Get-PSDrive

Syntax

Get-PSDrive
   [[-Name] <String[]>]
   [-Scope <String>]
   [-PSProvider <String[]>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-PSDrive
   [-LiteralName] <String[]>
   [-Scope <String>]
   [-PSProvider <String[]>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Get-PSDrive cmdlet gets the drives in the current session. You can get a particular drive or all drives in the session.

This cmdlet gets the following types of drives:

• Windows logical drives on the computer, including drives mapped to network shares.
• Drives exposed by PowerShell providers (such as the Certificate:, Function:, and Alias: drives) and the HKLM: and HKCU: drives that are exposed by the Windows PowerShell Registry provider.
• Session-specified temporary drives and persistent mapped network drives that you create by using the New-PSDrive cmdlet.

Beginning in Windows PowerShell 3.0, the Persist parameter of the New-PSDrive cmdlet can create mapped network drives that are saved on the local computer and are available in other sessions. For more information, see New-PSDrive.

Also, beginning in Windows PowerShell 3.0, when an external drive is connected to the computer, Windows PowerShell automatically adds a PSDrive to the file system that represents the new drive. You do not need to restart Windows PowerShell. Similarly, when an external drive is disconnected from the computer, Windows PowerShell automatically deletes the PSDrive that represents the removed drive.

Examples

Example 1: Get drives in the current session

PS C:\> Get-PSDrive

Name           Used (GB)     Free (GB) Provider      Root
----           ---------     --------- --------      ----
Alias                                  Alias
C                 202.06      23718.91 FileSystem    C:\
Cert                                   Certificate   \
D                1211.06     123642.32 FileSystem    D:\
Env                                    Environment
Function                               Function
HKCU                                   Registry      HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKLM                                   Registry      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Variable                               Variable

This command gets the drives in the current session.

The output shows the hard drive (C:), CD-ROM drive (D:), and the drives exposed by the Windows PowerShell providers (Alias:, Cert:, Env:, Function:, HKCU:, HKLM:, and Variable:).

Example 2: Get a drive on the computer

PS C:\foo> Get-PSDrive D

Name           Used (GB)     Free (GB) Provider      Root
----           ---------     --------- --------      ----
D                1211.06     123642.32 FileSystem    D:\

This command gets the D: drive on the computer. Note that the drive letter in the command is not followed by a colon.

Example 3: Get all the drives that are supported by the Windows PowerShell file system provider

PS C:\> Get-PSDrive -PSProvider FileSystem
Name           Used (GB)     Free (GB) Provider      Root
----           ---------     --------- --------      ----
A                                                    A:\
C                 202.06      23718.91 FileSystem    C:\
D                1211.06     123642.32 FileSystem    D:\
G                 202.06        710.91 FileSystem    \\Music\GratefulDead

This command gets all of the drives that are supported by the Windows PowerShell FileSystem provider. This includes fixed drives, logical partitions, mapped network drives, and temporary drives that you create by using the New-PSDrive cmdlet.

Example 4: Check to see if a drive is in use as a Windows PowerShell drive name

if (Get-PSDrive X -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
    Write-Host 'The X: drive is already in use.'
} else {
    New-PSDrive -Name X -PSProvider Registry -Root HKLM:\SOFTWARE
}

This command checks to see whether the X drive is already in use as a Windows PowerShell drive name. If it is not, the command uses the New-PSDrive cmdlet to create a temporary drive that is mapped to the HKLM:\SOFTWARE registry key.

Example 5: Compare the types of files system drives

PS C:\> Get-PSDrive -PSProvider FileSystem
Name           Used (GB)     Free (GB) Provider      Root
----           ---------     --------- --------      ----
A                                                    A:\
C                 202.06      23718.91 FileSystem    C:\
D                1211.06     123642.32 FileSystem    D:\
G                 202.06        710.91 FileSystem    \\Music\GratefulDead
X                                      Registry      HKLM:\Network

PS C:\> net use
New connections will be remembered.
Status       Local     Remote                    Network
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK           G:        \\Server01\Public         Microsoft Windows Network

PS C:\> [System.IO.DriveInfo]::GetDrives() | Format-Table
Name DriveType DriveFormat IsReady AvailableFreeSpace TotalFreeSpace TotalSize     RootDirectory VolumeLabel
---- --------- ----------- ------- ------------------ -------------- ---------     ------------- -----------
A:\    Network               False                                                 A:\
C:\      Fixed NTFS          True  771920580608       771920580608   988877418496  C:\           Windows
D:\      Fixed NTFS          True  689684144128       689684144128   1990045179904 D:\           Big Drive
E:\      CDRom               False                                                 E:\
G:\    Network NTFS          True      69120000           69120000       104853504 G:\           GratefulDead

PS N:\> Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_LogicalDisk

DeviceID DriveType ProviderName   VolumeName         Size          FreeSpace
-------- --------- ------------   ----------         ----          ---------
A:       4
C:       3                        Windows            988877418496  771926069248
D:       3                        Big!              1990045179904  689684144128
E:       5
G:       4         \\Music\GratefulDead              988877418496  771926069248


PS C:\> Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_NetworkConnection
LocalName RemoteName            ConnectionState Status
--------- ----------            --------------- ------
G:        \\Music\GratefulDead  Connected       OK

This example compares the types of file system drives that are displayed by Get-PSDrive to those displayed by using other methods. This example demonstrates different ways to display drives in Windows PowerShell, and it shows that session-specific drives created by using the New-PSDrive cmdlet are accessible only in Windows PowerShell.

The first command uses Get-PSDrive to get all of the file system drives in the session. This includes the fixed drives (C: and D:), a mapped network drive (G:) that was created by using the Persist parameter of New-PSDrive, and a PowerShell drive (T:) that was created by using New-PSDrive without the Persist parameter.

The net use command displays Windows mapped network drives, in this case it displays only the G drive. It does not display the X: drive that was created by New-PSDrive. It shows that the G: drive is also mapped to \\Music\GratefulDead.

The third command uses the GetDrives method of the Microsoft .NET Framework System.IO.DriveInfo class. This command gets the Windows file system drives, including drive G:, but it does not get the drives created by New-PSDrive.

The fourth command uses the Get-CimInstance cmdlet to get the instances of the Win32_LogicalDisk class. It returns the A:, C:, D:, E:, and G: drives, but not the drives created by New-PSDrive.

The last command uses the Get-CimInstance cmdlet to display the instances of the Win32_NetworkConnection class. Like net use, it returns only the persistent G: drive created by New-PSDrive.

Parameters

-LiteralName

-Name

-PSProvider

-Scope

Inputs

None

You cannot pipe objects to this cmdlet.

Outputs

PSDriveInfo

This cmdlet returns objects that represent the drives in the session.

Notes

• This cmdlet is designed to work with the data exposed by any provider. To list the providers available in your session, use the Get-PSProvider cmdlet. For more information, see about_Providers.
• Mapped network drives that are created by using the Persist parameter of the New-PSDrive cmdlet are specific to a user account. Mapped network drives that you create in sessions that are started with the Run as administrator option or with the credentials of another user are not visible in sessions that are started without explicit credentials or with the credentials of the current user.

Related Links

• New-PSDrive
• Remove-PSDrive
• Get-PSProvider