How to properly -filter multiple strings in a PowerShell copy script

-Filter only accepts a single string. -Include accepts multiple values, but qualifies the -Path argument. The trick is to append \* to the end of the path, and then use -Include to select multiple extensions. BTW, quoting strings is unnecessary in cmdlet arguments unless they contain spaces or shell special characters.

Get-ChildItem $originalPath\* -Include *.gif, *.jpg, *.xls*, *.doc*, *.pdf*, *.wav*, .ppt*

Note that this will work regardless of whether $originalPath ends in a backslash, because multiple consecutive backslashes are interpreted as a single path separator. For example, try:

Get-ChildItem C:\\\\\Windows

Something like this should work (it did for me). The reason for wanting to use -Filter instead of -Include is that include takes a huge performance hit compared to -Filter.

Below just loops each file type and multiple servers/workstations specified in separate files.

##  ##  This script will pull from a list of workstations in a text file and search for the specified string## Change the file path below to where your list of target workstations reside## Change the file path below to where your list of filetypes reside$filetypes = gc 'pathToListOffiletypes.txt'$servers = gc 'pathToListOfWorkstations.txt'##Set the scope of the variable so it has visibilityset-variable -Name searchString -Scope 0$searchString = 'whatYouAreSearchingFor'foreach ($server in $servers)    {    foreach ($filetype in $filetypes)    {    ## below creates the search path.  This could be further improved to exclude the windows directory    $serverString = "\\"+$server+"\c$\Program Files"    ## Display the server being queried    write-host “Server:” $server "searching for " $filetype in $serverString    Get-ChildItem -Path $serverString -Recurse -Filter $filetype |    #-Include "*.xml","*.ps1","*.cnf","*.odf","*.conf","*.bat","*.cfg","*.ini","*.config","*.info","*.nfo","*.txt" |    Select-String -pattern $searchstring | group path | select name | out-file f:\DataCentre\String_Results.txt    $os = gwmi win32_operatingsystem -computer $server    $sp = $os | % {$_.servicepackmajorversion}    $a = $os | % {$_.caption}    ##  Below will list again the server name as well as its OS and SP    ##  Because the script may not be monitored, this helps confirm the machine has been successfully scanned        write-host $server “has completed its " $filetype "scan:” “|” “OS:” $a “SP:” “|” $sp    }}#end script

Get-ChildItem $originalPath\* -Include @("*.gif", "*.jpg", "*.xls*", "*.doc*", "*.pdf*", "*.wav*", "*.ppt")