Get-WmiObject : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument

Question

I've created the following PowerShell script to kill a process:

$oProcs = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process -filter "commandline like '%G:\\TCAFiles\\Users\\Admin\\2155\\Unturned.exe%'";foreach ($oProc in $oProcs){Stop-Process $oProc.Handle}

The above script works fine, however when I'm trying to make the script start from Command Prompt it fails.

powershell -Mta -NoProfile -Command "$oProcs = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process -filter "commandline like '%G:\TCAFiles\Users\Admin\2155\Unturned.exe%'";foreach ($oProc in $oProcs){Stop-Process $oProc.Handle}"

This results in the following error:

 Get-WmiObject : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '%G:\TCAFiles\Users\Admin\2155\Unturned.ex e%'. At line:1 char:11 + $oProcs = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process -filter commandline like '%G:\T ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-WmiObject], ParameterBindingException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetWmiObjectCommand

I'm not sure what this error means or how to resolve it.

Your issue is with unescaped double quotes. But it would be easier to use Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.Path -eq 'G:\TCAFiles\Users\Admin\ \2155\Unturned.exe'} | Stop-Process or just Get-Process Unturned | Stop-Process — BenH
– BenH, Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 22:03
You don't need to run it from cmd.exe. Run it from the PowerShell prompt instead. — Bill_Stewart
– Bill_Stewart, Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 22:05

Chris Barber · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-18 07:08:27Z

You will need to escape any double quotes inside the powershell code that you are passing as an argument. At the moment your command argument will end after "-filter ".

If you are running this from cmd you can escape the double quotes using a backslash:

powershell -Mta -NoProfile -Command "$oProcs = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process -filter \"commandline like '%G:\TCAFiles\Users\Admin\2155\Unturned.exe%'\";foreach ($oProc in $oProcs){Stop-Process $oProc.Handle}"

Or if you are running this in powershell you can escape them by prepending it with a backtick or another double quote:

powershell -Mta -NoProfile -Command "$oProcs = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process -filter ""commandline like '%G:\TCAFiles\Users\Admin\2155\Unturned.exe%'"";foreach ($oProc in $oProcs){Stop-Process $oProc.Handle}"

You're the best! First time I saw someone explain that there are different ways to escape the quotes in powershell and cmd. Me, I was just about to ask the same question, even though I tried to escape quotes in cmd ... but using the escape method from powershell :(

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