This command lists running Windows services whose display name starts with “Windows”, sorts them by display name in descending order, and displays the result in a neat table.
Corrected version:
Get-Service * |
Select-Object Status, DisplayName |
Where-Object { $_.Status -eq "Running" -and $_.DisplayName -like "Windows*" } |
Sort-Object DisplayName -Descending |
Format-Table -AutoSize
Step-by-step explanation
1. Get-Service *
Get-Service *
Gets all Windows services on the computer.
The * wildcard means:
all services
So this returns services such as:
Windows Update
Windows Audio
Print Spooler
BITS
2. Pipeline |
|
The pipeline sends the output of one command to the next command.
Here, service objects are passed from:
Get-Service
to:
Select-Object
3. Select-Object Status, DisplayName
Select-Object Status, DisplayName
Keeps only two properties:
| Property | Meaning |
|---|---|
Status | Whether the service is Running, Stopped, etc. |
DisplayName | The friendly service name shown to users |
Example output at this stage:
Status DisplayName
------ -----------
Running Windows Audio
Stopped Windows Search
Running Windows Update
4. Where-Object { ... }
Where-Object { $_.Status -eq "Running" -and $_.DisplayName -like "Windows*" }
This filters the services.
Only services that meet both conditions are kept.
5. $_
$_
Means:
the current object in the pipeline
In this command, each $_ represents one service object.
6. $_.Status -eq "Running"
$_.Status -eq "Running"
Checks whether the service status is exactly:
Running
-eq means:
equals
7. -and
-and
Means both conditions must be true.
So the service must be:
Running
and its display name must start with:
Windows
8. $_.DisplayName -like "Windows*"
$_.DisplayName -like "Windows*"
Checks whether the service display name starts with Windows.
-like is used for wildcard pattern matching.
The * means:
anything after Windows
Examples that match:
Windows Audio
Windows Update
Windows Event Log
Windows Search
Examples that do not match:
Print Spooler
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
9. Sort-Object DisplayName -Descending
Sort-Object DisplayName -Descending
Sorts the remaining services by DisplayName.
-Descending means:
Z to A
Without -Descending, it would sort:
A to Z
10. Format-Table -AutoSize
Format-Table -AutoSize
Displays the final output as a table.
-AutoSize adjusts column widths so the output is easier to read.
Full meaning in one sentence
Get-Service * |
Select-Object Status, DisplayName |
Where-Object { $_.Status -eq "Running" -and $_.DisplayName -like "Windows*" } |
Sort-Object DisplayName -Descending |
Format-Table -AutoSize
means:
Get all services, keep only Status and DisplayName, filter only running services whose display name starts with “Windows”, sort them by DisplayName from Z to A, and display the result in a neat table.
Important note
Your original command has a curly closing quote here:
"Windows*“
Use a normal straight quote instead:
"Windows*"REF: AI Tools/ChatGPT
