Powershell

“net use” in PowerShell Without Specifying Drive

The replacement of the “net use” cmdlet of CMD in PowerShell is the “New-PSDrive”. The cmdlet “New-PSDrive” produces temporary and persistent drives and maps them with the associated location in an item data store. Temporary drives remain in existence only in the session where it was created. While the persistent drives are not session specific.

This write-up will elaborate on the “New-PSDrive” cmdlet in PowerShell.

“net use” in PowerShell Without Specifying Drive

As stated above, the alternative of the “net use” cmdlet in PowerShell is the “New-PSDrive”. This cmdlet is responsible for creating temporary and persistent drives and then mapping them to a network server.

Examples related to the above-discussed cmdlet are demonstrated below.

Example 1: Utilize the Cmdlet “New-PSDrive” to Create a Temporary Network Drive
To create a temporary network drive and then mapped to a network, provided cmdlet can be used:

New-PSDrive -Name "Public" -PSProvider "FileSystem" -Root "\\Server01\Public"

In the above code statement:

  • First, write the “New-PSDrive” cmdlet.
  • Then, specify the parameter “-Name” and assign it the value “Public”.
  • After that, write the parameter “-PSProvider” parameter and specify the value “FileSystem” to it.
  • Lastly, add another parameter “-Root” and define it as the server address.

Example 2: Use the “New-PSDrive” Cmdlet to Create a Temporary Drive Mapped to a Local Directory
Create a temporary drive and then mapped to a local directory by running the following command:

$new_param = @{
    Name = "Docs"
    PSProvider = "File_System"
    Root = "C:\Users\User01\Documents"
    Description = "Map this to the Documents folder."
}
New-PSDrive @new_param

According to the above script code:

  • First, create a hash-table and assign it to the “$new_param”.
  • Inside a hash-table, create variables and assign the stated values to them, including name, PSProvider, directory location, and description.
  • Lastly, call the hash-table with the aid of the “New-PSDrive” cmdlet.

Example 3: Use the “New-PSDrive” Cmdlet to Create a Temporary Drive for a Registry Key
In this illustration, the temporary drive will be created for a registry key:

New-PSDrive -Name "Company" -PSProvider "Registry" -Root "HKLM:\Software\Company"

In the above-provided code:

  • First, add the “New-PSDrive” cmdlet, followed by the “-Name” parameter having the value of “Company”.
  • After that, add another parameter “-PSProvider” and assign it the value “Registry” value.
  • Lastly, specify the “-Root” parameter and define the registry value “HKLM:\Software\Company” to it.

Example 4: Use the “New-PSDrive” Cmdlet to Create a Persistent Drive
To create a persistent network drive, execute the below-given command:

New-PSDrive -Name V -PSProvider FileSystem -Root \\VBoxServer\Win10 -Persist

In the above-discussed command:

  • First, write the “New-PSDrive” cmdlet along with the “-Name” parameter having the value “V” assigned to it.
  • Then, add the “-PSProvider” parameter and assign the value “FileSystem”.
  • Add the “-Root” parameter and mention the server drive.
  • Lastly, add the “-Persist” parameter to create a persistent drive.

We have provided the usage of the “New-PSDrive” cmdlet in PowerShell without specifying the drive.

Conclusion

The CMD “net use” cmdlets alternative in PowerShell is the “New-PSDrive”. The “New-PSDrive” creates the drives including persistent and temporary. Moreover, it maps the created drives to both local and remote computers. This blog explained the CMD “net use” cmdlets alternative which is “New-PSDrive” in PowerShell.

About the author

Muhammad Farhan

I am a Computer Science graduate and now a technical writer who loves to provide the easiest solutions to the most difficult problems related to Windows, Linux, and Web designing. My love for Computer Science emerges every day because of its ease in our everyday life.