Can Powershell detect if a specific program is currently playing sound? - powershell

I am trying to find a way to detect if one specific program is playing sound. To make a long story short, the computers at my workplace all have a program called ReSoin.exe which should always be playing sound if it is functioning properly. If ReSoin is active but is not playing sound, I need to close and reopen ReSoin. I want to automate this process.
Using the method described by Persistent13 here and my very basic understanding of Powershell, I have created a loop to determine if a Windows machine is playing any sound. If Resoin is active and no sound is playing on the computer, the loop closes and reopens ReSoin.
Add-Type -TypeDefinition #'
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace Foo
{
public class Bar
{
public static bool IsWindowsPlayingSound()
{
IMMDeviceEnumerator enumerator = (IMMDeviceEnumerator)(new MMDeviceEnumerator());
IMMDevice speakers = enumerator.GetDefaultAudioEndpoint(EDataFlow.eRender, ERole.eMultimedia);
IAudioMeterInformation meter = (IAudioMeterInformation)speakers.Activate(typeof(IAudioMeterInformation).GUID, 0, IntPtr.Zero);
float value = meter.GetPeakValue();
return value > 1E-08;
}
[ComImport, Guid("BCDE0395-E52F-467C-8E3D-C4579291692E")]
private class MMDeviceEnumerator
{
}
private enum EDataFlow
{
eRender,
eCapture,
eAll,
}
private enum ERole
{
eConsole,
eMultimedia,
eCommunications,
}
[InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown), Guid("A95664D2-9614-4F35-A746-DE8DB63617E6")]
private interface IMMDeviceEnumerator
{
void NotNeeded();
IMMDevice GetDefaultAudioEndpoint(EDataFlow dataFlow, ERole role);
// the rest is not defined/needed
}
[InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown), Guid("D666063F-1587-4E43-81F1-B948E807363F")]
private interface IMMDevice
{
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.IUnknown)]
object Activate([MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStruct)] Guid iid, int dwClsCtx, IntPtr pActivationParams);
// the rest is not defined/needed
}
[InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown), Guid("C02216F6-8C67-4B5B-9D00-D008E73E0064")]
private interface IAudioMeterInformation
{
float GetPeakValue();
// the rest is not defined/needed
}
}
}
'#
While(1) {
$ReSoinIsActive = Get-Process ReSoin -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if($ReSoinIsActive -ne $null) {
$ReSoinIsPlayingSounds = [Foo.Bar]::IsWindowsPlayingSound()
if($ReSoinIsPlayingSounds -eq $False) {
Stop-Process -Name "ReSoin" -Force
Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files (x86)\ReLANpro\Cloud And Class Student\ReSoin.exe"
}else {
# Placeholder used for testing, please ignore
}
}else{
# Placeholder used for testing, please ignore
}
start-sleep -seconds 1
}
This is functional, but it has an obvious flaw. If any other program is playing noise, the computer will assume ReSoin is working. Is there a way to adapt this so that it will only detect if ReSoin is playing noise? I'm an amateur with Powershell and batch scripting, but I'm happy to try other scripting methods if anyone has another idea. If my goal is impossible to achieve, or too difficult to ask of the StackOverflow community, please let me know. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Related

Changing Windows 10 cursor icon with Powershell without reseting

I'm making a startup script for Windows and have been wanting to change my cursor icons. However, I want to do it without a computer reset and through powershell.
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Control Panel\Cursors\Arrow" -Value
"F:\nutty-squirrels\callmezippy_squirrelUnavailble.cur"
I know that it's possible to change the cursor icon without reset using the GUI, but I can't seem to get it to work using scripts, as regedit does not update the cursor (or, at least, it hasn't through my testing.)
I'm thinking that reseting some process would allow the cursor changes to occur, but I have no idea what that process is. If anyone has any idea, it would be a great help!
The Set-ItemProperty call is missing the -Name argument and you need to call the WinAPI function SystemParametersInfo to notify the system about the settings change:
# Define a C# class for calling WinAPI.
Add-Type -TypeDefinition #'
public class SysParamsInfo {
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "SystemParametersInfo")]
public static extern bool SystemParametersInfo(uint uiAction, uint uiParam, uint pvParam, uint fWinIni);
const int SPI_SETCURSORS = 0x0057;
const int SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE = 0x01;
const int SPIF_SENDCHANGE = 0x02;
public static void CursorHasChanged() {
SystemParametersInfo(SPI_SETCURSORS, 0, 0, SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE | SPIF_SENDCHANGE);
}
}
'#
# Change the cursor
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Control Panel\Cursors' -Name 'Arrow' -Value '%SystemRoot%\cursors\aero_arrow_xl.cur'
# Notify the system about settings change by calling the C# code
[SysParamsInfo]::CursorHasChanged()

Is there a way to reference a COM dll in PowerShell?

I am trying to automate a task on win10 desktop in a software called AxisVM, which luckily has a good COM interface.
My problem is that my current employer does not allow any programming languages to be installed on their PCs, so I am trying to re-implement a short, but functioning python script in PowerShell.
If I was working in e.g. C# then I could reference the interop dll in my project to be able to work with the constants and data types required by AxisVM.
Is there way to have that in PowerShell too?
I need to pass by reference the following struct when I call a function:
RAccelerationValues = (
double avX // acceleration in local x direction [m/s2]
double avY // acceleration in local y direction [m/s2]
double avZ // acceleration in local z direction [m/s2]
double avXX // angular acceleration about local x direction [rad/s2]
double avYY // angular acceleration about local y direction [rad/s2]
double avZZ // angular acceleration about local z direction [rad/s2]
double avR // resultant acceleration [m/s2]
double avRR // resultant angular acceleration [rad/s2] )
I guess this is in a way similar to that if I was automating Excel and was connecting to Excel by $Excel = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application, would there be a way to use the xl??? constants in PowerShell that are otherwise defined?
EDIT 1
This is what I could write using a lot of resources from the internet:
Add-Type -Path "C:\AxisVM_X5\Interop.AxisVM.FW4.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7.2\System.dll"
$Assem =#(
"C:\AxisVM_X5\Interop.AxisVM.FW4.dll",
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\.NETFramework\v4.7.2\System.dll"
)
$Source = #"
using System;
using ax = AxisVM;
namespace ConsoleApp1
{
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
ax.AxisVMApplication axApp = new ax.AxisVMApplication();
while (((ax.IAxisVMApplication)axApp).Loaded == ax.ELongBoolean.lbFalse)
{
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
axApp.Visible = ax.ELongBoolean.lbTrue; // AxisVM starts hidden, so make it visible
axApp.CloseOnLastReleased = ax.ELongBoolean.lbFalse; // Do not close AxisVM after this code
axApp.AskCloseOnLastReleased = ax.ELongBoolean.lbTrue; // Ask whether close AxisVM after this code
axApp.AskSaveOnLastReleased = ax.ELongBoolean.lbTrue;
axApp.ApplicationClose = ax.EApplicationClose.acEnableNoWarning;
ax.AxisVMModel axModel = axApp.Models.Item[1];
axModel.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\x\\Documents\\_AXIS_TESZT\\tesztgerenda.axs");
ax.AxisVMAcceleration axResAcc = axModel.Results.Acceleration;
axResAcc.AnalysisType = ax.EAnalysisType.atDynamic;
ax.RAccelerationValues resout = new ax.RAccelerationValues();
string lcNAme;
int num_of_timesteps = axModel.Results.TimeStepCount[ax.EAnalysisType.atDynamic, 1];
Console.WriteLine(num_of_timesteps);
axResAcc.LoadCaseId = 2;
axResAcc.TimeStep = 1;
axResAcc.NodalAccelerationByLoadCaseId(5, ref resout, out lcNAme);
Console.WriteLine(lcNAme);
}
}
}
"#
Add-Type -ReferencedAssemblies $Assem -TypeDefinition $Source -Language CSharp
[ConsoleApp1.Program]::Main()
...too bad I will never be able to use it because of the restrictions I have of running power shell scripts

How to stop a windows 10 machine from sleeping/hibernating down when running a powershell process?

I have a powershell process that reads records from a remote server and copies them into a local database. When it runs, it might run for 8-12 hours.
How do I prevent the computer from shutting down (or going into sleep/hibernate mode) during this time? I know I can adjust the 'Power and sleep settings' to set the computer to never sleep, but that's not what I'm looking for - I do want it to go to sleep when the process isn't running.
I know that sleep/hibernate is suspended if a netflix or youtube video is running, I'd like the computer to do the same when a powershell process is running.
The powershell process runs in a command window on the desktop - I'm happy for the screen saver to activate, but what I don't want to happen is for me to wake the machine after 8 hours and discover that the process only ran for 10 minutes before the computer went to sleep!
With some extra effort, you can achieve the desired behavior with the standard powercfg.exe utility, by using a custom, always-on power scheme that is created on demand and temporarily activated for the duration of your script run:
Note:
Look for comment # YOUR CODE GOES HERE below.
For a .NET / Windows API-based alternative, see this answer.
# Define the properties of a custom power scheme, to be created on demand.
$schemeGuid = 'e03c2dc5-fac9-4f5d-9948-0a2fb9009d67' # randomly created with New-Guid
$schemeName = 'Always on'
$schemeDescr = 'Custom power scheme to keep the system awake indefinitely.'
# Helper function that ensures that the most recent powercfg.exe call succeeded.
function assert-ok { if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { throw } }
# Determine the currently active power scheme, so it can be restored at the end.
$prevGuid = (powercfg -getactivescheme) -replace '^.+([-0-9a-f]{36}).+$', '$1'
assert-ok
# Temporarily activate a custom always-on power scheme; create it on demand.
try {
# Try to change to the custom scheme.
powercfg -setactive $schemeGuid 2>$null
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { # Changing failed -> create the scheme on demand.
# Clone the 'High performance' scheme.
$null = powercfg -duplicatescheme SCHEME_MIN $schemeGuid
assert-ok
# Change its name and description.
$null = powercfg -changename $schemeGuid $schemeName $schemeDescr
# Activate it
$null = powercfg -setactive $schemeGuid
assert-ok
# Change all settings to be always on.
# Note:
# * Remove 'monitor-timeout-ac', 'monitor-timeout-dc' if it's OK
# for the *display* to go to sleep.
# * If you make changes here, you'll have to run powercfg -delete $schemeGuid
# or delete the 'Always on' scheme via the GUI for changes to take effect.
# * On an AC-only machine (desktop, server) the *-ac settings aren't needed.
$settings = 'monitor-timeout-ac', 'monitor-timeout-dc', 'disk-timeout-ac', 'disk-timeout-dc', 'standby-timeout-ac', 'standby-timeout-dc', 'hibernate-timeout-ac', 'hibernate-timeout-dc'
foreach ($setting in $settings) {
powercfg -change $setting 0 # 0 == Never
assert-ok
}
}
# YOUR CODE GOES HERE.
# In this sample, wait for the user to press Enter before exiting.
# Before that, the 'Always on' power scheme should remain in
# effect, and the machine shouldn't go to sleep.
pause
} finally { # Executes even when the script is aborted with Ctrl-C.
# Reactivate the previously active power scheme.
powercfg -setactive $prevGuid
}
You could create a wrapper script from the above, to which you pass the path of the script to execute.
If you don't mind modifying the currently active scheme, you can use the approach shown in Kerr's answer, using per-setting powercfg -change <setting> <value-in-minutes> calls (/x / -x is an alias of /change / -change), using one of the following <setting> names in each call; passing 0 as <value-in-minutes> represents never:
monitor-timeout-ac
monitor-timeout-dc
disk-timeout-ac
disk-timeout-dc
standby-timeout-ac
standby-timeout-dc
hibernate-timeout-ac
hibernate-timeout-dc
Note, however, that such changes are persistent, so you may want to restore the original values later, which takes extra effort.
To offer a .NET / Windows API-based alternative to the powercfg.exe-based solution:
Note:
The solution uses Add-Type to compile C# code on demand, which incurs a performance penalty the first time the code is called in the current session.
It is important to call ::StayAwake($false) in the same session in order to clear the power requests made.
Look for comment # YOUR CODE GOES HERE below.
This solution was adapted from this C# answer by MarkusEgle.
Add-Type -ErrorAction Stop -Name PowerUtil -Namespace Windows -MemberDefinition #'
// Member variables.
static IntPtr _powerRequest;
static bool _mustResetDisplayRequestToo;
// P/Invoke function declarations.
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
static extern IntPtr PowerCreateRequest(ref POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT Context);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
static extern bool PowerSetRequest(IntPtr PowerRequestHandle, PowerRequestType RequestType);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
static extern bool PowerClearRequest(IntPtr PowerRequestHandle, PowerRequestType RequestType);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto, SetLastError = true, ExactSpelling = true)]
static extern int CloseHandle(IntPtr hObject);
// Availablity Request Enumerations and Constants
enum PowerRequestType
{
PowerRequestDisplayRequired = 0,
PowerRequestSystemRequired,
PowerRequestAwayModeRequired,
PowerRequestMaximum
}
const int POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT_VERSION = 0;
const int POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT_SIMPLE_STRING = 0x1;
// Availablity Request Structures
// Note: Windows defines the POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT structure with an
// internal union of SimpleReasonString and Detailed information.
// To avoid runtime interop issues, this version of
// POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT only supports SimpleReasonString.
// To use the detailed information,
// define the PowerCreateRequest function with the first
// parameter of type POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT_DETAILED.
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
struct POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT
{
public UInt32 Version;
public UInt32 Flags;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]
public string SimpleReasonString;
}
/// <summary>
/// Prevents the system from going to sleep, by default including the display.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="enable">
/// True to turn on, False to turn off. Passing True must be paired with a later call passing False.
/// If you pass True repeatedly, subsequent invocations take no actions and ignore the parameters.
/// If you pass False, the remaining paramters are ignored.
// If you pass False without having passed True earlier, no action is performed.
//// </param>
/// <param name="includeDisplay">True to also keep the display awake; defaults to True.</param>
/// <param name="reasonString">
/// A string describing why the system is being kept awake; defaults to the current process' command line.
/// This will show in the output from `powercfg -requests` (requires elevation).
/// </param>
public static void StayAwake(bool enable, bool includeDisplay = true, string reasonString = null)
{
if (enable)
{
// Already enabled: quietly do nothing.
if (_powerRequest != IntPtr.Zero) { return; }
// Configure the reason string.
POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT powerRequestContext;
powerRequestContext.Version = POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT_VERSION;
powerRequestContext.Flags = POWER_REQUEST_CONTEXT_SIMPLE_STRING;
powerRequestContext.SimpleReasonString = reasonString ?? System.Environment.CommandLine; // The reason for making the power request.
// Create the request (returns a handle).
_powerRequest = PowerCreateRequest(ref powerRequestContext);
// Set the request(s).
PowerSetRequest(_powerRequest, PowerRequestType.PowerRequestSystemRequired);
if (includeDisplay) { PowerSetRequest(_powerRequest, PowerRequestType.PowerRequestDisplayRequired); }
_mustResetDisplayRequestToo = includeDisplay;
}
else
{
// Not previously enabled: quietly do nothing.
if (_powerRequest == IntPtr.Zero) { return; }
// Clear the request
PowerClearRequest(_powerRequest, PowerRequestType.PowerRequestSystemRequired);
if (_mustResetDisplayRequestToo) { PowerClearRequest(_powerRequest, PowerRequestType.PowerRequestDisplayRequired); }
CloseHandle(_powerRequest);
_powerRequest = IntPtr.Zero;
}
}
// Overload that allows passing a reason string while defaulting to keeping the display awake too.
public static void StayAwake(bool enable, string reasonString)
{
StayAwake(enable, false, reasonString);
}
'#
try {
# Create power request(s) that keep the system awake.
# Pass $false as the 2nd argument to allow the display to go to sleep.
# The reason string is visible when you run `powercfg.exe -requests` to show current requests
# (requires elevation).
# Defaults: keep the display awake too, use the current process' command line as the reason string.
[Windows.PowerUtil]::StayAwake($true, $true, "Running long-running script $PSCommandPath.")
# YOUR CODE GOES HERE.
# In this sample, wait for the user to press Enter before exiting.
# Before that, the system should stay awake indefinitely.
pause
} finally { # This ensures that the previous scheme is restored even when the script is aborted with Ctrl-C.
# Clear the power requests.
[Windows.PowerUtil]::StayAwake($false)
}
Simple one-liner that I use:
Powercfg /x -standby-timeout-ac 0

Get the "plain" (end-user readable) name of UWP apps installed on a system

I'm using the following PowerShell script to retrieve and save to a text file the list of UWP apps on a system. It gets the ID, name (system name) and packagefamilyname.
In addition to the name, I'm looking for a way to retrieve the plain name of the app: for example, "OneNote" instead of "Microsoft.Office.OneNote". Ideally, this name would also be localized: for example, "Calculatrice" (on a French system) instead of "Microsoft.WindowsCalculator".
I found this list of info retrieved by Get-AppxPackage but nothing like an end-user readable name... I'm not very familiar this area of expertise. Any help would be appreciated.
$installedapps = get-AppxPackage
$ids = $null
foreach ($app in $installedapps)
{
try
{
$ids = (Get-AppxPackageManifest $app -erroraction Stop).package.applications.application.id
}
catch
{
Write-Output "No Id's found for $($app.name)"
}
foreach ($id in $ids)
{
$line = $app.Name + "`t" + $app.packagefamilyname + "!" + $id
echo $line
$line >> 'c:\temp\output.txt'
}
}
write-host "Press any key to continue..."
[void][System.Console]::ReadKey($true)
[Completed updated]
You can do this pretty easily in C#. You have to reference the correct WinMDs from the Windows SDK (the actual directories will change depending on SDK version):
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\References\10.0.17134.0\Windows.Foundation.FoundationContract\3.0.0.0\Windows.Foundation.FoundationContract.winmd
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\References\10.0.17134.0\Windows.Foundation.UniversalApiContract\6.0.0.0\Windows.Foundation.UniversalApiContract.winmd
If you can't build a stand-alone EXE and just want pure PowerShell, you might be able to reference the WinMDs %systemroot%\system32\winmetadata. The code is pretty simple (I avoided await since I don't know if PowerShell has that):
// using Windows.Management.Deployment;
static void Main(string[] args)
{
GetList();
}
static void GetList()
{
var pm = new PackageManager();
var packages = pm.FindPackagesForUser("");
foreach (var package in packages)
{
var asyncResult = package.GetAppListEntriesAsync();
while (asyncResult.Status != Windows.Foundation.AsyncStatus.Completed)
{
Thread.Sleep(10);
}
foreach (var app in asyncResult.GetResults())
{
Console.WriteLine(app.DisplayInfo.DisplayName);
}
}
}
I spent some time looking for this today, and finally came up with a solution that doesn't involve a page of code, or digging around in files/registry/etc. Put the below two lines in a script or function, and it will return PoSh-friendly output which you can then pipe into ForEach-Object, Where-Object, Sort-Object, Export-CSV, etc.
$PkgMgr = [Windows.Management.Deployment.PackageManager,Windows.Web,ContentType=WindowsRuntime]::new()
$PkgMgr.FindPackages() | Select-Object DisplayName -ExpandProperty Id
The .FindPackages() method also has an overload which takes a Family Name, but the docs lead me to believe it can only accept exact names, not wildcard matches. So unless you know exactly what you are looking for, I am guessing it is best to retrieve the list of all packages, and then do your own searches on that list.
The docs do say that this will return packages for all users, and that it requires admin/elevated rights to run.

Capturing laptop lid closing event in windows with Powershell

I found some good C# script in the help question "Capturing laptop lid closing event in windows?" (a previous Stack Overflow posted question). Unfortunately I am having trouble converting it to Powershell. My Powershell weaknesses preliminary reside in using Microsoft .NET Framework classes in a Windows PowerShell session, in conjunction with the Add-Type Cmdlet. This is because I do not have any formal script help resources in this area. The Stack Overflow script I was trying to convert to Powershell is listed below.
regards,
Mark
int ServiceMain(int argc, char** argv)
{
serviceStatusHandle = RegisterServiceCtrlHandlerExA(serviceName, (LPHANDLER_FUNCTION_EX) ServiceControlHandler, 0);
//...
lidcloseRegHandle = RegisterPowerSettingNotification(serviceStatusHandle, &GUID_LIDSWITCH_STATE_CHANGE, DEVICE_NOTIFY_SERVICE_HANDLE);
//...
}
/**
* Event handler for windows service.
*/
void WINAPI ServiceControlHandler(DWORD controlCode, DWORD evtype, PVOID evdata, PVOID Context)
{
switch (controlCode)
{
//...
case SERVICE_CONTROL_POWEREVENT:
WriteToLog("Service Control: SERVICE_CONTROL_POWEREVENT builds and fwd the msg");
msg.control = SERVICE_CONTROL_POWEREVENT;
msg.event_type = (int) evtype;
msg.event_data = evdata;
//...
}
}