PowerShell Tip - Compare Secure Strings

No frills...

So the PC is freshly imaged, but needs connecting to the domain using a script. No available way to authenticate the password before making the method call and fat fingers can screw up the join. For a little extra assurance, enter password twice and compare, but SecureStrings are not comparable, so:

Function Password-DoubleCheck{

  do{

    $pass1=Read-Host -Prompt 'Enter User Password' -AsSecureString

    $pass2=Read-Host -Prompt 'Verfy User Password' -AsSecureString

    $chk1 = [Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto([Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($pass1))

    $chk2 = [Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto([Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SecureStringToBSTR($pass2))

    if($chk1-ceq$chk2){$validPass=$True}else{$validPass=$False;Write-Host 'Passwords do not match...'}

  }

  until($validPass)

  $pass1

}

Use like:

$password=(Password-DoubleCheck)

Derived from: http://techibee.com/powershell/compare-secure-strings-entered-through-powershell/422

PowerShell Tip - Determine if the OS 64 bit in a consistent way

No frills...

Just wanted a consistent way of determining if the operating system was 32 or 64 bit regardless of PowerShell version or OS.

Function OSIs-64Bit{if([IntPtr]::Size-eq 4){$false}else{$true}}

Paste atop a script and use in an if statement like:
if(OSIs-64Bit){'Do some wicked stuff'}

Derived from comments in: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/lync/en-US/5dfeb3ab-6265-40cd-a4ac-05428b9db5c3/determine-32-or-64bit-os?forum=winserverpowershell