Powershell script failingi at "Copy-Item" command

Question

I'm a Powershell novice. I've written a .ps1 script to do a number of things, all of which execute perfectly, except when it comes to a "Copy-Item" command, which I'm using to copy contents of the (Windows 10) desktop to another folder.

It's failing at the hyphen in "Copy-Item". I have a feeling I'm either missing a "*" in one of the paths. or have one where it should not be. I've tried it with various combinations, but no joy.

For test purposes, I have 3 items on the desktop: 1) a folder shortcut, 2) a Powershell script shortcut, and 3) A GodMode 'folder'.

Thank you in advance for your help. Following is a subset of the code:

$env:path += ";D:\PowershellScriptsFolder" #   this is the location of my ps1

# (a bunch of code here, all of which runs fine) #

# Desktop
    # Define Variables
        $DestinationPath = "D:\folder1\subfolder\*"
        $SourcePathRoot = 'C:\Users\Sfrn\Desktop\' #   this is the location of my Win 10 desktop
    #
    Remove-Item -Recurse -Path $DestinationPath -Force

(*** Here's where it fails: ***)

Copy-Item -Recurse -Path $SourcePathRoot -Destination $DestinationPath -Force #   this is line 32

(*** Here's the error output - character 5 is the hyphen in "Copy-Item": ***)

Copy-Item : Illegal characters in path. At D:\Dropbox\DB_AppData\PowerShell_and_Bat\CopyToBackup_2.ps1:32 char:5

• Copy-Item -Recurse -Path $SourcePathRoot -Destination $Destinatio ...
  

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  

  • CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (D:\Dropbox\DB_AppData\Desktop*:String) [Copy-Item], ArgumentException
  • FullyQualifiedErrorId : CreateDirectoryArgumentError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.CopyItemCommand

Copy-Item : Illegal characters in path. At D:\Dropbox\DB_AppData\PowerShell_and_Bat\CopyToBackup_2.ps1:32 char:5

• Copy-Item -Recurse -Path $SourcePathRoot -Destination $Destinatio ...
  

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  

  • CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (desktop.ini:FileInfo) [Copy-Item], ArgumentException
  • FullyQualifiedErrorId : CopyDirectoryInfoItemArgumentError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.CopyItemCommand

Copy-Item : Illegal characters in path. At D:\Dropbox\DB_AppData\PowerShell_and_Bat\CopyToBackup_2.ps1:32 char:5

• Copy-Item -Recurse -Path $SourcePathRoot -Destination $Destinatio ...
  

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  

  • CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (Dropbox.lnk:FileInfo) [Copy-Item], ArgumentException
  • FullyQualifiedErrorId : CopyDirectoryInfoItemArgumentError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.CopyItemCommand

Copy-Item : Illegal characters in path. At D:\Dropbox\DB_AppData\PowerShell_and_Bat\CopyToBackup_2.ps1:32 char:5

• Copy-Item -Recurse -Path $SourcePathRoot -Destination $Destinatio ...
  

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  

  • CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (OpenApps.lnk:FileInfo) [Copy-Item], ArgumentException
  • FullyQualifiedErrorId : CopyDirectoryInfoItemArgumentError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.CopyItemCommand

Copy-Item : Illegal characters in path. At D:\Dropbox\DB_AppData\PowerShell_and_Bat\CopyToBackup_2.ps1:32 char:5

• Copy-Item -Recurse -Path $SourcePathRoot -Destination $Destinatio ...
  

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  

  • CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (D:\Dropbox\DB_AppData\Desktop*:String) [Copy-Item], ArgumentException
  • FullyQualifiedErrorId : CreateDirectoryArgumentError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.CopyItemCommand

(*** End of error output: ***)

(a bunch of code continues to run here, all of which is fine)

END

Answer 1

You have an asterisk in the wrong spot. It needs to be in the source directory path, not the destination, like this:

$SourcePathRoot = "C:\Users\Sfrn\Desktop\*"
$DestinationPath = "D:\folder1\subfolder\"