A set of PowerShell functions to remotely query the registry and get operating system version information.

Get-WindowsVersion.ps1

Function Get-WindowsVersion {
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Get Windows version information
.DESCRIPTION
This is a PowerShell version of the winver.exe utility. This commands uses PowerShell remoting to query the registry on a remote machine to retrieve Windows version information.The parameters are the same as in Invoke-Command.
.PARAMETER Computername
Specifies the computers on which the command runs. The default is the local computer.

When you use the ComputerName parameter, Windows PowerShell creates a temporary connection that is used only to run the specified command and is then closed. If you need a persistent connection, use the Session parameter.

Type the NETBIOS name, IP address, or fully qualified domain name of one or more computers in a comma-separated list. To specify the local computer, type the computer name, localhost, or a dot (.).

To use an IP address in the value of ComputerName , the command must include the Credential parameter. Also, the computer must be configured for HTTPS transport or the IP address of the remote computer must be included in the WinRM TrustedHosts list on the local computer. For instructions for adding a computer name to the TrustedHosts list, see "How to Add a Computer to the Trusted Host List" in about_Remote_Troubleshooting.

On Windows Vista and later versions of the Windows operating system, to include the local computer in the value of ComputerName , you must open Windows PowerShell by using the Run as administrator option.
.PARAMETER Credential
Specifies a user account that has permission to perform this action. The default is the current user.

Type a user name, such as User01 or Domain01\User01. Or, enter a PSCredential object, such as one generated by the Get-Credential cmdlet. If you type a user name, this cmdlet prompts you for a password.
.PARAMETER UseSSL
Indicates that this cmdlet uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection to the remote computer. By default, SSL is not used.

WS-Management encrypts all Windows PowerShell content transmitted over the network. The UseSSL parameter is an additional protection that sends the data across an HTTPS, instead of HTTP.

If you use this parameter, but SSL is not available on the port that is used for the command, the command fails.
.PARAMETER ThrottleLimit
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run this command. If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0, the default value, 32, is used.

The throttle limit applies only to the current command, not to the session or to the computer.
.PARAMETER Authentication
Specifies the mechanism that is used to authenticate the user's credentials. The acceptable values for this
parameter are:

- Default
- Basic
- Credssp
- Digest
- Kerberos
- Negotiate
- NegotiateWithImplicitCredential

The default value is Default.

CredSSP authentication is available only in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and later versions of the Windows operating system.

For information about the values of this parameter, see the description of the AuthenticationMechanismEnumeration (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=144382) in theMicrosoft Developer Network (MSDN) library.

CAUTION: Credential Security Support Provider (CredSSP) authentication, in which the user's credentials are passed to a remote computer to be authenticated, is designed for commands that require authentication on more than one resource, such as accessing a remote network share. This mechanism increases the security risk of the remote operation. If the remote computer is compromised, the credentials that are passed to it can be used to control the
network session.
.EXAMPLE
PS C:\> Get-WindowsVersion

ProductName  : Windows 10 Pro
EditionID    : Professional
ReleaseId    : 1809
Build        : 17763.195
InstalledUTC : 12/17/2018 2:18:37 PM
Computername : BOVINE320

Query the local host.
.EXAMPLE
PS C:\scripts> get-windowsversion -Computername srv1,srv2,win10 -Credential company\artd | format-table


ProductName                             EditionID          ReleaseId Build      InstalledUTC          Computername
-----------                             ---------          --------- -----      ------------          ------------
Windows Server 2016 Standard Evaluation ServerStandardEval 1607      14393.2273 12/26/2018 4:07:25 PM SRV1
Windows Server 2016 Standard Evaluation ServerStandardEval 1607      14393.2273 12/26/2018 4:08:07 PM SRV2
Windows 10 Enterprise Evaluation        EnterpriseEval     1703      15063.1387 12/26/2018 4:08:11 PM WIN10


Get windows version information from remote computers using an alternate credential.

.Example
PS C:\> Get-WindowsVersion -Computername win10 -AsString
Windows 10 Enterprise Evaluation Version 1703 (OS Build 15063.1387)

Get a string
.INPUTS
System.String
.OUTPUTS
Custom object
.NOTES
Learn more about PowerShell: http://jdhitsolutions.com/blog/essential-powershell-resources/
.LINK
WinVer.exe
.LINK
Invoke-Command
#>

    [cmdletbinding()]
    [OutputType("custom object")]
    [alias('wver')]

    Param (
        [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline,ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName, Position = 0)]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string[]]$Computername = $env:COMPUTERNAME,
        [PSCredential]$Credential,
        [switch]$UseSSL,
        [Int32]$ThrottleLimit,
        [ValidateSet('Default', 'Basic', 'Credssp', 'Digest', 'Kerberos', 'Negotiate', 'NegotiateWithImplicitCredential')]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$Authentication = "default"
    )

    Begin {

        Write-Verbose "Starting $($MyInvocation.Mycommand)"

        $sb = {
            $RegPath = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows nt\CurrentVersion\'

            Get-ItemProperty -Path $RegPath | Select-Object -Property ProductName, EditionID, ReleaseID,
            @{Name = "Build"; Expression = {"$($_.CurrentBuild).$($_.UBR)"}},
            @{Name = "InstalledUTC"; Expression = { ([datetime]"1/1/1601").AddTicks($_.InstallTime) }},
            @{Name = "Computername"; Expression = {$env:computername}}

        } #close scriptblock

        #update PSBoundParameters so it can be splatted to Invoke-Command
        $PSBoundParameters.Add("ScriptBlock", $sb) | Out-Null
        $PSBoundParameters.add("HideComputername", $True) | Out-Null
    } #begin

    Process {

        if (-Not $PSBoundParameters.ContainsKey("Computername")) {
            #add the default value if nothing was specified
            $PSBoundParameters.Add("Computername", $Computername) | Out-Null
        }
        $PSBoundParameters | Out-String | Write-Verbose
        $results = Invoke-Command @PSBoundParameters | Select-Object -Property * -ExcludeProperty RunspaceID, PS*
        if ($AsString) {
            #write a version string for each computer
`           foreach ($result in $results) {
                "{0} Version {1} (OS Build {2})" -f $result.ProductName, $result.releaseID, $result.build
            }
        }
        else {
            $results
        }

    } #process

    End {

        Write-Verbose "Ending $($MyInvocation.Mycommand)"

    } #end
} #close function


Function Get-WindowsVersionString {
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Get Windows version information
.DESCRIPTION
This is a PowerShell version of the winver.exe utility. This commands uses PowerShell remoting to query the registry on a remote machine to retrieve Windows version information.The parameters are the same as in Invoke-Command. The command writes a string of version information.
.PARAMETER Computername
Specifies the computers on which the command runs. The default is the local computer.

When you use the ComputerName parameter, Windows PowerShell creates a temporary connection that is used only to run the specified command and is then closed. If you need a persistent connection, use the Session parameter.

Type the NETBIOS name, IP address, or fully qualified domain name of one or more computers in a comma-separated list. To specify the local computer, type the computer name, localhost, or a dot (.).

To use an IP address in the value of ComputerName , the command must include the Credential parameter. Also, the computer must be configured for HTTPS transport or the IP address of the remote computer must be included in the WinRM TrustedHosts list on the local computer. For instructions for adding a computer name to the TrustedHosts list, see "How to Add a Computer to the Trusted Host List" in about_Remote_Troubleshooting.

On Windows Vista and later versions of the Windows operating system, to include the local computer in the value of ComputerName , you must open Windows PowerShell by using the Run as administrator option.
.PARAMETER Credential
Specifies a user account that has permission to perform this action. The default is the current user.

Type a user name, such as User01 or Domain01\User01. Or, enter a PSCredential object, such as one generated by the Get-Credential cmdlet. If you type a user name, this cmdlet prompts you for a password.
.PARAMETER UseSSL
Indicates that this cmdlet uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to establish a connection to the remote computer. By default, SSL is not used.

WS-Management encrypts all Windows PowerShell content transmitted over the network. The UseSSL parameter is an additional protection that sends the data across an HTTPS, instead of HTTP.

If you use this parameter, but SSL is not available on the port that is used for the command, the command fails.
.PARAMETER ThrottleLimit
Specifies the maximum number of concurrent connections that can be established to run this command. If you omit this parameter or enter a value of 0, the default value, 32, is used.

The throttle limit applies only to the current command, not to the session or to the computer.
.PARAMETER Authentication
Specifies the mechanism that is used to authenticate the user's credentials. The acceptable values for this
parameter are:

- Default
- Basic
- Credssp
- Digest
- Kerberos
- Negotiate
- NegotiateWithImplicitCredential

The default value is Default.

CredSSP authentication is available only in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and later versions of the Windows operating system.

For information about the values of this parameter, see the description of the AuthenticationMechanismEnumeration (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=144382) in theMicrosoft Developer Network (MSDN) library.

CAUTION: Credential Security Support Provider (CredSSP) authentication, in which the user's credentials are passed to a remote computer to be authenticated, is designed for commands that require authentication on more than one resource, such as accessing a remote network share. This mechanism increases the security risk of the remote operation. If the remote computer is compromised, the credentials that are passed to it can be used to control the
network session.
.EXAMPLE
PS C:\> Get-WindowsVersionString -Computername win10 -credential company\artd
Windows 10 Enterprise Evaluation Version 1703 (OS Build 15063.1387)

Get a string version of Windows version information from a remote computer and use an alternate credential.
.EXAMPLE
PS C:\> Get-WindowsVersionString
Windows 10 Pro Version 1809 (OS Build 17763.195)

Get version information for the current computer.
.EXAMPLE
PS C:\> import-csv .\company.csv | Select Computername,@{Name="Version";Expression={ get-windowsversionstring $_.computername}}

Computername Version
------------ -------
Dom1         Windows Server 2016 Standard Evaluation Version 1607 (OS Build 14393.2273)
Srv1         Windows Server 2016 Standard Evaluation Version 1607 (OS Build 14393.2273)
Srv2         Windows Server 2016 Standard Evaluation Version 1607 (OS Build 14393.2273)
Win10        Windows 10 Enterprise Evaluation Version 1703 (OS Build 15063.1387)

Import data from a CSV file and display version information.

.INPUTS
System.String
.OUTPUTS
System.String
.NOTES
Learn more about PowerShell: http://jdhitsolutions.com/blog/essential-powershell-resources/
.LINK
Get-WindowsVersion
.LINK
Winver.exe
#>
    [cmdletbinding()]
    [OutputType("system.string")]

    Param (
        [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline, ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName, Position = 0)]
        [ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
        [string[]]$Computername = $env:COMPUTERNAME,
        [PSCredential]$Credential,
        [switch]$UseSSL,
        [Int32]$ThrottleLimit,
        [ValidateSet('Default', 'Basic', 'Credssp', 'Digest', 'Kerberos', 'Negotiate', 'NegotiateWithImplicitCredential')]
        [ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
        [string]$Authentication = "default"
    )

    Begin {

        Write-Verbose "Starting $($MyInvocation.Mycommand)"

    } #begin

    Process {

        $results = Get-WindowsVersion @PSBoundParameters

        #write a version string for each computer
    `   foreach ($result in $results) {
            "{0} Version {1} (OS Build {2})" -f $result.ProductName, $result.releaseID, $result.build
        }

    } #process

    End {

        Write-Verbose "Ending $($MyInvocation.Mycommand)"

    } #end
}

These functions are described at https://jdhitsolutions.com/blog/powershell/6348/building-more-powershell-functions/

These functions have been incorporated in the PSScriptTools module.