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Start Menu Search using PowerShell

Searching for programs to run from Start Menu is tedious which lead me to write a IronPython script for it.

Tonight, I learned PowerShell and here is what I have so far which does the same thing:-

cd  to your '\All Users\Start Menu' directory

to search for all programs with the 'sql' in its name, type
$hits  = ls -recurse -filter *.lnk | where {$_.Fullname -like "*sql*"}

this will display the result of the search
echo $hits | select Name

to start the 1st hit in the result, type
ii $hits[0].PSPath

that's it!! this will run the program which is first in the list.

Sample run :-

Objective: To start Visual C# Express IDE

PS C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu> $hits = ls -recurse -filter *.lnk | where {$_.Fullname -like "*express*"}
PS C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu> echo $hits | select Name

Name
----
Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition.lnk
Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition.lnk
SQL Server Management Studio Express.lnk

PS C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu> ii $hits[0].PSPath

Published Monday, August 21, 2006 1:55 AM by richardhsu

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