Automatically deleting files without prompts with Powershell

Question

I try to write a script for an automated backup of savegame folders of a game. It works in general, but i have some issues with the Remove-Item cmdlet. The script always prompts me for removing non-empty subfolders. I tried with -force and -confirm:$false but nothing changed. I also tried several methods i could find across the web.

I'm not experienced with Powershell, so maybe i just made stupid mistake somewhere? (I also would appreciate some feedback in general, if there is something that should done an other way)

# ProjectZomboid sandbox savegame folder:
$vSaveDir = $Env:USERPROFILE+'\Zomboid\Saves\Sandbox\'
# Where is your ProjectZomboid folder?:
$vWorkingDir = 'D:\SteamLibrary\SteamApps\common\ProjectZomboid\'
# How many backups should be keeped?:
$vAMTBackups = 5
clear
$vSaveBak = @()
# init counter for amounts of backups keeped
$iB = 0
# set working directory for script to save dir
Set-Location $vSaveDir
# call the game
$vPID = (Start-Process -FilePath $vWorkingDir'ProjectZomboid64.exe' -WorkingDirectory $vWorkingDir -PassThru).Id
# while process is NOT running, wait 60s, then continue
while (!(Get-Process -Id $vPID)){
    Start-Sleep -s 60
}
# while process is running  with a 30s cooldown for each iteration 
while ((Get-Process -Id $vPID -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)){
    "...process is running ..."
    Start-Sleep -s 30
    # reset counter for amounts of backups keeped
    if ($iB -eq $vAMTBackups) {
        $iB = 0
    }
    # check for existing saves
    if (Test-Path $vSaveDir\*) {
        # get last modified dir from save dir
        $vLastSave = Get-ChildItem $vSaveDir | Where-Object     {$_.PSIsContainer} | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -    First 1
        # check if last modified dir is backup dir
        if (!($vLastSave -match "Backup")) {
            "...last save is not a backup savegame..."
            if (!(Test-Path -Path $vSaveDir$vLastSave"_Backup_"$iB)) {
                Write-Host "...directory not exists..."
                $vSaveBakTmp = New-Item -Path $vSaveDir$vLastSave"_Backup_"$iB -ItemType Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue # | Out-Null
                $vSaveBak = $vSaveBak + $vSaveBakTmp
                Write-Host "...created directory "$vSaveBak[$iB]" ..."
            }
            # delete any data in actual backup dir
            $TempFiles = Get-ChildItem $vSaveBak[$iB] -Recurse
            $TempFiles | Foreach ($_) { Remove-Item $_.Fullname -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Confirm:$false}
            # do backup 
            Robocopy $vLastSave $vSaveBak[$iB] /e /dcopy:T /NFL /NDL /NJH /NJS /nc /ns /np
            # increase counter after backup
            $iB++
        }
        else {
            "...last save is backup savegame..."
        }
    }
    else {
            "...no savegame found..."
        }
}
"...process is terminated."

I also tried

Get-ChildItem $vSaveBak[$iB] -Recurse | Remove-Item -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Confirm:$false

And the following line is messing up with the text formatting of your question, is it correctly written? Write-Host "...created directory ""$vSaveBak[$iB]""..." — sɐunıɔןɐqɐp
– sɐunıɔןɐqɐp, Commented May 10, 2018 at 10:43
yeah it was for powershell but not for editor because of the escaped ". i fixed it. i tried -recurse, but it deleted all savegames in parent folder and i was not sure how i could control this. every sample i found was without the parameter — sleepingcity
– sleepingcity, Commented May 10, 2018 at 10:45

Krupa · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-10 10:49:50Z

2

You can add -Recurse to remove items without prompt.

Get-ChildItem -path $DeleteLocation -directory | Remove-Item -recurse

Get-ChildItem -path $DeleteLocation -directory | foreach ($_) { 
        Write-host Removing $_.fullname  
        Remove-Item $_.fullname  -force -recurse 
    }

answered May 10, 2018 at 10:49

Krupa

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Comments

AdamL · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-24 19:03:31Z

2

Use Remove-Item C:\tmp\dir -Recurse. You can also add -Force switch.

edited Nov 24, 2020 at 19:03

answered May 10, 2018 at 10:42

AdamL

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