diff --git a/bin/restore-linux.sh b/bin/restore-linux.sh
index 9711ef4..30c19ca 100644
--- a/bin/restore-linux.sh
+++ b/bin/restore-linux.sh
@@ -82,20 +82,6 @@ EOF
         echo "Registered promethean in ~/.bashrc."
     fi
 
-    # Same ncp inside PowerShell, if pwsh is installed here. bash functions are
-    # invisible to pwsh, so without this `ncp` is "not recognized" there even
-    # though it works in bash. install-windows.ps1 does this on the Windows side;
-    # this profile lives outside the repo, so a restore has to re-add it.
-    if command -v pwsh >/dev/null; then
-        ps_profile="$HOME/.config/powershell/profile.ps1"
-        if ! grep -q "NexusOS ncp" "$ps_profile" 2>/dev/null; then
-            mkdir -p "$(dirname "$ps_profile")"
-            printf '\n# NexusOS ncp\nfunction ncp { & "%s/management/ncp.ps1" @args }\n' \
-                "$NEXUS_ROOT" >> "$ps_profile"
-            echo "Registered ncp in $ps_profile."
-        fi
-    fi
-
     # The AMD box runs CPU-only (Vega 20, 4GB VRAM thrashes). An NVIDIA box should not.
     if command -v nvidia-smi >/dev/null && command -v sqlite3 >/dev/null && \
        [ "$(sqlite3 "$NEXUS_ROOT/synapse/memory/memory.db" \
diff --git a/install-windows.ps1 b/install-windows.ps1
index 269d1c8..99701da 100644
--- a/install-windows.ps1
+++ b/install-windows.ps1
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@ Write-OK "Web UI built (interface\web\dist)"
 # management\ncp.cmd goes on the machine PATH rather than a `function ncp` in the
 # PowerShell profile. Three reasons the profile route kept biting:
 #   1. Execution policy defaults to Restricted, which blocks the profile itself -
-#      so the function was never defined, and ncp.ps1 could not have run anyway.
+#      so the function was never defined, and the .ps1 it called could not
+#      have run anyway.
 #   2. Profiles are a PowerShell thing. cmd, Win+R, Task Scheduler and .lnk
 #      targets all reported "ncp is not recognized".
 #   3. We are elevated here, so $PROFILE is the ADMIN's profile - the whole
diff --git a/management/ncp.cmd b/management/ncp.cmd
index ab86734..08c3de2 100644
--- a/management/ncp.cmd
+++ b/management/ncp.cmd
@@ -3,7 +3,12 @@ REM ncp - PATH entry point on Windows. A .cmd, not a .ps1, on purpose: PowerShel
 REM execution policy governs .ps1 only, so this keeps working under the default
 REM Restricted policy and from cmd, Win+R, Task Scheduler and .lnk targets - none
 REM of which load a PowerShell profile. install-windows.ps1 puts this directory on
-REM the machine PATH. ncp.ps1 stays for pwsh-on-Linux, where there is no PATH shim.
+REM the machine PATH.
+REM
+REM This file must NOT be accompanied by an ncp.ps1 in the same directory:
+REM PowerShell resolves ExternalScript (.ps1) ahead of Application (.cmd), so a
+REM sibling ncp.ps1 wins in PowerShell and drags the execution policy back in -
+REM exactly what this file exists to avoid.
 REM
 REM ASCII only, same rule as the .ps1 files - a test in tests/test_smoke.py enforces it.
 setlocal
diff --git a/management/ncp.ps1 b/management/ncp.ps1
deleted file mode 100644
index a65b784..0000000
--- a/management/ncp.ps1
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-# ncp - PowerShell entry point. The CLI itself is management/ncp.py, the same
-# file the Linux shell wrapper runs; this only picks an interpreter and forwards
-# the arguments.
-#
-# On Windows, ncp comes from management/ncp.cmd on the machine PATH instead (a
-# .cmd is not subject to the execution policy and works outside PowerShell too) -
-# install-windows.ps1 sets that up. This file is what gives ncp to pwsh on Linux,
-# where restore-linux.sh registers it in $PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts as:
-#
-#     function ncp { & "<repo>/management/ncp.ps1" @args }
-#
-# ASCII only, no exceptions: PowerShell 5.1 decodes BOM-less files as ANSI, so a
-# single Unicode dash eats a quote and the script dies at parse time. A test in
-# tests/test_smoke.py fails if any .ps1 in this repo gains a non-ASCII byte.
-
-$Root = Split-Path -Parent (Split-Path -Parent $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path)
-
-# Forward slashes and per-platform venv layout: backslash is a literal character
-# on Linux, not a separator, so "Promethean\Scripts\python.exe" would resolve to
-# a single nonsense filename under pwsh on Linux. Windows accepts "/" happily.
-# $env:OS is the 5.1-safe check; the automatic $IsWindows only exists on PS 6+.
-$OnWindows = ($env:OS -eq "Windows_NT")
-if ($OnWindows) {
-    $Py = Join-Path $Root "Promethean/Scripts/python.exe"
-} else {
-    $Py = Join-Path $Root "Promethean/bin/python3"
-}
-
-# Fall back to a system Python so backup/restore still work before the venv is
-# built - those delegate to the stdlib-only bin/sync.py.
-if (-not (Test-Path $Py)) {
-    foreach ($candidate in @("python3", "python")) {
-        $found = Get-Command $candidate -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
-        if ($found) { $Py = $found.Source; break }
-    }
-}
-if (-not (Test-Path $Py)) {
-    Write-Error "No Python found. Run install.sh (Linux) or install-windows.ps1 first."
-    exit 1
-}
-
-& $Py (Join-Path $Root "management/ncp.py") @args
-exit $LASTEXITCODE
diff --git a/management/nexus-cli.sh b/management/nexus-cli.sh
index 55395b5..c8f3b04 100644
--- a/management/nexus-cli.sh
+++ b/management/nexus-cli.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # ncp - Linux entry point. The CLI itself is management/ncp.py, which runs
-# unchanged on Windows too (see management/ncp.ps1); this stays a shell script
+# unchanged on Windows too (see management/ncp.cmd); this stays a shell script
 # because ~/.bashrc, launch_nexus.sh, bin/restore-linux.sh, controlpanel.py,
 # bin/panel/nexus-popup.py and management/nexus-app.sh all invoke this path.
 #
diff --git a/tests/test_smoke.py b/tests/test_smoke.py
index 12c817c..cda97b9 100644
--- a/tests/test_smoke.py
+++ b/tests/test_smoke.py
@@ -96,6 +96,18 @@ def test_ncp_is_registered_on_path_not_in_a_shell_profile():
         "model pull must come after the desktop shortcut"
 
 
+def test_no_ps1_shadows_the_ncp_path_shim():
+    """PowerShell resolves ExternalScript (.ps1) ahead of Application (.cmd), so
+    an ncp.ps1 sitting next to ncp.cmd wins in PowerShell and drags the execution
+    policy back in - the exact thing the .cmd exists to avoid. Observed on the
+    Windows VM: `Get-Command ncp -All` listed ncp.ps1 first, from the same
+    directory the installer had just put on PATH."""
+    shim = REPO_ROOT / "management" / "ncp.cmd"
+    assert shim.exists(), "the Windows PATH shim is missing"
+    twin = shim.with_suffix(".ps1")
+    assert not twin.exists(), f"{twin.name} shadows {shim.name} in PowerShell"
+
+
 
 def test_first_playbook_is_the_system_prompt(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     store = PlaybookFileStore(tmp_path)
@@ -268,7 +280,7 @@ def test_desktop_stage_is_the_only_one_touching_home():
     # and in the PowerShell profile is how you launch NexusOS at all, and each is
     # a grep-guarded no-op on re-run. Desktop config (xfconf, plank, themes,
     # os-release) must stay in the desktop stage so --no-desktop really is safe.
-    shell_wiring = (".bashrc", "powershell/profile.ps1")
+    shell_wiring = (".bashrc",)
     home_writes = [ln for ln in runtime.splitlines()
                    if "$HOME" in ln and not any(w in ln for w in shell_wiring)]
     assert not home_writes, f"runtime stage writes to $HOME: {home_writes}"