deleting profiles while skipping admin

Hello folks,
i have created the following script to remove profiles from PCs, however what change would i make to skip the administrator profile?

$CLIENT = Get-Content "c:\Temp\computers.txt"
 
foreach($PC in $CLIENT){
    # Testing PC connectivity
    if(Test-Connection $PC -Count 1 -Quiet){
        # Gathering users from c:\users
        foreach($PCuser in (Get-ChildItem "\\$pc\c$\users" -Directory)){
            # delete  recursively
            RD "\\$PC\c$\Users\$($pcuser.name)\Desktop\*.*"
            RD "\\$PC\c$\Users\$($pcuser.name)\Downloads\*.*"
            RD "\\$PC\c$\Users\$($pcuser.name)\Documents\*.*"
            RD "\\$PC\c$\Users\$($pcuser.name)\Music\*.*"
            RD "\\$PC\c$\Users\$($pcuser.name)\Pictures\*.*"
            RD "\\$PC\c$\Users\$($pcuser.name)\Videos\*.*"
        }
    }else{
        Write-Warning "$PC is offline"
    }
}

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or if anybody has a a batch that'd be great too

Thanks for looking

LVL 3

ivan rosaAsked: 2017-11-07

Who is Participating?

LVL 3

ivan rosaAuthor Commented: 2017-11-09

thanks for your efforts Jose I was actually running it from the same "c:\test\" folder just like where my computers.txt file was...
with that said though I corrected my original one and actually got it working. I even was able to add more users to avoid.
ps. it might not be a look a little messy though

$CLIENT = Get-Content "c:\Temp\computers.txt"
foreach($PC in $CLIENT) 
{
    if(Test-Connection $PC -Count 1 -Quiet) 
    {
        foreach($PCuser in (Get-ChildItem "\\$pc\c$\users" -Directory)) 
        {
            if ($PCuser -notmatch "Public") 
            {
                if ($PCuser -notmatch "Administrator") 
                {
                    if ($PCuser -notmatch "Default")
                    {
                        #WRITE This is the user $PCuser - and pc $PC
                        Remove-Item -Recurse -Force -Verbose -Path "\\$PC\C$\Users\$PCuser\"
                    }
                    
                } 
            }
    
        }
    } else
        {
            Write-Warning "$PC is offline"
        }
}

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LVL 17

Jose Gabriel Ortega CEE Solution Guide - CEO Faru Bonon ITCommented: 2017-11-07

$CLIENT = Get-Content "c:\Temp\computers.txt"
function Remove-Recursively{
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param(
        [Parameter(position=0,Mandatory=$true)]$Path
    )
    BEGIN{}
    PROCESS{
        #Get Files and remove them
        $Files = [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles($Path)
        $ProfileFolders = [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories($Path)
        if($ProfileFolders.Count -gt 0){
            foreach($profileFolder in $ProfileFolders){
                Remove-recursively -path $profilefolder
            }
        }
        

        if($Files.Count -gt 0){
            foreach($file in $Files){
                [System.IO.File]::Delete($file)
            }
        }
        [System.IO.Directory]::Delete($Path)
    }
    END{}
}
 
foreach($PC in $CLIENT){
    # Testing PC connectivity
    if(Test-Connection $PC -Count 1 -Quiet){
        # Gathering users from c:\users
        $Folders= [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("\\$pc\C$\users")
        $Filtered = $Folders | where { $_ -notmatch "Admin"}

        foreach($PCuser in $Filtered){
            Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
        }
    }else{
        Write-Warning "$PC is offline"
    }
}

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LVL 43

Shaun VermaakTechnical Specialist/DeveloperCommented: 2017-11-08

Just a question... Why not use the GPO or registry settings to automatically delete old user profiles?
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/28647.how-to-automatically-delete-user-profiles-older-than-a-certain-number-of-days-using-group-policy.aspx
https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/31021/UserResourceCleanup.html

LVL 3

ivan rosaAuthor Commented: 2017-11-08

Hi Jose, let's make it easier, what about to delete the entire profiles while skipping the admin & defaults?

unfortunate i tried your script and it gave me the error below

Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively
 
Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively
 
Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively
 
Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively
 
Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively
 
Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively
 
Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively
 
Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively
 
Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively
 
Remove-Recursively : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
At C:\Users\johndoe\Desktop\removeprofile2.ps1:37 char:38
+             Remove-Recursively -path $pfolder
+                                      ~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [Remove-Recursively], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Remove-Recursively

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@shaun, GPO would it sounded good, thought this project is a temporary ...

LVL 3

ivan rosaAuthor Commented: 2017-11-08

ok so i re-edited the script with vision of just deleting the entire profile while skipping the default accounts but for some reason it's not deleting the files ...

$CLIENT = Get-Content "c:\Temp\computers.txt"

foreach($PC in $CLIENT){
    # Testing PC connectivity
    if(Test-Connection $PC -Count 1 -Quiet){
        # Gathering users from c:\users
        foreach($PCuser in (Get-ChildItem "\\$pc\c$\users" -Directory)){
            # delete  recursively
            Where ($PCuser -ne 'Default' -or $PCuser -ne 'Administrator' -ne $PCuser -ne 'Public') | RD "\\$PC\c$\Users\$PCuser\" -Force -Recurse
            echo "from this $PC all of this user was deleted $PCuser"
        }
    }else{
        Write-Warning "$PC is offline"
    }
}

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can anybody kindly take a look of what am i doing wrong?

LVL 17

Jose Gabriel Ortega CEE Solution Guide - CEO Faru Bonon ITCommented: 2017-11-09

$CLIENT = Get-Content "c:\Temp\computers.txt"
function Remove-Recursively{
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param(
        [Parameter(position=0,Mandatory=$true)]$Path
    )
    BEGIN{}
    PROCESS{
        #Get Files and remove them
        $Files = [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles("$Path")
        $ProfileFolders = [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("$Path")
        if($ProfileFolders.Count -gt 0){
            foreach($profileFolder in $ProfileFolders){
                Remove-recursively -path "$profilefolder"
            }
        }
        

        if($Files.Count -gt 0){
            foreach($file in $Files){
                [System.IO.File]::Delete($file)
            }
        }
        [System.IO.Directory]::Delete("$Path")
    }
    END{}
}
 
foreach($PC in $CLIENT){
    # Testing PC connectivity
    if(Test-Connection $PC -Count 1 -Quiet){
        # Gathering users from c:\users
        $Folders= [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("\\$pc\C$\users")
        $Filtered = $Folders | where { $_ -notmatch "Admin"}

        foreach($PCuser in $Filtered){
            Remove-Recursively -path "$pfolder"
        }
    }else{
        Write-Warning "$PC is offline"
    }
}

Open in new window

Try this one and check if you got any errors.
it was not working because you gave a null path.
That was all it was complaining for.

LVL 3

ivan rosaAuthor Commented: 2017-11-09

thanks, buddy, although I got me an even bigger error log.

Exception calling "GetFiles" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:10 char:9
+         $Files = [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetDirectories" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:11 char:9
+         $ProfileFolders = [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("$Pat ...
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "Delete" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:24 char:9
+         [System.IO.Directory]::Delete("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetFiles" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:10 char:9
+         $Files = [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetDirectories" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:11 char:9
+         $ProfileFolders = [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("$Pat ...
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "Delete" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:24 char:9
+         [System.IO.Directory]::Delete("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetFiles" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:10 char:9
+         $Files = [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetDirectories" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:11 char:9
+         $ProfileFolders = [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("$Pat ...
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "Delete" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:24 char:9
+         [System.IO.Directory]::Delete("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetFiles" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:10 char:9
+         $Files = [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetDirectories" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:11 char:9
+         $ProfileFolders = [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("$Pat ...
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "Delete" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:24 char:9
+         [System.IO.Directory]::Delete("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetFiles" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:10 char:9
+         $Files = [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetDirectories" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:11 char:9
+         $ProfileFolders = [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("$Pat ...
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "Delete" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:24 char:9
+         [System.IO.Directory]::Delete("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetFiles" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:10 char:9
+         $Files = [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetDirectories" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:11 char:9
+         $ProfileFolders = [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("$Pat ...
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "Delete" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:24 char:9
+         [System.IO.Directory]::Delete("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetFiles" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:10 char:9
+         $Files = [System.IO.Directory]::GetFiles("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "GetDirectories" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:11 char:9
+         $ProfileFolders = [System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories("$Pat ...
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

Exception calling "Delete" with "1" argument(s): "The path is not of a legal form."
At C:\Temp\removeprofiles.ps1:24 char:9
+         [System.IO.Directory]::Delete("$Path")
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ArgumentException

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LVL 17

Jose Gabriel Ortega CEE Solution Guide - CEO Faru Bonon ITCommented: 2017-11-09

I'd need to know what is in the variable. Can I see it ? teamviewer maybe?
what is the path you're looking form? it is supposed to run in a local path. are you running it in a network path (\\server\folder) ?

LVL 43

Shaun VermaakTechnical Specialist/DeveloperCommented: 2017-11-24

You will still delete admin profiles because admin could have been renamed or suffixed with a .COMPUTERNAME or a .DOMAINNAME.

I suggest you enumerate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

LVL 3

ivan rosaAuthor Commented: 2017-11-28

this is best to put in practice with folders within folders while voiding targets. thought i would really advise to test it first make sure if it's used for profiling to make sure, Temporary profile doesn't pop up...