PowerShell on Windows 7: Set-ExecutionPolicy for regular users

Question

I want to run PowerShell scripts on Windows 7 as a regular user. Whenever I try, I get the following error:

File C:\Users\danv\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1 cannot be loaded because the execution of scripts is disabled on this system. Please see "get-help about_signing" for more details. At line:1 char:2 + . <<<<  'C:\Users\danv\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1'     + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], PSSecurityException     + FullyQualifiedErrorId : RuntimeException 

Attempting to solve via Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted fails:

PS C:\Users\danv> Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted Set-ExecutionPolicy : Access to the registry key 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\ShellIds\Microsoft.PowerShell' is denied. At line:1 char:20 + Set-ExecutionPolicy <<<<  Unrestricted     + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Set-ExecutionPolicy], UnauthorizedAccessException     + FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.UnauthorizedAccessException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.SetExecutionPolicyCommand 

I can run the Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted command as administrator, but this doesn't seem to propagate to non-administrator users.

How can I successfully run scripts as a non-administrator?

Answer 1

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser 

This will set the execution policy for the current user (stored in HKEY_CURRENT_USER) rather than the local machine (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE). This is useful if you don't have administrative control over the computer.

RemoteSigned is a safer execution policy than Unrestricted. If you download a script and RemoteSigned is preventing you from executing it, then after vetting the script, remove the restriction by opening the file's properties and flagging "Unblock". If this is infeasible, then you can set the policy to Unrestricted instead.