Install or update your SysInternals Suite using PowerShell

I think a lot of you use the SysInternals tools on your machine. They are great tools at your disposal and have helped me a lot! You can install it using the Microsoft Store method; it will be updated like that, too, but for your management server, it’s nice to have an installer that works without the Microsoft Store 🙂 In this blog post, I will show you how to install or update your SysInternals Suite.

How the script works

Running the script with the -InstallPath parameter will download and install the SysInternals Suite to your specified folder or update an existing installation, showing which files were updated to which version. It downloads the latest version from the website, extracts it to a temporary folder, and then starts the installation or upgrade process. Afterward, it adds the installation folder to your system’s PATH variable for easy command-line access and cleans up the temporary files and folders.

Notes: The script must be run as an administrator.

Running the script

In the example output below, the script updates my current version in c:\Program Files (x86)\SysInterals Suite to the latest version. You can download the script to c:\scripts, for example, and run the Install-SysInternalsSuite function with the -InstallPath parameter (It will prompt you for the path because it’s mandatory).

PS C:\temp> Install-SysInternalsSuite -InstallPath 'c:\Program Files (x86)\SysInterals Suite'
Specified installation path c:\Program Files (x86)\SysInterals Suite found, continuing....
No previous download found in C:\Users\HarmV\AppData\Local\Temp\SysInternalsSuite, continuing...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Downloading latest version to C:\Users\HarmV\AppData\Local\Temp\SysinternalsSuite.zip                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Extracting files to C:\Users\HarmV\AppData\Local\Temp\SysInternalsSuite
- Updating AccessEnum.exe from version 1.33 to version 1.35- Updating ADExplorer.exe from version 1.51 to version 1.52- Updating ADExplorer64.exe from version 1.51 to version 1.52- Updating Bginfo.exe from version 4.31 to version 4.32- Updating Bginfo64.exe from version 4.31 to version 4.32
- Updating Contig.exe from version 1.81 to version 1.82
- Updating Contig64.exe from version 1.81 to version 1.82
- Updating Coreinfo.exe from version 3.52 to version 3.6
- Updating Coreinfo64.exe from version 3.52 to version 3.6
- Updating handle.exe from version 4.22 to version 5.0
- Updating handle64.exe from version 4.22 to version 5.0
- Updating notmyfault.exe from version 4.20 to version 4.21
- Updating notmyfault64.exe from version 4.20 to version 4.21
- Updating notmyfaultc.exe from version 4.20 to version 4.21
- Updating notmyfaultc64.exe from version 4.20 to version 4.21
- Updating procdump.exe from version 10.11 to version 11.0
- Updating procdump64.exe from version 10.11 to version 11.0
- Updating procexp.exe from version 16.43 to version 17.02
- Updating procexp64.exe from version 16.43 to version 17.02
- Updating Procmon.exe from version 3.91 to version 3.92
- Updating Procmon64.exe from version 3.91 to version 3.92
- Updating RDCMan.exe from version 2.90.1420.0 to version 2.92.1430.0
- Updating Sysmon.exe from version 13.34 to version 14.14
- Updating Sysmon64.exe from version 13.34 to version 14.14
- Updating ZoomIt.exe from version 6.01 to version 6.12
- Updating ZoomIt64.exe from version 6.01 to version 6.12
Adding c:\Program Files (x86)\SysInterals Suite with the SysInternalsSuite to the System Path
Cleaning extracted version in C:\Users\HarmV\AppData\Local\Temp
Cleaning downloaded SysinternalsSuite.zip file in C:\Users\HarmV\AppData\Local\Temp
Updated 26 files in c:\Program Files (x86)\SysInterals Suite from the downloaded 160 files

The script

Below are the contents of the script. Save it to c:\scripts, for example. You can add it to your PowerShell profile for easy access by running the following:

notepad $Profile
add ". c:\scripts\Install-SysInternalsSuite.ps1
Save/Quit
Start new PowerShell Session

function Install-SysInternalsSuite {
    param (
        [parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$InstallPath
    )

    # Test admin privileges without using -Requires RunAsAdministrator
    if (-not ([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal][Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]"Administrator")) {
        Write-Warning ("{0} needs to be started with admin privileges, exiting now...." -f $MyInvocation.MyCommand)
        return
    }

    # Create the installation folder if not already present
    if (-not (Test-Path -Path $InstallPath)) {   
        try {
            New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $InstallPath -ErrorAction Stop | Out-Null
            Write-Host ("Specified installation path {0} not found, creating now...." -f $InstallPath) -ForegroundColor Green
        }
        catch {
            Write-Warning ("Install path {0} not found, creating now...." -f $InstallPath)
            Write-Warning ("Error creating path {0}, check path and permissions. Exiting now..." -f $InstallPath)
            return
        }
    }
    else {
        Write-Host ("Specified installation path {0} found, continuing...." -f $InstallPath) -ForegroundColor Green
    }

    # Check if the previous download folder is present. Remove it first if it is
    if (Test-Path -Path $env:temp\SysInternalsSuite) {
        Write-Warning ("Previous extracted version found in {0}, removing it now..." -f $env:temp)
        Remove-Item -Path $env:temp\SysInternalsSuite -Force:$true -Confirm:$false -Recurse 
    }
    else {
        Write-Host ("No previous download found in {0}\SysInternalsSuite, continuing..." -f $env:temp) -ForegroundColor Green
    }

    # Download and extract the latest version
    try {
        [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
        $ProgressPreference = "SilentlyContinue"
        Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://download.sysinternals.com/files/SysinternalsSuite.zip -OutFile $ENV:TEMP\SysInternalsSuite.zip -UseBasicParsing -ErrorAction Stop
        Write-Host ("Downloading latest version to {0}\SysinternalsSuite.zip" -f $env:temp) -ForegroundColor Green
        Expand-Archive -LiteralPath $ENV:TEMP\SysInternalsSuite.zip -DestinationPath $env:temp\SysInternalsSuite -Force:$true -ErrorAction Stop
        Write-Host ("Extracting files to {0}\SysInternalsSuite" -f $env:temp) -ForegroundColor Green
    }
    catch {
        Write-Warning ("Error downloading/extracting the SysInternalsSuite, exiting...")
        return
    }

    # Loop through the files and only overwrite older versions and report updated programs on-screen. 
    # Additional files which were not present in the installation folder will be added
    $totalfiles = (Get-ChildItem -Path $env:temp\SysInternalsSuite).count
    $updated = 0
    foreach ($file in Get-ChildItem -Path $env:temp\SysInternalsSuite) {
        if ((Test-Path -Path "$($InstallPath)\$($file.Name)") -and (Test-Path -Path "$($env:temp)\SysInternalsSuite\$($file.name)")) {
            $currentversion = (Get-Item "$($InstallPath)\$($file.Name)").VersionInfo
            $downloadversion = (Get-Item "$($env:temp)\SysInternalsSuite\$($file.name)").VersionInfo
            if ($currentversion.ProductVersion -lt $downloadversion.ProductVersion) {
                try {
                    Copy-Item -LiteralPath "$($env:temp)\SysInternalsSuite\$($file.name)" -Destination "$($InstallPath)\$($file.Name)" -Force:$true -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction Stop
                    Write-Host ("- Updating {0} from version {1} to version {2}" -f $file.Name, $currentversion.ProductVersion, $downloadversion.ProductVersion) -ForegroundColor Green
                    ++$updated
                }
                catch {
                    Write-Warning ("Error overwriting {0}, please check permissions or perhaps the file is in use?" -f $file.name)
                }
            }
        }
        else {
            try {
                Copy-Item -LiteralPath "$($env:temp)\SysInternalsSuite\$($file.name)" -Destination "$($InstallPath)\$($file.Name)" -Force:$true -Confirm:$false -ErrorAction Stop
                Write-Host ("- Copying new file {0} to {1}" -f $file.Name, $InstallPath) -ForegroundColor Green
                ++$updated
            }
            catch {
                Write-Warning ("Error copying {0}, please check permissions" -f $file.name)
            }
        }
    }

    # Add installation folder to Path for easy access if not already present
    if ((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment' -Name PATH).Path -split ';' -notcontains $InstallPath) { 
        Write-Host ("Adding {0} with the SysInternalsSuite to the System Path" -f $InstallPath) -ForegroundColor Green
        $OldPath = (Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment' -Name PATH).Path
        $NewPath = $OldPath + ";$($InstallPath)"
        Set-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment' -Name PATH -Value $NewPath
    }
    else {
        Write-Host ("The installation folder {0} is already present in the System Path, skipping adding it..." -f $InstallPath) -ForegroundColor Green
    }

    # Cleanup files
    if (Test-Path -Path $env:temp\SysInternalsSuite) {
        Write-Host ("Cleaning extracted version in {0}" -f $env:temp) -ForegroundColor Green
        Remove-Item -Path $env:temp\SysInternalsSuite -Force:$true -Confirm:$false -Recurse 
    }
    if (Test-Path -Path $env:temp\SysInternalsSuite.zip) {
        Write-Host ("Cleaning downloaded SysinternalsSuite.zip file in {0}" -f $env:temp) -ForegroundColor Green
        Remove-Item -Path $env:temp\SysInternalsSuite.zip -Force:$true -Confirm:$false
    }

    # Display totals and exit
    Write-Host ("Updated {0} files in {1} from the downloaded {2} files" -f $updated, $InstallPath, $totalfiles) -ForegroundColor Green
    return
}

Download the script(s) from GitHub here