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Microsoft Documentation

Microsoft provides comprehensive documentation for Windows administration, PowerShell scripting, .NET development, Azure cloud services, and enterprise infrastructure. This page consolidates the key Microsoft Learn resources referenced in the bookmarks file and expands on the PowerShell and Windows administration content previously distributed across other pages.

Windows Administration

Core Documentation

Resource URL Description
Windows Commands Reference https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/windows-commands Complete command-line reference
PowerShell Documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/ Official PowerShell documentation
Windows Client Documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ Windows 10/11 admin guides
Windows Server Documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/ Server administration
Windows Terminal Documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/ Terminal emulator configuration
WinGet Package Manager https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/ Windows Package Manager reference

Registry and System Configuration

Resource URL Description
Registry Reference https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/sysinfo/registry Windows Registry API documentation
setlocal command https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/setlocal Localizes environment changes in batch scripts
reg command https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/reg Registry command-line operations
System Properties https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/system-properties sysdm.cpl configuration
Services https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/services/services services.msc documentation
Task Scheduler https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/taskschd/task-scheduler-start-page taskschd.msc documentation

Group Policy

Resource URL Description
Group Policy Overview https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-firewall/group-policy-overview GPO fundamentals
Local Group Policy Editor https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-firewall/open-the-group-policy-management-console gpedit.msc usage
Security Baselines https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-security-configuration-framework/windows-security-baselines Security baseline configurations
NRPT Management https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/dns/nrpt-mgmt Name Resolution Policy Table

Networking

Resource URL Description
TCP/IP Fundamentals https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/overview-of-tcpip-tools TCP/IP troubleshooting tools
DNS Client https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/dns/dns-client Windows DNS client behavior
Windows Firewall https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/operating-system-security/network-security/windows-firewall/ Firewall configuration
IPConfig https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/ipconfig Network configuration command
Netsh https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/technologies/netsh/netsh Network shell command

PowerShell

Documentation Hierarchy

Level Resource URL
Getting Started PowerShell 101 https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/learn/ps101/00-introduction
Language Reference About Topics https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about
Cmdlet Reference Module Browser https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/
Remoting PowerShell Remoting https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/learn/remoting/
DSC Desired State Configuration https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/dsc/overview

Essential Cmdlet Categories

Category Key Cmdlets Description
File System Get-ChildItem, Set-Location, Copy-Item, Remove-Item Navigate and manipulate files
Registry Get-ItemProperty, Set-ItemProperty, New-Item Registry access via PSDrive
Services Get-Service, Start-Service, Stop-Service Service management
Processes Get-Process, Stop-Process, Start-Process Process control
Networking Test-Connection, Invoke-WebRequest, Test-NetConnection Network diagnostics
Security Get-Acl, Set-Acl, Get-ExecutionPolicy Permission and policy management
Events Get-WinEvent, New-EventLog, Write-EventLog Windows Event Log access
CIM/WMI Get-CimInstance, Invoke-CimMethod Hardware and software inventory

PowerShell Execution Policies

Policy Description Security Level
Restricted No scripts allowed Maximum
AllSigned Only signed scripts High
RemoteSigned Local scripts OK; remote must be signed Moderate
Unrestricted All scripts run with warning Low
Bypass No restrictions None
PowerShell
# Check current policy
Get-ExecutionPolicy

# Set policy (requires admin)
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope LocalMachine

.NET and Development

Resource URL Description
.NET Documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/ .NET platform documentation
F# Documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fsharp/ F# language and tools
C# Reference https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/ C# language reference
ASP.NET Core https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/ Web development framework
Entity Framework https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ef/ ORM documentation
ML.NET https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/machine-learning/ Machine learning for .NET

F# Specific Resources

Resource URL Description
F# Guide https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fsharp/ F# documentation hub
F# History (HOPL) https://fsharp.org/history/hopl-final/hopl-fsharp.pdf ACM SIGPLAN HOPL conference paper
F# for Fun and Profit https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/ Community tutorials
Giraffe Framework https://github.com/giraffe-fsharp/Giraffe F# web framework
Saturn Framework https://saturnframework.org/ F# MVC web framework

Azure and Cloud

Resource URL Description
Azure Documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ Azure services documentation
Azure CLI https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/ Command-line interface
Azure PowerShell https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/azure/ Azure PowerShell modules
Microsoft Entra ID https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/ Identity and access management
Azure Virtual Network https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/ Cloud networking

Microsoft 365 and Office

Resource URL Description
Microsoft 365 Documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/ Admin and user documentation
Office Deployment Tool https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/ Enterprise deployment
Exchange Online https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/exchange-online Email service
SharePoint https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ Document management
Teams https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/ Collaboration platform

Security and Compliance

Resource URL Description
Microsoft Security https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/security/ Security documentation hub
Defender for Endpoint https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/ Endpoint protection
Security Compliance Toolkit https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=55319 Security baseline tools
Credential Guard https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/identity-protection/credential-guard/ Hardware-based credential isolation
BitLocker https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/operating-system-security/data-protection/bitlocker/ Drive encryption

PowerShell Code Reference

System Information

PowerShell
# Windows version and build
Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object WindowsProductName, WindowsVersion, OsBuildNumber

# Environment variables
Get-ChildItem Env: | Sort-Object Name

# Running services
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq 'Running'} | Select-Object Name, DisplayName

# Installed hotfixes
Get-HotFix | Select-Object HotFixID, InstalledOn | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending

# Boot configuration
bcdedit /enum

# Power configuration
powercfg /batteryreport
powercfg /energy

File System Operations

PowerShell
# List files with full details
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Path -Recurse | Select-Object Name, Length, LastWriteTime

# Find files by name
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Filter '*.log' -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Find files containing text
Select-String -Path '*.txt' -Pattern 'search term'

# Create directory
New-Item -Path 'C:\NewFolder' -ItemType Directory

# Remove directory recursively
Remove-Item -Path 'C:\OldFolder' -Recurse -Force

# Copy with attributes
Copy-Item -Path 'C:\Source' -Destination 'C:\Dest' -Recurse

# Robust file copy
robocopy C:\Source C:\Dest /MIR /Z /R:3 /W:5 /MT:8

User and Permission Management

PowerShell
# List local users
Get-LocalUser | Select-Object Name, Enabled, LastLogon

# List local groups
Get-LocalGroup | Select-Object Name, Description

# Create user
New-LocalUser -Name 'username' -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText 'password' -Force)

# Add to administrators
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group 'Administrators' -Member 'username'

# View effective permissions
Get-Acl -Path 'C:\Path\To\File' | Format-List

# Grant permissions
$path = 'C:\Path'
$rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule('username', 'Modify', 'ContainerInherit,ObjectInherit', 'None', 'Allow')
$acl = Get-Acl $path
$acl.SetAccessRule($rule)
Set-Acl $path $acl

Service Management

PowerShell
# List all services with status
Get-Service | Select-Object Name, Status, StartType | Sort-Object Status

# Start a service
Start-Service -Name 'ServiceName'

# Stop a service
Stop-Service -Name 'ServiceName'

# Configure startup type
Set-Service -Name 'ServiceName' -StartupType Automatic   # Automatic, Manual, Disabled

# Query service configuration
Get-CimInstance Win32_Service -Filter "Name = 'ServiceName'" | Select-Object *

Networking

PowerShell
# IP configuration
Get-NetIPConfiguration

# Network statistics
Get-NetTCPConnection | Select-Object LocalAddress, LocalPort, RemoteAddress, State

# Routing table
Get-NetRoute | Select-Object DestinationPrefix, NextHop, InterfaceAlias, RouteMetric

# Connectivity testing
Test-Connection -ComputerName 8.8.8.8 -Count 4
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName example.com -Port 443

# DNS resolution
Resolve-DnsName -Name example.com

# Firewall status
Get-NetFirewallProfile | Select-Object Name, Enabled, DefaultInboundAction