Hi Marc.
Windows has a few options for scripting. You can use the PowerShell but that is likely to change and become incompatible with future releases of Windows. Then you have to learn a new language and adapt all your scripts.
I recommend you invest your time into learning a language that will resist time. Perl is available on Windows and is pretty good with manipulating strings and files. Another good option is to install Cygwin on your Windows box. At that point, you get access to all the power of Unix with bash scripting, awk, sed and all the great Unix tools. These tools will also resist time.
Unix rules!
I'd lean towards AutoIt rather than scripting. It is a more straightforward programming language that has features dedicated to automating operation of Windows. It can be used to coordinate the operation of multiple applications that weren't designed to work together.
x