How can I run PowerShell with the .NET 4 runtime?

Question

I am updating a PowerShell script that manages some .NET assemblies. The script was written for assemblies built against .NET 2 (the same version of the framework that Power

Answer 1

The other answers are from before 2012, and they focus on "hacking" PowerShell 1.0 or PowerShell 2.0 into targeting newer versions of the .NET Framework and Common Language Runtime (CLR).

However, as has been written in many comments, since 2012 (when PowerShell 3.0 came) a much better solution is to install the newest version of PowerShell. It will automatically target CLR v4.0.30319. This means .NET 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, or 4.6 (expected in 2015) since all of these versions are in-place replacements of each other. Use $PSVersionTable or see the Determine installed PowerShell version thread if you are unsure of your PowerShell version.

At the time of writing, the newest version of PowerShell is 4.0, and it can be downloaded with the Windows Management Framework (Google search link).