The Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting WMI class represents an association between instances of Win32_ComputerSystem and Win32_WindowsProductActivation.
Methods
Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting has no methods.
Properties
Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting returns 2 properties:
'Element','Setting'
Unless explicitly marked as writeable, all properties are read-only. Read all properties for all instances:
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting -Property *
Most WMI classes return one or more instances.
When
Get-CimInstance
returns no result, then apparently no instances of class Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting exist. This is normal behavior.Either the class is not implemented on your system (may be deprecated or due to missing drivers, i.e. CIM_VideoControllerResolution), or there are simply no physical representations of this class currently available (i.e. Win32_TapeDrive).
Element
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting | Select-Object -Property Element
Setting
WIN32_WINDOWSPRODUCTACTIVATION
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting | Select-Object -Property Setting
Examples
List all instances of Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting
Learn more about Get-CimInstance
and the deprecated Get-WmiObject
.
View all properties
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting -Property *
View key properties only
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting -KeyOnly
Selecting Properties
To select only some properties, pipe the results to Select-Object -Property a,b,c
with a comma-separated list of the properties you require. Wildcards are permitted.
Get-CimInstance
always returns all properties but only retrieves the ones that you specify. All other properties are empty but still present. That’s why you need to pipe the results into Select-Object
if you want to limit the visible properties, i.e. for reporting.
Selecting Properties
The code below lists all available properties. Remove the ones you do not need:
$properties = 'Element',
'Setting'
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting | Select-Object -Property $properties
Limiting Network Bandwidth
If you work remotely, it makes sense to limit network bandwidth by filtering the properties on the server side, too:
Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting -Property $property |
Select-Object -Property $property
Selecting Instances
To select some instances, use Get-CimInstance and a WMI Query. The wildcard character in WMI Queries is % (and not “*”).
The parameter -Filter runs a simple query.
Listing all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”
Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting -Filter 'Caption LIKE "a%"'
Using a WQL Query
The parameter -Query uses a query similar to SQL and combines the parameters -Filter and -Property. This returns all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”, and returns the properties specified:
Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT Setting, Element FROM Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'"
Any property you did not specify is still present but empty. You might need to use
Select-Object
to remove all unwanted properties:Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT Setting, Element FROM Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'" | Select-Object -Property Setting, Element
Accessing Remote Computers
To access remote systems, you need to have proper permissions. User the parameter -ComputerName to access one or more remote systems.
Authenticating as Current User
# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'
# authenticate with your current identity:
$result = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting -ComputerName $list
$result
Authenticating as Different User
Use a CIMSession object to authenticate with a new identity:
# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'
# authenticate with a different identity:
$cred = Get-Credential -Message 'Authenticate to retrieve WMI information:'
$session = New-CimSession -ComputerName $list -Credential $cred
$result = Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting -CimSession $session
# remove the session after use (if you do not plan to re-use it later)
Remove-CimSession -CimSession $session
$result
Learn more about accessing remote computers.
Requirements
To use Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting, the following requirements apply:
PowerShell
Get-CimInstance
was introduced with PowerShell Version 3.0, which in turn was introduced on clients with Windows 8 and on servers with Windows Server 2012.
If necessary, update Windows PowerShell to Windows PowerShell 5.1, or install PowerShell 7 side-by-side.
Operating System
Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting was introduced on clients with Windows XP and on servers with Windows Server 2003.
Namespace
Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting lives in the Namespace Root/CIMV2. This is the default namespace. There is no need to use the -Namespace parameter in Get-CimInstance
.
Implementation
Win32_ComputerSystemWindowsProductActivationSetting is implemented in Licwmi.dll and defined in Licwmi.mof. Both files are located in the folder C:\Windows\system32\wbem
:
explorer $env:windir\system32\wbem
notepad $env:windir\system32\wbem\Licwmi.mof