Fix for admin permissions elevation method

[emilwojcik93]

• use join method to parse $argList
• use $PSCommandPath instead of $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path
• use ScriptBlock method to create request for latest winutil.ps1 with join $argList
• condition for $processCmd because in case when wt.exe is not available, there was double/redundant declaration of shell which lead to code mishmash (incorrect interpretation of quotes from Start-Process ArgumentList parameters
• changes in quotes and escape characters because command where not interpreted correctly in all possible cases of $powershellCmd and $processCmd

Type of Change

• New feature
• Bug fix
• Documentation update
• Refactoring
• Hotfix
• Security patch
• UI/UX improvement

Description

I've encountered the same issue in multiple installation of Windows, in pwsh and powershell as described in issue #3099 when trying to run the winutil script:

> irm "https://christitus.com/win" | iex
Winutil needs to be run as Administrator. Attempting to relaunch.
Start-Process : This command cannot be run due to the error: The parameter is incorrect.
At line:68 char:5
+     Start-Process $processCmd -ArgumentList "$powershellcmd -Executio ...
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [Start-Process], InvalidOperationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidOperationException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StartProcessCommand

Testing

I was able to fix this issue by updating the logic for elevation of permissions. Here is a link to my test script for elevation of permissions on GitHub Gist:
emilwojcik93/admin-script.ps1

I even tested this method by editing the winutil script with my updated logic for elevation of permissions, which is demonstrated in the demo video.

emilwojcik93/new-winutil.ps1

Please refer to the provided script and video for a detailed solution to the elevation of permissions issue.

Demo from test

2025-03-02.00-24-03.mp4

2025-03-01.12-45-56.mp4

Impact

Script might startup differently in different kind of terminals/shells (pwsh/powershell/wt)

Issue related to PR

Relaunching as Administrator is not working #3099

Additional Information

I checked this solution only with and without wt.exe with pwsh (powershell 7) and powershell 5. I didn't verify how it's behaving on Win10, nor with additional pass parameters for script (e.g. config file/debug param)

Checklist

• My code adheres to the coding and style guidelines of the project.
• I have performed a self-review of my own code.
• I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas.
• I have made corresponding changes to the documentation.
• My changes generate no errors/warnings/merge conflicts.

[emilwojcik93]

@zQueal It might have an issues related to execution without pwsh or wt.exe available in system because of incorrectly declared quotes for Start-Process ArgumentList parameters. But now I was able test each case of execution using dedicated gist file mentioned in PR which is also visible on demo video in PR.

Best,
emilwojcik93

[ChrisTitusTech]

@emilwojcik93 thanks for this I'll get this merged in the new few days. This problem has been approached by a few people now, but I like this implementation.