How can I switch from CMD.exe to Powershell?

Question

I have this idea that I should switch over from cmd.exe to powershell. It's so much more powerful than the tried and tested cmd.exe. It is the shell of the future for Windows.

But my facility in powershell is so limited, in comparison with cmd.exe. Around every corner I discover another seemingly small obstacle that is insurmountable.

Today I tried to ctrl-C to stop a running program, inside a powershell, and it had no effect. ??
Last time through it was "how to do a 'dir /o' in powershell?" I know how to do for loops in .cmd scripts, how do I do that in powershell?

I need some advice: First, is it a good idea to try to switch to powershell?

If so, question 2 is: what are your recommendations on how to break the cmd.exe habit?

• Should I just post every question to Stackoverflow?
• Should I dedicate a full day to learning powershell? is there a training course I can take?
• is there a good cookbook of common powershell recipes? a powershell wiki I can ingest?

Answer 1

• Perhaps this Powershell Cheat Sheat can help you. (there are PDF's if you scroll down)
• There is also this Mini Wiki entry on Powershell
• Translating from CMD to Powershell
• Powershell Cheat Sheet
• Top 10 Tips for using Powershell (scroll down a bit)

Answer 2

It just seem isurmountable when you start stick with it.

in Powershell the key combo for critcal stop is Ctrl + Break

Ir terms of sorting there is a Sort-Object commandlet so you can sort by any property.

So you can call Get-ListItems | Sort-Object. Its worth trying to learn the commandlet names rather than the alias its associted to.

If all else fails ask here theres always a lot of knoweldge to go around.

Answer 3

To help ease the transition, remember you can always run the original DOS commands by prefixing any command with "cmd /c". E.g.

cmd /c dir /s
cmd /c start .

There are, of course, PowerShell equvialents, but this trick will help you stay productive with what you know while learning PowerShell.

Answer 4

I'd suggest reading Windows Powershell in Action. And then just do everything you can in powershell.

Answer 5

I've been in the same situation. What I finally did was close my CMD window that was normally open all day and keep the PowerShell window and force myself to only use it.

I only resorted to CMD when something was urgent and I didn't feel I could take the time to figure it out in PS.

I'm still not quite as proficient in PS yet, but I'm getting better everyday.

Below are a couple good books and some links to some good resources.

I liked these two books a lot:

• Windows PowerShell in Action by Bruce Payette
• Windows PowerShell Pocket Reference by Lee Holmes

Also, check out these sites:

• MS Script Center
• Scripting with Windows PowerShell
• The PowerShell blog
• PowerGUI

Answer 6

I second the recommendation to read Windows PowerShell in Action. If however, you don't want to part with that much $$ just yet, check out this free eBook I put together: Effective PowerShell. Also, do give PowerShell some time. I think it will pay off in spades on the backend.