssetTag. $sytemEnclosures = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_SystemEnclosure $sytemEnclosureCollection = @() $sytemEnclosureCollection += $sytemEnclosures foreach($systemEnclosure in $sytemEnclosureCollection) { $systemEnclosure | Select PartNumber, SerialNumber, SMBIOSAssetTag } |
11. Determine what kind of device is plugged into a USB port:
# Use the Win32_USBHub class and check the Description property. # This property may have a value such as "Mass Storage Device" or "Printing Support". $items = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_USBHub –Namespace root/cimv2 foreach($item in $items) { $item | Select DeviceID, PNPDeviceID, Description } |
12. Determine how many tape drives are installed on a computer:
# Use the class Win32_TapeDrive class and then count the number of instances received. # If Count = 0, then no tape drives are installed on the computer. $insts = Get-CimInstance –ClassName Win32_TapeDrive $count = 0 if($insts -ne $null) { $count = $insts.Count if($count -eq $null) { $count = 1 } } Write-Host "Number of tape drives = $count" |
We will be covering other computer management scenarios in our future posts. If you have any questions please feel free to send them to us.
Important links:
- The complete list of tasks we will be covering in this series is at: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394585(v=vs.85).aspx
- Link to previous post(s):
Thanks
Vaibhav Chugh [MSFT]
Standards Based Management