Useful Command-line Commands on Windows

Question

The aim for this Wiki is to promote using a command to open up commonly used applications without having to go through many mouse clicks - thus saving time on monitoring and troubleshooting Windows machines.

Answer entries need to specify

Application name
Commands
Screenshot (Optional)

Shortcut to commands

&& - Command Chaining
%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\rcimlby.exe -LaunchRA - Remote Assistance (Windows XP)
appwiz.cpl - Programs and Features (Formerly Known as "Add or Remove Programs")
appwiz.cpl @,2 - Turn Windows Features On and Off (Add/Remove Windows Components pane)
arp - Displays and modifies the IP-to-Physical address translation tables used by address resolution protocol (ARP)
at - Schedule tasks either locally or remotely without using Scheduled Tasks
bootsect.exe - Updates the master boot code for hard disk partitions to switch between BOOTMGR and NTLDR
cacls - Change Access Control List (ACL) permissions on a directory, its subcontents, or files
calc - Calculator
chkdsk - Check/Fix the disk surface for physical errors or bad sectors
cipher - Displays or alters the encryption of directories [files] on NTFS partitions
cleanmgr.exe - Disk Cleanup
clip - Redirects output of command line tools to the Windows clipboard
cls - clear the command line screen
cmd /k - Run command with command extensions enabled
color - Sets the default console foreground and background colors in console
command.com - Default Operating System Shell
compmgmt.msc - Computer Management
control.exe /name Microsoft.NetworkAndSharingCenter - Network and Sharing Center
control keyboard - Keyboard Properties
control mouse(or main.cpl) - Mouse Properties
control sysdm.cpl,@0,3 - Advanced Tab of the System Properties dialog
control userpasswords2 - Opens the classic User Accounts dialog
desk.cpl - opens the display properties
devmgmt.msc - Device Manager
diskmgmt.msc - Disk Management
diskpart - Disk management from the command line
dsa.msc - Opens active directory users and computers
dsquery - Finds any objects in the directory according to criteria
dxdiag - DirectX Diagnostic Tool
eventvwr - Windows Event Log (Event Viewer)
explorer . - Open explorer with the current folder selected.
explorer /e, . - Open explorer, with folder tree, with current folder selected.
F7 - View command history
find - Searches for a text string in a file or files
findstr - Find a string in a file
firewall.cpl - Opens the Windows Firewall settings
fsmgmt.msc - Shared Folders
fsutil - Perform tasks related to FAT and NTFS file systems
ftp - Transfers files to and from a computer running an FTP server service
getmac - Shows the mac address(es) of your network adapter(s)
gpedit.msc - Group Policy Editor
gpresult - Displays the Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) information for a target user and computer
httpcfg.exe - HTTP Configuration Utility
iisreset - To restart IIS
InetMgr.exe - Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager 7
InetMgr6.exe - Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager 6
intl.cpl - Regional and Language Options
ipconfig - Internet protocol configuration
lusrmgr.msc - Local Users and Groups Administrator
msconfig - System Configuration
notepad - Notepad? ;)
mmsys.cpl - Sound/Recording/Playback properties
mode - Configure system devices
more - Displays one screen of output at a time
mrt - Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool
mstsc.exe - Remote Desktop Connection
nbstat - displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT
ncpa.cpl - Network Connections
netsh - Display or modify the network configuration of a computer that is currently running
netstat - Network Statistics
net statistics - Check computer up time
net stop - Stops a running service.
net use - Connects a computer to or disconnects a computer from a shared resource, displays information about computer connections, or mounts a local share with different privileges (documentation)
odbcad32.exe - ODBC Data Source Administrator
pathping - A traceroute that collects detailed packet loss stats
perfmon - Opens Reliability and Performance Monitor
ping - Determine whether a remote computer is accessible over the network
powercfg.cpl - Power management control panel applet
qfecheck - Shows installed Hotfixes applied to the server/workstation.
quser - Display information about user sessions on a terminal server
qwinsta - See disconnected remote desktop sessions
reg.exe - Console Registry Tool for Windows
regedit - Registry Editor
rasdial - Connects to a VPN or a dialup network
robocopy - Backup/Restore/Copy large amounts of files reliably
rsop.msc - Resultant Set of Policy (shows the combined effect of all group policies active on the current system/login)
runas - Run specific tools and programs with different permissions than the user's current logon provides
sc - Manage anything you want to do with services.
schtasks - Enables an administrator to create, delete, query, change, run and end scheduled tasks on a local or remote system.
secpol.msc - Local Security Settings
services.msc - Services control panel
set - Displays, sets, or removes cmd.exe environment variables.
set DIRCMD - Preset dir parameter in cmd.exe
start - Starts a separate window to run a specified program or command
start. - opens the current directory in the Windows Explorer.
shutdown.exe - Shutdown or Reboot a local/remote machine
subst.exe - Associates a path with a drive letter, including local drives
systeminfo -Displays a comprehensive information about the system
taskkill - terminate tasks by process id (PID) or image name
tasklist.exe - List Processes on local or a remote machine
taskmgr.exe - Task Manager
telephon.cpl - Telephone and Modem properties
timedate.cpl - Date and Time
title - Change the title of the CMD window you have open
tracert - Trace route
whoami /all - Display Current User/Group/Privilege Information
wmic - Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line
winver.exe - Find Windows Version
wscui.cpl - Windows Security Center
wuauclt.exe - Windows Update AutoUpdate Client

If you find this stuff interesting, take a look at commandlinefu: http://www.commandlinefu.com/ It's basically like digg for CLI — username, May 11 '09 at 06:47
Try putting each command as a separate answer. Then we can vote and comment on each one. — lamcro, Jun 26 '09 at 12:22
This is a great question, super useful info, and the stackexchange engine made it trivial to find. I agree with @lamcro, however, that structuring each command as an individual answer would likely provide more value, however then the wouldn't be sorted alphabetically? hmmm... — David Alpert, Jul 29 '09 at 22:00
@David Alpert: Yes, since answers cannot be sorted according to commands, that was why I was listing the command in alphabetical order in the question. I wonder if grouping those commands would be even more useful or not. — dance2die, Jul 31 '09 at 15:10
This is a great example, across all SE, of a well-executed poll. I especially like combining separate answers (for voting) and alphabetical index to them! — Jonik, Sep 17 '10 at 14:16

score 120 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

120

A little known one is

getmac

It shows the MAC address(es) of your network adapter(s).

Screenshot of running getmac from a Windows commandline window.

edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

Community

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answered May 04 '09 at 07:02

splattne

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Very nice. When I run this on my laptop I get "ERROR: Not found.", however I can run getmac /? and it prints out the description / usage... ideas? – May 06 '09 at 16:39
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ipconfig /all gives you this information in a less direct way too. – LeopardSkinPillBoxHat May 11 '09 at 06:56
Ha, now I've got your MAC address, prepare to be hackzored! – Peter Turner May 15 '09 at 22:02
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THANK YOU! No more ipconfig /all and scrolling around! "Happy dance!" – Gomibushi Mar 24 '10 at 20:41

score 65 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:05

65

In the command prompt type:

C:\> start .

It opens the current directory in the Windows Explorer.

edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:05

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 04 '09 at 12:50

Toro

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How neat. it works just like "ii ." in powershell. – dance2die May 04 '09 at 15:34
start . & exit is also good - I've got those set as s.cmd and sx.cmd respectively. Also x.cmd for exit, because yes I'm that lazy. – Mark Allen May 05 '09 at 21:01
5

You could also do "explorer ." – Manuel Ferreria May 09 '09 at 17:14
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start actually works for any file type you can double-click on (word documents, xls files, etc) as well as drive mappings (not just the current working directory). – Kyle Burton May 27 '09 at 16:40
or if you want an explorer pane on the left side: start explorer /e,. – Lara Dougan May 29 '09 at 18:36
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Note that start can be a bit funny if you have files with spaces in their names. If start's first argument is quoted, it interprets it as a request to change the window title. So instead of running: start "My File.txt" you have to enter: start "" "My File.txt" This drove me nuts until someone explained it to me! – Ken Keenan Jun 28 '09 at 20:39
Remarkably just `start` (without the .) opens another identical command window – bobobobo Apr 22 '10 at 15:07

score 50 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

50

Remote Desktop Connection

mstsc.exe

Opens:

Some image demonstrationg the use of mstsc.exe.

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

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answered May 04 '09 at 02:36

dance2die

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Love this one, and use it lots! Saves so much more time with WinKey+R, mstsc. – p.campbell May 04 '09 at 02:41
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Even better with the /v: switch. Just Win+R, then "mstsc /v:computer.fabrikam.com" – Portman May 04 '09 at 03:31
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Also the /console switch – luapyad May 04 '09 at 03:54
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renamed to /admin switch these days, and behaves quite differently in 2008+ – Oskar Duveborn May 04 '09 at 10:04
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don't forget the /span option for creating really big sessions across two monitors. – SqlACID May 04 '09 at 14:35
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Renamed back to /console in Vista SP1 and later, because they shouldn't have changed it in the first place. :) – Mark Allen May 05 '09 at 21:00
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While we're at it, I also often use /w: and /h: to manually set width and height. I'm particularly fond of running IIS Manager in 800x800 for some reason. – Portman May 06 '09 at 00:08
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/console (or /admin) switch is useful when you only have limited number of connections allowed in the network. – MarlonRibunal May 12 '09 at 23:10
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usually i just type remote at start button for this one – May 20 '09 at 08:58
/f for fullscreen – talonx Jun 05 '09 at 13:08
I use mstsc /w:2560 /h:1024 /v:"servername" if I want to match my desktop size. – Bratch Jun 10 '09 at 14:40
What does this stand for? I always thought "Microsoft Terminal Service Connection"? At least thats what I say in my head. – Jun 02 '11 at 21:21

score 45 · Answer 4 · answered May 04 '09 at 07:42

45

A list I use a lot:

nbtstat - List NetBIOS stats and information
netstat - List TCP/IP stats and information
ipconfig - List TCP/IP configuration for a system
netsh - Network configuration for a system
sc - manage services
net - whole slew of commands to manage users and groups, shares, connections, etc.
ping - makes sure a system is up on the network
tracert - trace the hops between two hosts. useful to see if there's a break in between and where it is.
nslookup - Query DNS for information
dcdiag - check health of the domain controller
setspn - check SPNs for Kerberos configuration

answered May 04 '09 at 07:42

K. Brian Kelley

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sorry, what is the use of "sc"? – Alex. S. May 09 '09 at 05:26
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sc allows you to control services, and it allows you to do so remotely. This is different from net start/net stop, which run locally (albeit you can use psexec or something like that to get to a console on a remote system). sc will also query the service, etc. Basically everything you can do from services.msc you can now do from the command-line. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754599.aspx – K. Brian Kelley May 09 '09 at 11:23
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netsh seems like a really powerful command, but I have not really been able to work with it. What do people really use it for? – railmeat Aug 11 '09 at 02:33

score 43 · Answer 5 · answered May 04 '09 at 02:38

43

Services control panel:

services.msc

answered May 04 '09 at 02:38

find myself using this alot – May 20 '09 at 08:58
You can also type this (and the names of other MMC snap-ins) into the Run dialog. services.msc and compmgmt.msc are my most commonly used entries. – Coxy Aug 11 '09 at 06:57
You can use SC to manager services from the command prompt. Of course the venerable net command can start and stop services. – railmeat May 02 '10 at 02:09

score 41 · Answer 6 · answered May 05 '09 at 20:30

41

shutdown.exe

allow you to shutdown or reboot a machine. You can even reboot a remote machine with

shutdown -m \\server -t 0 -r

It even comes with a graphical user interface

shutdown -i

and you can abort a shutdown with

shutdown -a

answered May 05 '09 at 20:30

Frode Lillerud

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Ouch, I don't think I will be trying this out often unless I do it on a VM ;) – dance2die May 05 '09 at 20:56
I use this at the end of my end-of-week script. – mmyers May 15 '09 at 21:09
This one's essential for us. We're an app group and our IT's centrally located out-of-state. We have local admin access to all of our servers and can reboot at will. It's not unusual for TS to choke when trying to shutdown and this is the only thing that we can use to kick things back into shape without calling an operator. – squillman May 31 '09 at 04:08
give it a -f as well to force all open apps to close – beakersoft Dec 17 '10 at 14:30

score 37 · Answer 7 · edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:17

37

Robocopy is really useful. It mirrors directories.

It is great for backups, restoring, and transferring large amounts of files. It only transfers files which have changed and can resume from where it left off.

It comes standard in Windows Vista and later, but Windows XP users can get it as part of the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit (free) or later.

edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:17

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 05 '09 at 07:48

thomasrutter

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Robocopy does so much more than mirror directories. It's freeking amazing! Any command-line tool that requires a word document to explain it rocks in my book. – WaldenL May 05 '09 at 19:25
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hehe. Well I guess it's a swiss-army-knife of command line copying, but with no GUI nonsense. – thomasrutter May 06 '09 at 01:33
+1; Robocopy, tar, split and gzip form basically all of our backup strategy. – RainyRat Jun 21 '09 at 00:21
@RainyRat: What, no 'at' command? – Dan Esparza Sep 13 '09 at 04:21
Is this the `rsync` of Windows? – Joey Adams Jul 30 '11 at 06:11
Well *I* use it as an rsync equivalent. But it doesn't do everything rsync does, obviously, like transferring over SSH, the smart delta transferring ability, etc. What it does do is robustly copy files, and all their attributes and permissions, in a way that it doesn't matter if the operation is interrupted (it can be safely and robustly resumed). Useful for backups or when you move to a new drive/filesystem. – thomasrutter Jul 30 '11 at 13:27

score 34 · Answer 8 · edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:18

34

(Not really a command per-se, but a way to get there.)

For those of you that find yourself going to Start > Run > "cmd" a lot, you can cut down some steps.

Say you want to get your IP address. You would normally go Start > Run > "cmd" [enter] then...

ipconfig [enter]

Now instead, go...

Start > Run > "cmd /k ipconfig"

This will run cmd and the command 'ipconfig', and it will keep the window open. So if I want to quickly get my MAC address (physical address), I'd do:

 cmd /k ipconfig /all

...all from the run menu in one line.

All courtesy of BostonMark

edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:18

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 06 '09 at 01:29

Nick Devereaux

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Very cool, I am constantly doing Start>Run>Cmd to run various common commands and didn't know this shortcut. – Element May 09 '09 at 06:09
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Yes, the /k flag is definitely one of the best tips here. – Abraham Vegh May 17 '09 at 02:26
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Here's a better way: Go to START > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt, and right-click. Select Properties. Click the 'Short-cut' tab. Put the cursor in the 'Shortcut Key' field. Press [ctrl]-[alt]-t, it should say "Ctrl+Alt+T". Click OK. Now you can launch cmd.exe from anywhere anytime by hitting ctrl-alt-t. – Ryan Fisher Jun 02 '09 at 21:25
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Also, using windowskey+r gets you directly to the "Run..." window. – Andor Mar 16 '10 at 18:32
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How is this quicker or fewer keystrokes than opening cmd and typing the command? Seems to me two more keystrokes than the way you're proposing to replace. – harpo Oct 03 '10 at 05:27

score 28 · Answer 9 · edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:21

The forgotten art: DOS String Manipulation!

set mydate=%date:~10,4%_%date:~4,2%_%date:~7,2%
echo %mydate%

Output will be YYYY_MM_DD.

Copy and paste this into a .bat file and be amazed! This is especially useful for creating backups, or any time/date series of directories and files.

An example:

@echo off
:: Yes, this looks bad, but it works, it sets the file veriable mydate to YYYY_MM_DD.
set mydate=%date:~10,4%_%date:~4,2%_%date:~7,2%

echo Backing up DC1:
:: start a new backup session, the /M switch is for the type of bakcup being performed, type ntbackup /? for more info
start /wait ntbackup backup \\DC1\c$ /j "DC1 Backup" /f "C:\BAK\DC1\DC1_%mydate%.bkf" /M incremental
echo DC1 is Done

echo Backing up EXCH:
start /wait ntbackup backup \\EXCH\c$ /j "EXCH Backup" /f "C:\BAK\EXCH\EXCH_%mydate%.bkf" /M incremental
echo EXCH is Done

echo Backing up FS1:
start /wait ntbackup backup \\FS1\c$ /j "FS1 Backup" /f "C:\BAK\FS1\FS1_%mydate%.bkf" /M incremental
echo FS1 is Done

echo Backup was completed %date% %time%
pause

This is dangerous as hell as the system locale display format changes the string that date returns and hence will thrash any script based on character position into an unpredictable mess if it ever changes. Which at least in Europe can easily happen by mistake or on purpose - I've had scheduled batch scripts do horrible things (or nothing) because of exactly this ^^ — Oskar Duveborn, Jun 13 '10 at 11:23
Well ... I would hope that people wouldn't copy/paste/pray on production systems ... :-) Good point though. — Joseph Kern, Jan 25 '11 at 00:42

score 26 · Answer 10 · answered May 05 '09 at 20:49

26

tasklist.exe

will list processes on local or a remote machine.

tasklist.exe /S server

It can display which Services the scvhost.exe processes are hosting with

tasklist /SVC

You can also do some filtering. This will display the processes on a remote machine that have used more than 15 minutes of CPU time

tasklist /S server /FI "CPUTIME gt 00:15:00"

answered May 05 '09 at 20:49

Frode Lillerud

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Don't forget it's counterpart `taskkill` – Chris S Jul 08 '10 at 03:39

score 25 · Answer 11 · edited Feb 20 '12 at 08:49

25

control userpasswords2

Opens the classic User Accounts dialog:

enter image description here

edited Feb 20 '12 at 08:49

Bart De Vos

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answered May 04 '09 at 08:56

Igal Tabachnik

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score 24 · Answer 12 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 11:10

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I find that I use findstr a lot to find stuff in logs, error files, etc.

A simple example: in the log file ex0905.log we find all lines that have 2009-05-05 in them:

findstr "2009-05-05" ex0905.log

edited Dec 11 '11 at 11:10

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 05 '09 at 17:28

Andrew Cox

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findstr /s find recursively – Alex. S. May 09 '09 at 05:30
Put `@findstr %*` into a file named `fs.bat` in the `PATH`. – Lumi Dec 02 '11 at 19:57

score 22 · Answer 13 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

22

Programs and Features (Formerly known as "Add or Remove Programs")

appwiz.cpl

Opens

alt text

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

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answered May 04 '09 at 02:40

dance2die

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Windows, then "fea" also isolates it well.. (But +1) – Ruben Bartelink May 28 '09 at 13:41
@Farseeker: I ran out of my 80G space as I was taking screenshot. Coudln't even spare a couple of megs at the time ;) – dance2die Oct 13 '09 at 00:19
You often need to do control appwiz.cpl - especially if you're doing it under runas (as you probably should be!) – Richard Gadsden Aug 27 '10 at 15:56

score 21 · Answer 14 · edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:27

Sometimes I have to worry about too few free sessions for a Terminal Server connection to a server.

quser displays information about user sessions on a terminal server.

quser /SERVER:myserver

Output

C:\Documents and Settings\sysmanager01>quser /SERVER:serverx
USERNAME                    SESSIONNAME        ID  STATE   IDLE TIME  LOGON TIME
usr_hot1                                        1  Disc        none   30.04.2009 17:59
usr_hot                                         2  Disc        none   30.04.2009 18:01
appsuperuser                rdp-tcp#6           3  Conn            .  01.01.1601 02:00

Sometimes it's even possible to find pure workaholics like appsuperuser :-)

It's easier when pasting the quser executable from any 32-bit Server to my local System32 folder.

Try using qwinsta instead, it's included by default in clients like XP as well... rwinsta can nuke the sessions — Oskar Duveborn, May 07 '09 at 13:43

score 17 · Answer 15 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 11:57

17

I use

qwinsta

to see disconnected remote desktop sessions and

logoff

to end them.

It works on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and probably Windows Server 2008 (never tried).

edited Dec 11 '11 at 11:57

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 08 '09 at 23:52

Jim Harte

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you can use rwinsta to boot the remote session by id too! – Nick Kavadias May 27 '09 at 14:06
thats incredible. im impressed. – djangofan Jul 06 '10 at 21:05

score 16 · Answer 16 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

16

Computer Management

compmgmt.msc

Opens
enter image description here

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

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answered May 04 '09 at 02:44

dance2die

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score 16 · Answer 17 · edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:29

systeminfo

Displays a ton of information about the system at hand. The following are what it outputs on Vista:

Host Name
OS Name
OS Version
OS Manufacturer
OS Configuration
OS Build Type
Registered Owner
Registered Organization
Product ID
Original Install Date
System Boot Time
System Manufacturer
System Model
System Type
Processor(s)
BIOS Version
Windows Directory
System Directory
Boot Device
System Locale
Input Locale
Time Zone
Total Physical Memory
Available Physical Memory
Page File
Max Size
Page File
Available
Page File
In Use
Page File Location(s)
Domain
Logon Server
Hotfix(s)
Network Card(s)

this is really useful. did not know this one – MikeJ Aug 10 '09 at 20:46 — MikeJ, Aug 10 '09 at 20:46

score 15 · Answer 18 · answered May 05 '09 at 17:02

15

Very useful one I only found out about recently:

winver.exe

Gives you a dialog box with the version of Windows the machine is running, complete with Service Pack level and build number.

answered May 05 '09 at 17:02

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Note that I use the hotkey Win+Pause to see most of this information quickly on a box. – May 27 '09 at 20:29

score 14 · Answer 19 · edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:28

There is still no mention of WMIC.exe :)

Find whatever you want from remote machine, local machine... multiple machines.

Nicely filled out HTML page with all data related to OS

WMIC OS get /all /format:htable

Look at all the options available

ALIAS                    - Access to the aliases available on the local system
BASEBOARD                - Base board (also known as a motherboard or system board) management.
BIOS                     - Basic input/output services (BIOS) management.
BOOTCONFIG               - Boot configuration management.
CDROM                    - CD-ROM management.
COMPUTERSYSTEM           - Computer system management.
CPU                      - CPU management.
CSPRODUCT                - Computer system product information from SMBIOS.
DATAFILE                 - DataFile Management.
DCOMAPP                  - DCOM Application management.
DESKTOP                  - User's Desktop management.
DESKTOPMONITOR           - Desktop Monitor management.
DEVICEMEMORYADDRESS      - Device memory addresses management.
DISKDRIVE                - Physical disk drive management.
DISKQUOTA                - Disk space usage for NTFS volumes.
DMACHANNEL               - Direct memory access (DMA) channel management.
ENVIRONMENT              - System environment settings management.
FSDIR                    - Filesystem directory entry management.
GROUP                    - Group account management.
IDECONTROLLER            - IDE Controller management.
IRQ                      - Interrupt request line (IRQ) management.
JOB                      - Provides  access to the jobs scheduled using the schedule service.
LOADORDER                - Management of system services that define execution dependencies.
LOGICALDISK              - Local storage device management.
LOGON                    - LOGON Sessions.
MEMCACHE                 - Cache memory management.
MEMLOGICAL               - System memory management (configuration layout and availability of memory).
MEMPHYSICAL              - Computer system's physical memory management.
NETCLIENT                - Network Client management.
NETLOGIN                 - Network login information (of a particular user) management.
NETPROTOCOL              - Protocols (and their network characteristics) management.
NETUSE                   - Active network connection management.
NIC                      - Network Interface Controller (NIC) management.
NICCONFIG                - Network adapter management.
NTDOMAIN                 - NT Domain management.
NTEVENT                  - Entries in the NT Event Log.
NTEVENTLOG               - NT eventlog file management.
ONBOARDDEVICE            - Management of common adapter devices built into the motherboard (system board).
OS                       - Installed Operating System/s management.
PAGEFILE                 - Virtual memory file swapping management.
PAGEFILESET              - Page file settings management.
PARTITION                - Management of partitioned areas of a physical disk.
PORT                     - I/O port management.
PORTCONNECTOR            - Physical connection ports management.
PRINTER                  - Printer device management.
PRINTERCONFIG            - Printer device configuration management.
PRINTJOB                 - Print job management.
PROCESS                  - Process management.
PRODUCT                  - Installation package task management.
QFE                      - Quick Fix Engineering.
QUOTASETTING             - Setting information for disk quotas on a volume.
RECOVEROS                - Information that will be gathered from memory when the operating system fails.
REGISTRY                 - Computer system registry management.
SCSICONTROLLER           - SCSI Controller management.
SERVER                   - Server information management.
SERVICE                  - Service application management.
SHARE                    - Shared resource management.
SOFTWAREELEMENT          - Management of the  elements of a software product installed on a system.
SOFTWAREFEATURE          - Management of software product subsets of SoftwareElement.
SOUNDDEV                 - Sound Device management.
STARTUP                  - Management of commands that run automatically when users log onto the computer system.
SYSACCOUNT               - System account management.
SYSDRIVER                - Management of the system driver for a base service.
SYSTEMENCLOSURE          - Physical system enclosure management.
SYSTEMSLOT               - Management of physical connection points including ports,  slots and peripherals, and
TAPEDRIVE                - Tape drive management.
TEMPERATURE              - Data management of a temperature sensor (electronic thermometer).
TIMEZONE                 - Time zone data management.
UPS                      - Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) management.
USERACCOUNT              - User account management.
VOLTAGE                  - Voltage sensor (electronic voltmeter) data management.
VOLUMEQUOTASETTING       - Associates the disk quota setting with a specific disk volume.
WMISET                   - WMI service operational parameters management.

and many, many more.

@KAPes: "/format:htable" is awesome... – dance2die Jun 27 '09 at 13:09 — dance2die, Jun 27 '09 at 13:09

score 13 · Answer 20 · edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:29

13

Chaining commands, in particular net stop and start to restart any service:

net stop w3svc && net start w3svc

(It is a silly example as iisreset will do that, but anyway ;)

edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:29

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 09 '09 at 14:05

Oskar Duveborn

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5

Just pointing out this is actually conditional execution, unlike a single '&'. http://www.ss64.com/nt/syntax-conditional.html – Christopher Galpin May 22 '09 at 19:25
True, it will only start if it the stop succeeded... or I guess that's the spirit anyway - not sure the net stop would actually return a non-success if it timed out.. *testing* – Oskar Duveborn May 22 '09 at 22:28
Well as it does both even if one tries to stop a non-existing service, in this case it doesn't seem to matter - but the difference is of course great. They should add that "promote comment to answer" feature and I'd promote yours ^^ – Oskar Duveborn May 22 '09 at 22:47
3

This will ensure a metabase configuration change is saved, however. IISRESET does not. – K. Brian Kelley Jun 10 '09 at 16:03

score 13 · Answer 21 · answered May 11 '09 at 07:50

13

color 02

This, my friends, is the only command you'll ever need. The rest is nonessential.

answered May 11 '09 at 07:50

2

Oops, I accidentally entered color 23... – Andomar May 16 '09 at 19:26
entering 'color' by itself takes you back to default – RobW Jun 16 '10 at 20:16
Too bad it doesn't stick across CMD sessions... – Nate Jul 29 '10 at 20:56

score 12 · Answer 22 · answered May 04 '09 at 09:37

12

explorer .

Open explorer with the current folder selected.

explorer /e, .

Open explorer, with folder tree, with current folder selected.

answered May 04 '09 at 09:37

Richard

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This is also the way to make a shortcut that opens explorer for a specific directory, like "explorer /e,c:\myhomeisinrootthxu – Andomar May 16 '09 at 19:37
Already integrated higher up the vote count... – Ruben Bartelink May 28 '09 at 13:43

score 12 · Answer 23 · answered May 08 '09 at 20:38

To change the title of the CMD window you have open, simply use:

title [your new title]

I've got a lot of CMD windows and other programs open at work. This command, combined with Taskbar Shuffle (allows you to drag taskbar items into new orders) has saved me from insanity.

score 11 · Answer 24 · edited Jul 23 '09 at 02:11

11

Windows 7 Run Commands

I find it better to know where to find them until I have used them often enough to actually remember them.

edited Jul 23 '09 at 02:11

p.campbell

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answered May 04 '09 at 13:29

jake

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Thanks Jake. I was looking for a list like those. My initial goal was to be able to browse through answers and find whatever a user might think will need by skimming through screenshots. But I guess I could do that myself ;) – dance2die May 04 '09 at 14:25

cop1152 · Answer 25 · 2009-06-24T19:17:54.993

10

You can hit F7 in The Windows Command Line for a history of commands that you can choose with your keyboard.

Also...I love this one - you can copy a file path by just dragging a file into the command line.

edited Jun 24 '09 at 19:17

answered Jun 24 '09 at 19:11

cop1152

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score 10 · Answer 26 · edited Nov 03 '11 at 09:33

On Windows XP at least (I haven't tried on Windows Vista and Windows 7):

appwiz.cpl @,2

It takes you straight to the Add/Remove Windows Components pane.

Another way to add or remove components in an automated fashion is to use

sysocmgr.exe

in unattended mode with a .inf file that lists the components you'd like to install. For example,

[NetOptionalComponents] 
SNMP = 1 

[SNMP] 
Contact_Name = IT Dept. 
Location = Office
Service = Physical, Applications, End-to-End 
Community_Name = Mormon 
Traps = server1, server2 
Send_Authentication = Yes 
Accept_CommunityName = Public:Read_Only 
Any_Host = No 
Limit_Host = server1, server2

(Credit due to thesystemadministrator.com for .inf file.)

It's a clunky tool (hey, it's MS), but it's invaluable for getting your components sorted out post-install.

"appwiz.cpl @,2" works but renamed to "Turn Windows Features On and Off" — dance2die, May 04 '09 at 23:39

score 10 · Answer 27 · answered May 04 '09 at 14:26

10

To restart IIS

iisreset

answered May 04 '09 at 14:26

Gulzar

381
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3

This can also be used to restart IIS on a remote server: iisreset remoteservername – Saul Dolgin May 27 '09 at 17:58
3

I don't use iisreset any longer. It may not save metabase config issue. I use net stop iisadmin /y && net start w3svc instead. Here's why: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/286196 – K. Brian Kelley Jun 10 '09 at 16:02
@K. Brian Kelley, pretty sure the `/noforce` command will prevent the forcing and therefore keep you safe. IIS 7 is probably immune to it anyway since it no longer 'technically' uses the metabase. – Ashley Aug 03 '11 at 21:07

score 10 · Answer 28 · answered May 08 '09 at 15:30

I didn't see taskkill on the list yet.

TASKKILL [/S system [/U username [/P [password]]]] { [/FI filter] [/PID processid | /IM imagename] } [/F] [/T]

Parameter List: /S system Specifies the remote system to connect to.

/U    [domain\]user    Specifies the user context under which
                       the command should execute.

/P    [password]       Specifies the password for the given
                       user context. Prompts for input if omitted.

/F                     Specifies to forcefully terminate
                       process(es).

/FI   filter           Displays a set of tasks that match a
                       given criteria specified by the filter.

/PID  process id       Specifies the PID of the process that
                       has to be terminated.

/IM   image name       Specifies the image name of the process
                       that has to be terminated. Wildcard '*'
                       can be used to specify all image names.

/T                     Tree kill: terminates the specified process
                       and any child processes which were started by

it.

Works great in conjunction with tasklist

score 9 · Answer 29 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

9

Device Manager

devmgmt.msc

Opens

enter image description here

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

1

answered May 04 '09 at 02:49

dance2die

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If you set the environment variable devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices to 1 before launching device manager, then when you show hidden devices it will show all the completely inactive devices (e.g. have been removed) as well. – Richard May 04 '09 at 09:35

score 8 · Answer 30 · answered Jul 29 '10 at 20:44

8

I just recently found out about forfiles

FORFILES [/P pathname] [/M searchmask] [/S] [/C command] [/D [+ | -] {MM/dd/yyyy | dd}]

Description: Selects a file (or set of files) and executes a command on that file. This is helpful for batch jobs.

I use this to delete old backups with this line, this basically deletes files that are older than 6 days:

Forfiles /p " C:\Backups\SQL " /d -6 /c "CMD /C del @FILE"

answered Jul 29 '10 at 20:44

Hondalex

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What Windows version do you have? It doesn't work on my Windows XP Pro SP3. Maybe I need to modify some Environment variable? – THEn Aug 01 '10 at 16:11

score 8 · Answer 31 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:01

Run something as a different user (good for troubleshooting w/o having people to log off)

runas /U:*domainname*\*username* "*someapplication*"

for example, if you want to open an explorer window with your credentials

runas /U:example.com\mylogin "explorer /separate"

for management console snapins (services in this example) you need to use mmc followed by the normal command to open that snap-in

runas /U:example.com\mylogin "mmc services.msc"

For situations where you need to run an application as a domain user from a non-domain-joined PC (eg SQL Server Management Studio)

runas /netonly /U:domain\username application.exe

score 8 · Answer 32 · edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:32

8

netsh firewall set opmode disable

turns off the Windows firewall.

taskkill.exe /f /fi "status eq Not Responding"

kills all not responding programs.

edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:32

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 08 '09 at 14:11

Maxwell

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score 8 · Answer 33 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

8

EventViewer

eventvwr.msc

Opens enter image description here

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

1

answered May 04 '09 at 02:33

dance2die

2,011
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You can just use "eventvwr" and save a few characters. – boflynn May 04 '09 at 10:57

score 8 · Answer 34 · answered May 04 '09 at 09:46

8

Registry Editor

regedit

answered May 04 '09 at 09:46

Palmin

350
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score 8 · Answer 35 · edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

8

Network Connections (Windows Vista/Windows XP)

The command

ncpa.cpl

opens

alt text

edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

Community

1

answered May 05 '09 at 00:25

dance2die

2,011
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... and so falls a great Vista frustration. Thanks. – Christopher Galpin May 27 '09 at 19:13

score 8 · Answer 36 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 11:06

dsquery * and dsmod

Pipe your dsquery results into dsmod and do mass changes to Active Directory.

Description:  Finds any objects in the directory according to criteria.

Syntax:     dsquery * [{<StartNode> | forestroot | domainroot}]
            [-scope {subtree | onelevel | base}] [-filter <LDAPFilter>]
            [-attr {<AttrList> | *}] [-attrsonly] [-l]
            [{-s <Server> | -d <Domain>}] [-u <UserName>]
            [-p {<Password> | *}] [-q] [-r] [-gc]
            [{-uc | -uco | -uci}]

Parameters:
Value                       Description
{<StartNode> | forestroot | domainroot}
                            The node where the search will start:
                            forest root, domain root, or a node
                            whose DN is <StartNode>.
                            Can be "forestroot", "domainroot" or an object
                            DN.
                            If "forestroot" is specified, the search is done
                            via the global catalog. Default: domainroot.
-scope {subtree | onelevel | base}
                            Specifies the scope of the search:
                            subtree rooted at start node (subtree);
                            immediate children of start node only (onelevel);
                            the base object represented by start node (base).
                            Note that subtree and domain scope
                            are essentially the same for any start node
                            unless the start node represents a domain root.
                            If forestroot is specified as <StartNode>,
                            subtree is the only valid scope.
                            Default: subtree.
-filter <LDAPFilter>        Specifies that the search use the explicit
                            LDAP search filter <LDAPFilter> specified in the
                            LDAP search filter format for searching.
                            Default:(objectCategory=*).The search filter
                            string must be enclosed in double quotes.
-attr {<AttrList> | *}      If <AttrList>, specifies a space-separated list
                            of LDAP display names to be returned for
                            each entry in the result set.
                            If *, specifies all attributes present on
                            the objects in the result set.
                            Default: distinguishedName.
-attrsonly                  Shows only the attribute types present on
                            the entries in the result set but not
                            their values.
                            Default: shows both attribute type and value.
-l                          Shows the entries in the search result set
                            in a list format. Default: table format.
{-s <Server> | -d <Domain>}
                            -s <Server> connects to the domain controller
                            (DC) with name <Server>.
                            -d <Domain> connects to a DC in domain <Domain>.
                            Default: a DC in the logon domain.
-u <UserName>               Connect as <UserName>. Default: the logged in
                            user. User name can be: user name,
                            domain\user name, or user principal name (UPN).
-p <Password>               Password for the user <UserName>. If * then you
                            are prompted for a password.
-q                          Quiet mode: suppress all output to standard
                            output.
-r                          Recurse or follow referrals during search.
                            Default: do not chase referrals during search.
-gc                         Search in the Active Directory global catalog.
-limit <NumObjects>         Specifies the number of objects matching the
                            given criteria to be returned, where <NumObjects>
                            is the number of objects to be returned.
                            If the value of <NumObjects> is 0, all matching
                            objects are returned. If this parameter is not
                            specified, by default the first 100 results are
                            displayed.
{-uc | -uco | -uci}         -uc Specifies that input from or output to pipe
                            is formatted in Unicode.
                            -uco Specifies that output to pipe or file is
                            formatted in Unicode.
                            -uci Specifies that input from pipe or file is
                            formatted in Unicode.

Remarks:
The dsquery commands help you find objects in the directory that match
a specified search criterion: the input to dsquery is a search criteria
and the output is a list of objects matching the search. To get the
properties of a specific object, use the dsget commands (dsget /?).

A user-entered value containing spaces or semicolons must be enclosed in
quotes (""). Multiple user-entered values must be separated using commas
(for example, a list of attribute types).


Examples:
To find all users in the current domain only whose SAM account name begins
with the string "jon" and display their SAM account name,
User Principal Name (UPN) and department in table format:

dsquery * domainroot
-filter "(&(objectCategory=Person)(objectClass=User)(sAMAccountName=jon*))"
-attr sAMAccountName userPrincipalName department

To read the sAMAccountName, userPrincipalName and department attributes of
the object whose DN is ou=Test,dc=microsoft,dc=com:

Dsquery * ou=Test,dc=microsoft,dc=com -scope base
-attr sAMAccountName userPrincipalName department

To read all attributes of the object whose DN is ou=Test,dc=microsoft,dc=com:

Dsquery * ou=Test,dc=microsoft,dc=com -scope base -attr *

See also:
dsquery computer /? - help for finding computers in the directory.
dsquery contact /? - help for finding contacts in the directory.
dsquery subnet /? - help for finding subnets in the directory.
dsquery group /? - help for finding groups in the directory.
dsquery ou /? - help for finding organizational units in the directory.
dsquery site /? - help for finding sites in the directory.
dsquery server /? - help for finding servers in the directory.
dsquery user /? - help for finding users in the directory.
dsquery quota /? - help for finding quotas in the directory.
dsquery partition /? - help for finding partitions in the directory.
dsquery * /? - help for finding any object in the directory by using
a generic LDAP query.

Directory Service command-line tools help:
dsadd /? - help for adding objects.
dsget /? - help for displaying objects.
dsmod /? - help for modifying objects.
dsmove /? - help for moving objects.
dsquery /? - help for finding objects matching search criteria.
dsrm /? - help for deleting objects.
dsquery failed:The parameter is incorrect.
type dsquery /? for help.

Elias · Answer 37 · 2009-05-05T20:57:53.910

8

fsutil

From Microsoft Technet "Performs tasks that are related to file allocation table (FAT) and NTFS file systems, such as managing reparse points, managing sparse files, or dismounting a volume."

One of its most helpful options is to disable the creation of legacy 8.3 filenames. This is particularly helpful on servers that have very large numbers of files in a directory with long filenames.

To disable legacy 8.3 filenames on XP or Server 2003:

fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1

On Windows 7 (and possibly Vista and Server 2008) you'd use:

fsutil 8dot3name set 1

For more information see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753059.aspx

edited May 05 '09 at 20:57

answered May 05 '09 at 20:44

Elias

101
3

I can confirm "fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1" is the correct command on Server 2008 – prestomation Jun 11 '09 at 13:41
fsutil can also be used to create hardlinks (and other useful but relatively hidden FS features/capabilities) – Goyuix Oct 15 '10 at 15:11

score 8 · Answer 38 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:02

ipconfig

USAGE:

ipconfig [/? | /all | /renew [adapter] | /release [adapter] |

          /flushdns | /displaydns | /registerdns |

          /showclassid adapter |

          /setclassid adapter [classid] ]

where

adapter         Connection name 

               (wildcard characters * and ? allowed, see

examples)

Options:

   /?           Display this help message

   /all         Display full configuration information.

   /release     Release the IP address for the specified adapter.

   /renew       Renew the IP address for the specified adapter.

   /flushdns    Purges the DNS Resolver cache.

   /registerdns Refreshes all DHCP leases and re-registers DNS names

   /displaydns  Display the contents of the DNS Resolver Cache.

   /showclassid Displays all the dhcp class IDs allowed for adapter.

   /setclassid  Modifies the dhcp class id.

The default is to display only the IP address, subnet mask and

default gateway for each adapter bound to TCP/IP.

For Release and Renew, if no adapter name is specified, then the IP address

leases for all adapters bound to TCP/IP will be released or renewed.

For Setclassid, if no ClassId is specified, then the ClassId is removed.

Examples:

> ipconfig                   ... Show information.

> ipconfig /all              ... Show detailed information

> ipconfig /renew            ... renew all adapters

> ipconfig /renew EL*        ... renew any connection that has its 

                                 name starting with EL

> ipconfig /release *Con*    ... release all matching connections,

                                 eg. "Local Area Connection 1" or

                                     "Local Area Connection 2"

score 6 · Answer 39 · answered Jun 13 '10 at 11:08

6

mstsc  # starts the Remote Desktop window.
mstsc -v 192.168.0.1  # to remotely connect to a given IP.

answered Jun 13 '10 at 11:08

mB.

101
1
4

Learned about this one about a year ago. Use it all the time now and can't live without it! – Matt Hanson Jun 13 '10 at 18:28

score 6 · Answer 40 · answered Jul 08 '10 at 03:16

To get the current date / time for use in a batch file:

for /f "usebackq tokens=1,2,3,4 delims=/ " %%w in (`echo %DATE%`) do set YMD=%%z%%x%%y
for /f "usebackq tokens=1,2,3,4 delims=:." %%x in (`echo %TIME%`) do set HMS=%%x%%y%%z
set NOW=%YMD%_%HMS%
echo %NOW%

score 6 · Answer 41 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:48

6

Windows Update Service

wuauclt.exe 

/demoui
/a /ResetAuthorization
/r /ReportNow
/detectnow

This single command has a lot of mythology surrounding it. It reports no errors, has no help dialog, and the only real output is run for /demoui. But it does work, I think.

Reference

edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:48

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 13 '09 at 20:52

Joseph Kern

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score 6 · Answer 42 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 20:35

6

The clip command on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 is very useful: it puts anything passed in on standard input on the clipboard.

Examples:

Copy current directory to clipboard:

dir | clip

List C files containing a particular string:

findstr /i /s /m /c:"someFunction" *.c | clip

edited Dec 11 '11 at 20:35

Peter Mortensen

2,318
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answered Jun 28 '09 at 20:45

Ken Keenan

353
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score 6 · Answer 43 · answered Jun 29 '09 at 15:20

6

I find that often I need to create large files for testing.

fsutil file createnew C:\1_gb-ish_file.txt 1000000000

answered Jun 29 '09 at 15:20

breadly

217
2
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1

I cant believe I didnt know this. Thanks for the tip! – cop1152 Mar 24 '10 at 20:40

score 5 · Answer 44 · answered Jul 28 '10 at 20:48

I know this is a bit of an old question here, but I looked through the five pages of answers, and I did not see the following:

pushd, popd

Usage:

C:\Users\MyUser\src> pushd C:\Users\MyUser\Documents
C:\Users\MyUser\Documents> cd Backup
C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Backup> copy ..\*.* .
C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Backup> popd
C:\Users\MyUser\src> rem Continue working in src directory.

Useful when working in long directories. I want to get back where i was.

score 5 · Answer 45 · edited Dec 07 '10 at 02:06

5

Lately I have had to use: net use \\servername /d

It kills permissions to specified resources.

Another use for net use is to re-mount a local drive as administrator, so that you don't need to log out (on WinXP, switch user was disabled on domains).

net use \\localShare /user:admin

edited Dec 07 '10 at 02:06

Jonas

161
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answered Jun 03 '09 at 19:51

cop1152

2,656
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score 5 · Answer 46 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:46

5

Disk management from the command line:

diskpart

See A Description of the Diskpart Command-Line Utility for more information.

edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:46

Peter Mortensen

2,318
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answered Jun 08 '09 at 14:38

fretje

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score 5 · Answer 47 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 11:05

rasdial

USAGE:
    rasdial entryname [username [password|*]] [/DOMAIN:domain]
            [/PHONE:phonenumber] [/CALLBACK:callbacknumber]
            [/PHONEBOOK:phonebookfile]
            [/PREFIXSUFFIX]

    rasdial [entryname] /DISCONNECT

    rasdial

    For Online Privacy Information please refer to
    'http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=34493'

connects to a VPN or a dialup network from the command line.

score 5 · Answer 48 · answered May 05 '09 at 05:10

5

Quite possibly the most powerful command yet:

cmd.exe

Favorite option:

/K Carries out the command specified by string but remains

answered May 05 '09 at 05:10

Chad Pavliska

111
5

score 5 · Answer 49 · answered May 11 '09 at 08:36

5

subst.exe - associates a path with a drive letter, including local drives. Usage example (add then remove):

subst M: C:\Documents and Settings\user\My Music\
subst M: /D

(note: is not persistent and needs to be run on every logon)

answered May 11 '09 at 08:36

Alistair Knock

231
3
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Be aware that this can overlap with mapped network drives or removable drives - sometimes the contents of the network/removable drive appears in Explorer under the SUBST drive letter or vice versa! – Daniel Schneller May 25 '09 at 13:35

Casual Coder · Answer 50 · 2010-05-13T20:21:39.300

4

netsh

netsh can do many useful things, i.e: (no pun intended ;-)
Import proxy settings from Internet Options to command line tools:

netsh
netsh>winhttp
netsh winhttp>import proxy source=ie

Display current proxy settings:

netsh winhttp>show proxy

net config server

Hide computer from Browser list:

net config server /hidden:yes

edited May 13 '10 at 20:21

answered May 13 '10 at 20:08

Casual Coder

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score 4 · Answer 51 · answered Jul 20 '09 at 07:45

What about rundll32.exe?
It allows running functions from within any 32 bit DLL.
You can do almost everything with this command - and script your OS to your heart's content.
The syntax is:

RUNDLL32.EXE <dllname>,<entrypoint> <optional arguments>

E.G.:

RUNDLL32.EXE SHELL32.DLL,Control_RunDLL HotPlug.dll

Will bring up the "USB Disconnect" dialog (equivalent to right-clicking the "Safely Remove Hardware option in the system tray).

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /?

Will give you dozens of options to control your printer from the command line.
And there are millions more...

score 4 · Answer 52 · answered May 11 '09 at 13:17

Forfiles:

forfiles

This is great for running a given command on any file that matches a list of criteria.

For example, the following will delete all files with a last modified date earlier than seven days ago:

forfiles -p . /D -7 /M *.* /S -c "cmd /C del @File /Q"

score 3 · Answer 53 · answered May 27 '09 at 16:43

start:

start .                (opens explorer to the pwd)

start c:\              (opens explorer to the root of C:)

start document.doc     (open the document - just like double-clicking on it)

start wordpad file.txt (open wordpad for the file, creating if necessary)

start calc             (launch the calculator app)

score 3 · Answer 54 · answered May 27 '09 at 18:10

cipher /w:C:\

/W Removes data from available unused disk space on the entire volume. If this option is chosen, all other options are ignored. The directory specified can be anywhere in a local volume. If it is a mount point or points to a directory in another volume, the data on that volume will be removed.

support.microsoft.com/kb/814599

score 3 · Answer 55 · edited Aug 20 '09 at 16:13

Monitor network connections in the background, command-line while you work. (AKA - The `revolving netstat'):

> netstat -a 1

Stop services via command-line:

> net stop [servicename]

Fire up a Terminal Services session to a remote computer, via command-line:

> mstsc /v:[servername]

They kept around the "more" command, which was nice. Check out what's going on with the latest updates that have been installed, via WSUS:

> more /c c:\windows\windowsupdate.log

Problems with resolving via netBIOS? (Remember that buggy-ole-protocol?) Or issues with domain trusts? This set of commands has always served well on old domain controllers. (Also demonstrates how to link commands, (the double-ampersand means, `only continue if the last command completed successfully')

> nbtstat -R && nbtstat -r & nbtstat -c

score 3 · Answer 56 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:43

cacls (or the more up-to-date icalcs):

cacls (Change Access Control Lists) is a command line utility for Microsoft Windows to change Access Control List (ACL) permissions on a directory, its subcontents, or files. An access control list is a list of permissions for a securable object, such as a file or directory, that controls who can access it.

alt text http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/cms/contentPics/r00220020626van01_02.gif

It is a real life-saver on a file-server when specific file(s) and/or directory(s) permissions have to be modified.

score 3 · Answer 57 · answered Nov 30 '10 at 17:41

3

Problem Steps Recorder - A beautiful new feature in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2.

PSR.EXE

answered Nov 30 '10 at 17:41

unhappyCrackers1

977
1
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score 3 · Answer 58 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:44

Useful for batch/cmd processing:

cd %0\..

changes the path including the drive to the directory where the batch/cmd files is located.

For example, when you have your bat/cmd in z:\test, and you open up a shortcut to the bat/cmd from your desktop, with the command inside your bat/cmd you can change the path to z:\test and go on from there.

Edit: the command above only changes the path, not the drive! My fault... I tested it only on the same drive. The correct command for also changing the drive would be

cd /d %0\..

score 3 · Answer 59 · edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:30

3

Windows key + r cmd

This opens the command-line window without the mouse. It is the quickest way I've found to get it up. Combine with the cmd \k *command* mentioned above.

edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:30

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 10 '09 at 15:52

warrenkopp

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score 3 · Answer 60 · edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:46

3

chkdsk (or checkdisk) is a command that checks the disk surface for physical errors or bad sectors. It can also fix logical file system errors.

edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:46

Community

1

answered Jun 11 '09 at 11:31

adopilot

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score 3 · Answer 61 · answered Jun 13 '09 at 22:00

Hopefully this fits in here - exporting the results of a command to file. For example, running a ping:

ping localhost

Can be exported to a log file:

ping localhost > C:\ping.log

Anything that would otherwise appear within the console screen, will be written to the file. Very useful for creating logs of running scheduled tasks.

score 3 · Answer 62 · answered Jun 17 '09 at 13:20

I saw FINDSTR listed above but nobody mentioned FIND. This command is incredibly useful to search the list returned from another command. Example: netstat -an | find ":6667"

This command will find any IRC traffic on your computer. Substitute another port or an IP address to narrow down the returned results accordingly.

score 3 · Answer 63 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:51

3

I seem to regularly use "sc stop wuauserv", which turns off the Windows Update service. Primarly to make it stop nagging me to restart every few minutes.

edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:51

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 21 '09 at 13:59

davenpcj

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score 3 · Answer 64 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:51

3

The arp command gives you the IP address and Ethernet address for hosts your machine knows of on the network. Very useful to debug hairy network troubles... I usually use

arp -a

edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:51

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jun 22 '09 at 11:17

wazoox

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score 3 · Answer 65 · answered Jul 01 '09 at 01:04

I find that MS's SysInternals are really useful. So I often keep the folder updated by running this robocopy command:

robocopy "\\live.sysinternals.com\Tools" "C:\utils\sysinternals" /LEV:0 /Z /XO /IT /R:10 /W:10

The three I use the most are:

autoruns.exe manage processes that start automatically
procexp.exe a heavy duty process explorer, great for finding file locks
contig.exe defragment a single file (useful for virtual machines)

score 3 · Answer 66 · answered Jul 02 '09 at 18:25

mode

It allows you to resize your cmd.exe window.

The cmd.exe window normally has 300 lines and 80 columns, which can be quite small sometimes.

You can double the height and width of the command window with

mode con cols=160 lines=600

To see your current settings use

mode con /status

score 3 · Answer 67 · edited Feb 20 '12 at 08:47

3

enter image description here #####Mouse Properties control mouse

-- or --

main.cpl

Opens

edited Feb 20 '12 at 08:47

Bart De Vos

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answered May 04 '09 at 03:07

dance2die

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score 3 · Answer 68 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

3

Network and Sharing Center

control.exe /name Microsoft.NetworkAndSharingCenter

Reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc733147.aspx#BKMK_Anchor3

Opens
enter image description here

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

1

answered May 04 '09 at 03:13

dance2die

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score 3 · Answer 69 · answered May 04 '09 at 06:14

3

Local Security Settings

secpol.msc

answered May 04 '09 at 06:14

Wedge

1,617
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hhmmm............. – May 20 '09 at 09:00

score 3 · Answer 70 · edited Feb 20 '12 at 08:49

3

To free up some disk space:

format c:

No, really, here's Disk Cleanup:

cleanmgr.exe

enter image description here

edited Feb 20 '12 at 08:49

Bart De Vos

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answered May 04 '09 at 10:48

Lucas Jones

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score 3 · Answer 71 · answered May 04 '09 at 13:15

3

The ever-so-appropriately named lusrmgr.msc - Local Users and Groups Administrator

answered May 04 '09 at 13:15

Kara Marfia

7,892
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I've typed it hundreds of times but never got the pun until just now. Hilarious. – Portman May 06 '09 at 00:07

score 3 · Answer 72 · edited Feb 21 '12 at 08:27

3

To open the Windows Event Log (Event Viewer).

Eventvwr

enter image description here

edited Feb 21 '12 at 08:27

Bart De Vos

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answered May 04 '09 at 15:25

C. Ross

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And I always thought I had to do eventvwr.msc...thanks :) – May 04 '09 at 23:22

score 3 · Answer 73 · answered May 06 '09 at 06:57

3

If you suspect something's wrong with protected system files, you can use this tool.

sfc /scannow

answered May 06 '09 at 06:57

macbirdie

581
3
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score 3 · Answer 74 · edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:25

3

When I was testing my WSUS server I found these useful:

gpresult > gp.txt (gives the policies aplied)

gpupdate /force (will force an group policy update on the machine)

wuauclt /detectnow (to force the Windows update agent to search for updates)

edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:25

Peter Mortensen

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answered Aug 28 '09 at 09:53

Flip

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score 3 · Answer 75 · answered May 08 '09 at 14:15

3

Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

mrt

answered May 08 '09 at 14:15

Sam Meldrum

273
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score 3 · Answer 76 · answered May 08 '09 at 15:32

SC - Manage anything you want to do with services.

DESCRIPTION:
        SC is a command line program used for communicating with the
        NT Service Controller and services. USAGE:
        sc <server> [command] [service name] <option1> <option2>...

score 3 · Answer 77 · answered May 10 '09 at 03:47

3

The set command with filtering to display contents of environment variables. Instead of typing

C:\Users\Erlend>echo %computername%
ASUS-G1S

you can type

C:\Users\Erlend>set comp
COMPUTERNAME=ASUS-G1S

to get the same effect. Using set alone shows you all environment variables.

answered May 10 '09 at 03:47

Just learned the SET alone command to list environment variables thats a great one. – bendewey May 15 '09 at 04:19

score 3 · Answer 78 · answered May 13 '09 at 00:44

One of my favourites is rsop.msc, 'Resultant Set of Policy'.

RSoP shows the combined effect of all group policies active on the current system/login. So on a client machine if you're unsure about which particular policy settings are/aren't applied, simply check it out in RSoP!

score 3 · Answer 79 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:05

3

The two I use the most are:

PathPing - Traces the route and pings the site at the same time (ie: pathping www.zdnet.com)

and an easy way to lock your workstation/server:

%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:05

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 14 '09 at 14:37

JFV

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Any easy way to lock a workstation is windows+L. No need for the command. – railmeat Aug 11 '09 at 02:20
@railmeat: Yes, I use that too. But if you are remotely on the box, it's a little difficult to hit it sometimes... – JFV Aug 11 '09 at 15:10

splattne · Answer 80 · 2009-06-26T12:10:50.333

2

reg.exe

manipulates the Windows Registry.

edited Jun 26 '09 at 12:10

answered May 22 '09 at 13:24

splattne

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Andy · Answer 81 · 2009-05-23T07:35:23.087

Depending on the version of Windows, Scheduled Tasks, and for command-line goodness, the schtasks or at commands.

schtasks

Parameter List:
    /Create  : Creates a new scheduled task.
    /Delete  : Deletes the scheduled task(s).
    /Query  : Displays all scheduled tasks. 
    /Change  : Changes the properties of scheduled task. 
    /Run  : Runs the scheduled task immediately. 
    /End  : Stops the currently running scheduled task. 
    /?              Displays this help/usage.

at

\\computername: Specify a remote computer (default local machine.
time: Specify the time when the task is to run.
/interactive: Allow the task to interact with the desktop of the user who is logged on at the time the task runs.
/every:date,...: Schedule the task to run on the specified day or days of the week or month.
/next:date,...: Schedule the task to run on the next occurrence of the day (for example, next Monday).
command: Specify the command, the program (.exe or .com file), or the batch program (.bat or .cmd file) that you want to run.
id: Specify the identification number that is assigned to a scheduled task.
/delete: Cancel a scheduled task. If you omit the id parameter, all scheduled tasks on the computer are canceled.
/yes: Force a yes answer to all queries from the system when you cancel scheduled tasks.

score 2 · Answer 82 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:55

2

If you're on one of the more professional Windows distributions (XP Professional, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate), use

gpedit.msc

to do Group Policy editing.

edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:55

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 25 '09 at 11:21

Aistina

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score 2 · Answer 83 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:55

2

The command

powercfg.cpl

launches the power management control panel applet.

edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:55

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 27 '09 at 10:36

Jim Harte

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This looks awefully useful on my laptpo! – dance2die May 27 '09 at 14:42

score 2 · Answer 84 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:01

2

DIRCMD is an environmental variable that the DIR command reads its switches from.

Order directory listing by sub-directories, file extension, and name, including hidden and system files:

set DIRCMD=/ogen/a

dir

edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:01

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 31 '09 at 03:34

Gordon Bell

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score 2 · Answer 85 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:01

2

If you have pstools installed in the root of drive C;

c:\pstools\psexec \\\\computername -u username -p password cmd

opens the command prompt on a remote machine. From there you can do whatever you want.

edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:01

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 31 '09 at 18:55

cop1152

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to get to backslashes you need to escape each of the backslashes, thus you'll need to enter 4 :) – serverhorror Jun 12 '09 at 17:01
I have a /bin folder in my home dir, and I configure my profile to include h:/bin in my path. I drop pstools, gnu32utils, wrktools, etc. into here. If you have roaming profiles, you have all your utils available in the path across the entire network. – Bryan Dec 11 '11 at 20:40

score 2 · Answer 86 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

There have been a couple of mentions of WMIC, but there's a lot of power there that isn't being highlighted. Granted, much of this can be done easier now with PowerShell, but if you don't know PowerShell or aren't able to use it for whatever reason, then it's WMIC to the rescue!

You are able to use many of the WQL keywords. For some reason a nice well-documented syntax on how to use these on the command line in conjunction with WMIC is not found anywhere.

Some examples:

List the QFE (Quick Fix Engineering) hotfixes installed on a system

// See them all
wmic qfe | more

// List the HotFixID, InstalledBy and InstalledOn properties of the ones that begin with "KB9"
wmic qfe where "HotfixID like '%KB9%'" get HotFixID,InstalledBy,InstalledOn

// Useful if you're just trying to find out if a particular KB is installed, and you don't care about the properties
wmic qfe | find "981793"

// Or, if you need the properties just for the one
wmic qfe where "HotFixID = 'KB981793'"

Display, start and stop services! Very useful when you have a group of related services that you need to stop/start.

// Display McAfee services
wmic service where "DisplayName like '%McAfee%'"

// Stop all McAfee services
wmic service where "DisplayName like '%McAfee%'" call StopService

Context-sensitive Help

See what properties are available with a particular alias:

wmic service get /?

See what methods are available with a particular alias:

wmic service call /?

See which classes the aliases map to:

wmic alias list brief

Run a query or command against multiple computers:

// Get a list of all the patches on hostname1 and hostname2 and save it as a .csv file for easy import into Excel
wmic /node:hostname1,hostname2 get /format:csv > Patches.csv

// You can also list all your systems (one per line) in a text file and run it against all of them:
wmic /node:@MyServers.txt get /format:csv > Patches.csv

score 2 · Answer 87 · edited Jul 28 '10 at 20:55

2

"| more" is an essential sub-command. It pauses at each screen, making large amounts of text easier to read.

Examples:

dir | more
help | more
type filename.txt | more

It saves from scrolling back up to find what you want, and losing your place.

edited Jul 28 '10 at 20:55

Dennis Williamson

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answered Jul 28 '10 at 20:40

Scott Forsyth

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`more` is already listed in the "question", but it's useful to have it described. However, it's unnecessary for `dir` because it has `/p`. Also, it's unnecessary to pipe `type` into `more`, just do `more filename.txt` (congratulations, you receive the Windows/DOS equivalent of the Useless Use of cat Award). – Dennis Williamson Jul 28 '10 at 20:54
Yes, I checked before posting and noticed that more was mentioned, but it didn't summarize how. While there are alternative ways to pause the screen, 'more' is consistent across all outputs ... and works with other OSes too (including non-Windows). To me, it's an essential subtool to add to any arsenal of command line syntax lists. – Scott Forsyth Jul 29 '10 at 19:28

score 2 · Answer 88 · answered Oct 08 '10 at 17:19

2

sqlwb Starts Microsof SQL Server Management Studio. Handy when you can't find it listed in the start menu, but you know it's installed on that server. :)

answered Oct 08 '10 at 17:19

Lady Runa

1
1

score 2 · Answer 89 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:09

Run dxdiag, a DirectX diagnostic tool. Apart from giving DirectX components installed on your system it also gives a system information summary. All information can be exported as a text file.

CIPHER: this is a good one to permanently delete files off the computer. Once a file is deleted, it is only marked as deleted and it won't truly be delted off the hard drive until it's overwritten with the information or you can run cipher and the location of where the file used to be to truly delete it from the hard drive.

Usage:

cipher /w:"drive letter":"folder name"

Example:

 cipher /w:C: (to do all the C: drive.)

score 2 · Answer 90 · answered Nov 30 '10 at 18:28

2

Amazing Shutdown timer:

shutdown -s -t 7200 -c "shutting down in 120 mins, please type 'shutdown -a' in a command prompt to cancel" -f

answered Nov 30 '10 at 18:28

John Riselvato

153
8

score 2 · Answer 91 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

2

Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager

InetMgr.exe - IIS 7
InetMgr6.exe - IIS 6

IIS 7
IIS 6

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

1

answered May 04 '09 at 02:58

dance2die

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God´s home is on Vista? – Decio Lira May 04 '09 at 12:59
@Decio: Beh, it's all capitalized ;) – dance2die May 04 '09 at 13:27

score 2 · Answer 92 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

2

ODBC Data Source Administrator

odbcad32.exe

Opens
enter image description here

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

1

answered May 04 '09 at 03:05

dance2die

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Is it wrong to be happy not to have seen this screen in years? – p.campbell May 04 '09 at 22:28
@Philoushka I had to see that screen everyday while setting up some 3rd party Mail application that interacts with Accounting system... – dance2die May 04 '09 at 22:36

score 2 · Answer 93 · edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:43

2

To manage the entire IIS7 from the standard command-line (no PowerShell needed ;)

appcmd.exe

edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:43

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 04 '09 at 10:06

Oskar Duveborn

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For some reason, I am not able to run that command. What version of Windows does that command work under? – dance2die May 04 '09 at 23:44
It might not be in the path, which would be %windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe I think. Version of Windows is anything with IIS7 installed. – Oskar Duveborn May 05 '09 at 11:17

score 2 · Answer 94 · answered Jul 14 '09 at 05:02

I find the FOR command to be essential, usually parsing a text file of server names or user accounts. Sure, powershell or vbscript is more versatile, but sometimes the command prompt is what you have.

FOR /f %i in (servername.txt) do psexec \\%i netsh int ip show dns

(with pstools) runs netsh on multiple servers and outputs their dns settings.

FOR /F "tokens=1,2,3* skip=8 usebackq" %i in (`net group /domain "Domain Admins"`) do net user /domain %i && net user /domain %j && net user /domain %k

Dumps out each Domain Admin in WinNT "net user" style -- doing a dsquery command would be better. Add ">>filename.txt" to each part to save in a file. The >>file format appends. You get an error on the last line from the "net group".

Full command details are in "FOR /?" including string substitution, doing sequences (FOR /L %i IN (start,step,end) gives a loop where %i can be a number) and compound results.

score 2 · Answer 95 · edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:37

2

fsmgmt.msc to access File Shares.

edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:37

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 04 '09 at 14:34

SqlACID

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+1 I have always went through Computer Management screen for this. – dance2die May 04 '09 at 14:50

score 2 · Answer 96 · edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

2

System Properties

The command

sysdm.cpl

opens

alt text

edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

Community

1

answered May 05 '09 at 00:30

dance2die

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also available through [windowsbutton]+[break]. – Yuval Jun 30 '09 at 04:54

score 2 · Answer 97 · edited Aug 20 '09 at 16:17

2

Remote Assistance

%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\rcimlby.exe -LaunchRA

This is very handy to create as a shortcut on a users desktop. It goes straight to the "Invite someone to help you" page in the help centre. (Tested on XP/Pro Home).

edited Aug 20 '09 at 16:17

Helen

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answered May 06 '09 at 01:12

Ash

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score 2 · Answer 98 · edited Aug 20 '09 at 16:18

The Advanced Tab of the System Properties dialog.

control sysdm.cpl,@0,3

I use this regularly to get to Page file settings, Performance, Environment Variables and User Profiles.

Syntax:

@0 = the function within sysdm.cpl to display (In this case System Properties)

3 = the tab number to activate (in this case Advanced)

For anyone interested, Victor Laurie provides more info on this syntax.

score 2 · Answer 99 · answered May 06 '09 at 12:27

2

calc to open Calculator.

answered May 06 '09 at 12:27

ecleel

363
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??????.......... – May 20 '09 at 09:00
set path=c:\sierra\ll4 *ll4* to open up Leisure Suit Larry – Peter Turner Jul 24 '09 at 21:45

score 2 · Answer 100 · answered May 08 '09 at 16:01

net statistics workstation

or

net statistics server

One way of finding out how long the box has been up for.

Note: The times that these commands report are how long the Workstation and Server services have been running for. These are normally started with the rest of the OS, but I've seen secure builds that disable Workstation.

score 2 · Answer 101 · answered Sep 13 '09 at 04:25

2

Restart an IIS app pool from the command line:

cscript c:\WINDOWS\system32\iisapp.vbs /a SuperDuperAppPool /r

Where 'SuperDuperAppPool' is your app pool name

answered Sep 13 '09 at 04:25

Dan Esparza

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score 2 · Answer 102 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 11:57

2

cls clears the command line screen.

It is very useful when you want to run a new command and clear the current screen.

edited Dec 11 '11 at 11:57

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 09 '09 at 13:55

Techboy

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score 1 · Answer 103 · answered Jan 12 '10 at 13:52

1

The key combination . . . notepad will show all files in the directory, use the up and down key to select, then enter to execute the command. Very useful for lazy typers like myself.

answered Jan 12 '10 at 13:52

score 1 · Answer 104 · answered Mar 16 '10 at 18:26

1

whoami /all

Used to be reskit.

answered Mar 16 '10 at 18:26

WooYek

304
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score 1 · Answer 105 · answered Mar 24 '10 at 19:13

qfecheck
for Server 2003,2000 & XP - Does not apply to Server 2008, Vista or Win7(as far as I know)

Shows installed Hotfixes applied to the server/workstation.

More detail at -> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282784

score 1 · Answer 106 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:56

1

Behold:

command.com

Very often would I see the system being plagued by trojans/worms that attempt to lock down every way of getting through to system internals like regedit, mmc, cmd.exe, etc. Then you have no choice, but to boot from a live CD. But, obviously, with command.com at your disposal you can do anything you want, and I've yet to see THAT made unavailable.

edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:56

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 27 '09 at 10:44

shylent

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score 1 · Answer 107 · answered May 27 '09 at 17:30

Years ago I started using sync.exe (for file cache flushing) from the NTinternals guys. I've been migrating that binary around for maybe a decade, and it still works. Their company got assimilated by Microsoft, but the binaries are still hanging around on the net if you search.

score 1 · Answer 108 · answered Apr 26 '10 at 23:36

vssadmin

Usage:

vssadmin list shadows [/set={shadow copy set guid}]
        Lists all shadow copies in the system, grouped by shadow copy set Id.

vssadmin list writers
        Lists all writers in the system

vssadmin list providers
        Lists all currently installed shadow copy providers

vssadmin is essential to troubleshooting backup products that use vss. With vssadmin you can check writer status, and list all outstanding shadow copies on a volume. Very handy.

score 1 · Answer 109 · answered May 06 '10 at 13:30

I particularly like pushd and popd for directory navigation via stack. Not only can they change the current folder, they can also change the current drive. (cd /d can do this too.) What's more, if you try to pushd to a UNC path, the shell will automatically map the share to a drive letter starting from Z and working backwards. When the matching popd is called, the drive is unmapped automatically.

score 1 · Answer 110 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:59

Get the current day, month and year into environment variables (adjust for locale).

Command line:

for /f "tokens=2,3,4 delims=/ " %a in ('echo %date%') do set mon=%a && set day=%b && set year=%c

Or in a batch file:

for /f "tokens=2,3,4 delims=/ " %%a in ('echo %date%') do set mon=%%a && set day=%%b && set year=%%c

Other stuff

ipconfig /displaydns

WMIC - command line access to WMI

dsqery, dsget, dsmod, dsadd - command line access to AD

net localgroup

for /f %%a (' some command ') do call :sub %%a

Use :: instead of REM in batch files.

nbtstat

NTRIGHTS.EXE grant sePriveleges

Set /P for prompting.

IF ELSE in batch:

IF EXIST filename. (
    del filename.
) ELSE (
    echo filename. missing.
)

Thanks for ipocnfig /displaydns, I did not know about that one. It seems like it could be useful. — railmeat, Aug 11 '09 at 02:24

score 1 · Answer 111 · answered May 13 '10 at 20:40

A particularly useful aspect of netsh that I think is worth a mention: netsh winsock reset This was added in XP service pack 2 to reset the tcpip implementation back to its defaults. In versions prior to XP, this was accomplished by uninstalling and reinstalling TCP/IP. Prior to SP2 you either needed the winsockxpfix.exe application or an ugly method of ripping out tcp/ip and reinstalling it. This command can correct issues where tcp/ip becomes corrupted for whatever reason.

Also, the HELP command lists a whole slew of other commands that can be of use.

score 1 · Answer 112 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:00

1

Use

httpcfg [query | set | delete] iplisten [ip address]

to find out or change the IP addresses IIS is listening on

(If you want to run IIS and some other HTTP server on the same box and port with different IP addresses.)

edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:00

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 30 '09 at 07:32

score 1 · Answer 113 · answered May 31 '09 at 05:35

I've found Launchy to be a very useful tool for Windows. It lets you launch many programs that would normally be launched by clicking icons by typing a few keystrokes. There's also a version for Linux. It can be found at www.launchy.net, and is free and open-source.

For example, to open an Explorer window from anywhere, type Alt-space (the default Launchy hot-key) followed by "c:\" followed by Enter. You can run any program for which you have a Windows shortcut by typing a few characters from the name of the shortcut. For example: Alt-space "co" Enter brings up Control Panel. You can also do Google searches, open URLs in the browser, and many other things without taking your fingers from the keyboard.

score 1 · Answer 114 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:05

psexec

While it's from Sysinternals, the sysinternals tools are so essential and commonly installed on servers they might as well be part of the OS.

psexec \\targetserver -w "d:\bin" "cmd"

You now have an interactive shell on a remote computer. Enter "exit" to come back home. I will often use it to apply something to a group of servers as follows.

set srvs=server1 server2 server3 
set execthis=[something useful]
for %s IN (%srvs%) DO (
start psexec \%s -u domain\someUser -p superSecretOfCourse "cmd" "/C %execthis%" 
)

Here I show several handy tricks:

Use for loops to execute a command multiple times (from batch use %%s instead of %s)
Start to open a window in a new process - handy if each operations takes a few minutes.
Psexec can use windows auth or a login. Noting that integrated auth usually won't hop from local to server to a third location (e.g. SAN) - provide user and password if you need to access a network resource

score 1 · Answer 115 · answered Dec 14 '10 at 21:11

1

Change {username}'s password:

net user {username} {newpass}

map a network drive

net use z: \\servername\sharename /user:username

answered Dec 14 '10 at 21:11

Ehsan

250
1
6

Jayakrishnan T · Answer 116 · 2010-12-18T04:06:06.280

1

mspaint

alt text

msconfig :-System Configuration Utility

3. ping ip address alt text

4.textpad

alt text

5.sshclient alt text

6.%temp% alt text

edited Dec 18 '10 at 04:06

answered Dec 17 '10 at 13:47

Jayakrishnan T

298
2
8
22

score 1 · Answer 117 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 13:47

bootsect.exe {/help | /nt52 | /nt60} {SYS | ALL | <DriveLetter:>} [/force]

From Bootsect Command-Line Options:

Bootsect.exe updates the master boot code for hard disk partitions to switch between BOOTMGR and NTLDR. You can use this tool to restore the boot sector on your computer.

Mind you that this tool is only available on the Windows installation DVD under the BOOT folder. (I think only Windows Vista or higher.)

score 1 · Answer 118 · edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:46

1

FTP

alt text

edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:46

Community

1

answered Jun 08 '09 at 15:19

adopilot

1,521
6
25
41

score 1 · Answer 119 · edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:31

1

dsa.msc - opens active directory users and computers.

edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:31

Peter Mortensen

2,318
5
23
24

answered Jun 10 '09 at 12:05

score 1 · Answer 120 · answered Jun 22 '09 at 12:13

Here is a VBScript that will do elevation when you RUNAS in Vista:

Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
app = wscript.arguments(0)
args = ""
for i = 1 to (WScript.Arguments.length - 1)
   args = args + wscript.arguments(i)
next
objShell.ShellExecute app, args, "", "runas"

Use like so: runas.exe /user:domain\user "wscript.exe runas_script.vbs mmc.exe"

score 1 · Answer 121 · answered Aug 06 '11 at 01:02

1

Command to abort the shutdown process.

c:\shutdown -a

answered Aug 06 '11 at 01:02

Ziyad Ahmad

101
1

score 1 · Answer 122 · answered Jun 29 '09 at 14:41

The following web site shows how to create command line shortcuts to anything using the Windows registry key, "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths".

Customizing Windows Run Command
http://weblogs.asp.net/whaggard/archive/2004/04/11/111232.aspx

score 1 · Answer 123 · answered Jun 29 '09 at 16:01

1

at

Gives you a way to schedule tasks either locally or remotely without using Scheduled Tasks.

Running a command every Friday

AT 23:30 /EVERY:f c:\backups\weekly.cmd

answered Jun 29 '09 at 16:01

pjp

133
1
6

score 1 · Answer 124 · answered Dec 11 '11 at 15:18

1

print %logonserver%

A very quick and easy way to view the DC that your workstation has authenticated against. Useful when working with GPO's and scripts.

answered Dec 11 '11 at 15:18

Paul Ackerman

2,729
1
16
23

`PRINT`? Not `ECHO`? – jscott Dec 11 '11 at 15:24

score 1 · Answer 125 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

1

Disk Management

diskmgmt.msc

Opens
enter image description here

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

1

answered May 04 '09 at 02:54

dance2die

2,011
7
32
41

score 1 · Answer 126 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

1

Keyboard Properties

control keyboard

Opens
enter image description here

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

1

answered May 04 '09 at 03:09

dance2die

2,011
7
32
41

score 1 · Answer 127 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

1

Regional and Language Options

intl.cpl

Opens
enter image description here

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

1

answered May 04 '09 at 03:36

dance2die

2,011
7
32
41

score 1 · Answer 128 · edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

1

Internet Properties

inetcpl.cpl

Opens
enter image description here

edited Jun 11 '20 at 10:02

Community

1

answered May 04 '09 at 03:41

dance2die

2,011
7
32
41

score 1 · Answer 129 · answered May 04 '09 at 03:53

1

Task Manager | taskmgr.exe

answered May 04 '09 at 03:53

James Moore

1,247
3
17
23

8

Ctrl-Shift-Esc uses fewer keys to open Task Manager. – Ryan Bolger May 04 '09 at 05:29

score 1 · Answer 130 · answered May 04 '09 at 07:45

1

desk.cpl

opens the display properties. (Sorry, no image)

answered May 04 '09 at 07:45

Yuval

217
1
6
11

@Yuval: Don't worry. When I get enough rep to be able to edit wiki, I will add a screenshot – dance2die May 04 '09 at 13:25

Gulzar · Answer 131 · 2009-05-06T02:14:40.917

1

Notepad or something similar

notepad

edited May 06 '09 at 02:14

answered May 04 '09 at 14:25

Gulzar

381
2
7
13

score 1 · Answer 132 · edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

1

Sound

The command

mmsys.cpl

opens

alt text

edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

Community

1

answered May 05 '09 at 00:27

dance2die

2,011
7
32
41

score 1 · Answer 133 · edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

1

Date and Time

The command

timedate.cpl

opens

alt text

edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

Community

1

answered May 05 '09 at 00:36

dance2die

2,011
7
32
41

score 1 · Answer 134 · edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

1

Windows Security Center

wscui.cpl

opens

alt text

edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

Community

1

answered May 05 '09 at 00:38

dance2die

2,011
7
32
41

score 1 · Answer 135 · answered May 05 '09 at 19:27

1

Best way to avoid clicks is to stay on the command line. A directory in your path with the GNU tools and the sysinternals tools will go a long way to making your life simpler. Nothing that a good grep can't fix. :-)

answered May 05 '09 at 19:27

WaldenL

1,258
1
14
26

score 1 · Answer 136 · answered May 05 '09 at 20:14

1

My favorites:

ipconfig
tracert
ping
telnet

answered May 05 '09 at 20:14

OscarRyz

384
1
7
15

score 1 · Answer 137 · answered Aug 06 '09 at 17:25

1

When starting the services control panel for the first time, on a fresh install;

services.msc /a

then choose the "standard"-tab, move the description column all the way to the right, and then File -> Save the new layout.

answered Aug 06 '09 at 17:25

DeckerDK

13
1
4

score 1 · Answer 138 · answered May 06 '09 at 08:50

1

dsa.msc

is a nice quick way to open up Active Directory Users and Computers.

answered May 06 '09 at 08:50

user2059

61
1
2
4

score 1 · Answer 139 · answered Aug 10 '09 at 19:29

1

Query Domain Controllers @ netdom /query /domain:MyDomainName fsmo

answered Aug 10 '09 at 19:29

Nick O'Neil

1,771
11
10

Nasko · Answer 140 · 2009-08-10T23:10:35.440

1

pushd/popd to move around directories in a stack style
ldp.exe - all the LDAP/AD power at your fingertips
nltest.exe - the swiss army knife of domains and trusts

edited Aug 10 '09 at 23:10

answered Aug 10 '09 at 20:30

Nasko

727
3
5

pushd/popd proved to be quite useful... – dance2die Aug 10 '09 at 22:13

score 1 · Answer 141 · edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:27

1

getmac

shows the MAC address of any network adapters installed.

edited Feb 19 '10 at 21:27

Peter Mortensen

2,318
5
23
24

answered Aug 11 '09 at 01:42

justingrif

126
1
2
8

Thanks, justingrif but this has already been posted - http://serverfault.com/questions/3780/useful-windows-commands/3864#3864 – dance2die Sep 14 '09 at 22:37

score 1 · Answer 142 · answered May 08 '09 at 15:20

1

firewall.cpl

Opens the Windows Firewall settings.

answered May 08 '09 at 15:20

scottm

359
3
5
19

score 1 · Answer 143 · answered Sep 13 '09 at 04:32

1

perfmon

Opens up Windows Performance Monitor.

answered Sep 13 '09 at 04:32

Dan Esparza

226
2
4
13

score 1 · Answer 144 · answered May 10 '09 at 18:48

1

System Configuration

msconfig

It is very useful to see what runs at startup

answered May 10 '09 at 18:48

Charles Faiga

612
2
11
19

score 1 · Answer 145 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:01

1

tracert

Usage: tracert [-d] [-h maximum_hops] [-j host-list] [-w timeout] target_name

Options:

-d                 Do not resolve addresses to hostnames.

-h maximum_hops    Maximum number of hops to search for target.

-j host-list       Loose source route along host-list.

-w timeout         Wait timeout milliseconds for each reply.

edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:01

Peter Mortensen

2,318
5
23
24

answered May 11 '09 at 06:13

Jonathan Parker

131
2
8

score 1 · Answer 146 · edited Aug 20 '09 at 16:25

1

To quickly open the Exchange 2007 Management Shell:

exshell.psc1

Active Directory Sites and Services:

dssite.msc

Basically, anything in the start menu I try to grab the properties of the shortcuts and find out what they actually call.

Oh, and the "elevated" command-prompt in Vista:

Start -> from the Search box "cmd" + Ctrl+Shift+Enter

:)

edited Aug 20 '09 at 16:25

Helen

113
1
10

answered May 12 '09 at 14:52

Guamaniac

458
1
5
8

score 1 · Answer 147 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:05

The items in the following list might be duplicates, but I just want to add it just in case (this is from a buddy's list). This might be more useful to an office worker than to a system administrator though:

devmgmt.msc = Device Manager
msinfo32 = System Information
cleanmgr = Disk Cleanup
ntbackup = Backup or Restore Wizard (Windows Backup Utility)
mmc = Microsoft Management Console
excel = Microsoft Excel (If Installed)
msaccess = Microsoft Access (If Installed)
powerpnt = Microsoft PowerPoint (If Installed)
winword = Microsoft Word (If Installed)
frontpg = Microsoft FrontPage (If Installed)
notepad = Notepad
wordpad = WordPad
calc = Calculator
msmsgs = Windows Messenger
mspaint = Microsoft Paint
wmplayer = Windows Media Player
rstrui = System Restore
netscp6 = Netscape 6.x
netscp = Netscape 7.x
netscape = Netscape 4.x
waol = America Online
control = Opens the Control Panel
control printers = Opens the Printers Dialog

score 1 · Answer 148 · edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:54

1

pathping - a traceroute that collects detailed packet loss statistics.

edited Dec 11 '11 at 12:54

Peter Mortensen

2,318
5
23
24

answered May 15 '09 at 19:11

Alexander Taran

330
2
6

score 1 · Answer 149 · answered May 16 '09 at 19:22

1

To allow user to log on without pressing ctrl-alt-delete, or log on without entering a password:

control userpasswords2

answered May 16 '09 at 19:22

Andomar

943
1
10
23

@Andomar: Sorry it has already been posted on http://serverfault.com/questions/3780/common-commandline-commands-on-windows/3891#3891 – dance2die May 17 '09 at 19:36

score 0 · Answer 150 · answered Apr 14 '10 at 23:34

0

I am a big fan of

newsid

answered Apr 14 '10 at 23:34

Honk

143
1
12

If you're still using newsid, you're doing it wrong. – Ashley Aug 03 '11 at 22:54

score 0 · Answer 151 · answered Apr 26 '10 at 22:31

0

powercfg.exe /QUERY

Description: This command line tool enables an administrator to control the power settings on a system.

powercfg.exe /? for full command list

answered Apr 26 '10 at 22:31

ggonsalv

390
1
12

score 0 · Answer 152 · answered Jun 13 '10 at 11:50

0

devenv   # to start visual studio IDE.

answered Jun 13 '10 at 11:50

mB.

101
1
4

unhappyCrackers1 · Answer 153 · 2010-11-30T18:08:55.083

MSINFO32

MSINFO32.EXE

Msinfo32 [/?] [/pch] [/nfo Path] [/report Path] [/computer ComputerName] [/showcategories] [/category categoryID] [/categories categoryID]

Between this, the event log and the Problem Steps Recorder, you can usually get the critical support data in just a few keystrokes.

When I am skeptical of user-reported information, I often have them run the following and e-mail me the output:

msinfo32 /report %userprofile%\Desktop\sysinfo.txt

Or just:

msinfo32

Then:

File > Export

score 0 · Answer 154 · answered Apr 20 '11 at 23:51

A little known one is eventtriggers.

The windows task scheduler has a hidden way to schedule programs to run when particular events occur in one of the windows event logs. These kinds of tasks can only be configured from the eventtriggers command. It works in a very similar way to schtasks.

See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490901.aspx

score 0 · Answer 155 · answered Aug 03 '11 at 19:52

0

Someone posted somthing simular - I have a modified version.

I create a desktop shortcut to logoff.exe and place in allusers/desktop on all servers. This way when you are done with your RDP sesssion, you just double click the logoff icon!

Love it!

answered Aug 03 '11 at 19:52

Alan

856
1
9
18

score 0 · Answer 156 · answered Aug 03 '11 at 23:05

Except for BGInfo with my custom configuration file, this is the best thing I've deployed to the domain via group policy:

elevate

It does exactly that; it elevates whatever command you run at the command prompt so that you don't need to have explicitly started an elevated command prompt, nor have to run everything in elevated mode. It still brings up the UAC prompt, but I find it useful when I've had a command prompt running most of the day that has the commands I've used in it, but then need to quickly add a route, or do something that requires elevation without losing my history and starting a new cmd.

As I said, I deployed it via group policy (into %windir%\system32) and got it from John Robbin at Wintellect.

score 0 · Answer 157 · answered Aug 06 '11 at 00:39

shadow will allow you to shadow someone's RDP or Terminal Server session. Very useful for troubleshooting a box remotely with another party:

query user
shadow SESSIONNAME

A Control + * will stop the shadowing the session.

score 0 · Answer 158 · answered Nov 03 '11 at 09:42

0

I use 'set' from a command line quite a lot when wanting to find the system environment variables. Such as whether or not an end users machine is 64bit.

set

Type SET without parameters to display the current environment variables.

answered Nov 03 '11 at 09:42

Moif Murphy

254
1
3
10

score 0 · Answer 159 · edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

0

Telephone and Modem Properties

The command

telephon.cpl

opens

alt text

Side Note: I wish I never get to see this screen ever again...

edited Mar 08 '17 at 17:45

Community

1

answered May 05 '09 at 00:34

dance2die

2,011
7
32
41

great +1... very very usefull – May 20 '09 at 09:02
It made me shiver... – splattne May 22 '09 at 13:25

score 0 · Answer 160 · answered May 05 '09 at 19:15

0

It is always fun to create a macro that performs a quick and unconditional format of a disk:

doskey cd=format $1 /q /u

Then to format a disk in drive A type:

cd A:

answered May 05 '09 at 19:15

notandy

564
1
5
19

1

Shame they dropped the format's /autotest parameter. ;) – macbirdie May 06 '09 at 06:55

Useful Command-line Commands on Windows

160 Answers160

netsh

net config server

Some examples:

List the QFE (Quick Fix Engineering) hotfixes installed on a system

Display, start and stop services! Very useful when you have a group of related services that you need to stop/start.

Context-sensitive Help

See what properties are available with a particular alias:

See what methods are available with a particular alias:

See which classes the aliases map to:

Run a query or command against multiple computers:

Linked

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