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Questions tagged [windows]

For questions not specific to a single version of Microsoft Windows. Otherwise, use a more specific tag such as [windows-7], [windows-10] or [windows-11].

If your problem only happens when using a specific release, or you're only looking for help under a single version of Windows, use that tag instead.

Microsoft Windows Logo

This general tag includes, but is not limited to, issues that happen across:

##Consumer Windows versions:##

##Windows server versions:##

##Windows Mobile/Phone versions:##

54058 questions
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Find out which process is locking a file or folder in Windows

How can I find out which process is locking a file or folder in Windows? For instance, when trying to delete a folder, Windows reports this: The action can't be completed because the folder is open in another program Happens the same with a file,…
leeand00
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What are the Windows A: and B: drives used for?

In Windows you have a C-drive. Everything labeled beyond that is with the following letter. So your second drive is D, your DVD is E and if you put in a USB stick it becomes F and the following drive G. And so on and so forth. But then, what and…
Demian Kasier
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758
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8 answers

How can I display the contents of an environment variable from the command prompt in Windows 7?

In Windows 7, when I start the Command prompt, is there any command to display the contents of an environment variable (such as the JAVA_HOME or PATH variables)? I have tried with echo $PATH, echo PATH and $PATH but none of these work.
Jonas
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562
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13 answers

Windows 7 SP1 Windows Update stuck checking for updates

I installed Windows 7 fresh and installed SP1. Now, when I try to check manually for Windows Updates it just hangs on the Checking for updates screen. I tried running the tools in How do I reset Windows Update components?, but this did not fix the…
Mikey A. Leonetti
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551
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4 answers

"directory junction" vs "directory symbolic link"?

In the context of NTFS: MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target /D Creates a directory symbolic link. Default is a file symbolic link. /H Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link. /J Creates a Directory Junction. Link …
Pacerier
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533
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5 answers

How do I run multiple commands on one line in PowerShell?

In a cmd prompt, you can run two commands on one line like so: ipconfig /release & ipconfig /renew When I run this command in PowerShell, I get: Ampersand not allowed. The `&` operator is reserved for future use Does PowerShell have an operator…
David
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515
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12 answers

Create/rename a file/folder that begins with a dot in Windows?

Many programs needs folder names that starts with a dot, like .emacs.d, .gimp-2.2, .jedit etc. How do I create such a folder? When using the Windows Explorer in Windows 2000 (and other versions), I get an error message saying "You have to enter a…
Adventure10
508
votes
17 answers

Is there any 'sudo' command for Windows?

I always work on a non-administrator account on my Windows computer. Sometimes I need to install programs which requires administrator access. As I mostly use the Windows command prompt, is there a Windows command to escalate privileges, similar to…
ukanth
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501
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9 answers

Can I delete the folder C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\?

There is a new folder full of installers located at C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\. I believe this is from Visual Studio 2012 RC. Can I delete these gigabytes of data without consequences? Are they all temporary files? It's a beta product so I'm not…
Ben L
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489
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28 answers

How to check if a binary is 32 or 64 bit on Windows?

Is there an easy way to check if a binary is 32 or 64 bit on Windows? I need to check before I move the program to a 32bit machine and experience a spectacular failure.
Septagram
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474
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21 answers

How to download files from command line in Windows like wget or curl

How can I download something from the web directly without Internet Explorer or Firefox opening Acrobat Reader/Quicktime/MS Word/whatever? I'm using Windows, so a Windows version of Wget would do.
Paolo Tedesco
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470
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9 answers

How can I free up drive space from the Windows installer folder without killing Windows?

On my SSD machine, the C:\Windows\Installer folder is massive and takes up about 15% of my total disk space. Is there a way to clean up that folder without killing Windows 8.1/10? Tucking away the installers on the OS partition seems wasteful.
DeepSpace101
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468
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5 answers

How do I exit telnet?

I start telnet by telnet host port. How do I stop it in Windows? Shockingly, Ctrl+C doesn't work.
Val
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467
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18 answers

How can I remove malicious spyware, malware, adware, viruses, trojans or rootkits from my PC?

What should I do if my Windows computer seems to be infected with a virus or malware? What are the symptoms of an infection? What should I do after noticing an infection? What can I do to get rid of it? how to prevent from infection by…
Gnoupi
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444
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10 answers

How to rename the User folder in Windows 10?

After installing Windows 10 on my Surface Pro 3 it took my user name 'Jeremy' and created a user folder named C:\Users\jerem. I want to rename the folder C:\Users\Jeremy. The procedure for Windows 8 does not work. There are a couple of…
GollyJer
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