The most common startup recommendations are: Start, run, cmd. There is a Run option in the start menu. It runs a program that allows you to send single commands to the Windows system. In this case, the cmd command launches the cmd.exe executable file located in the system32 folder.
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exeOn some versions of Windows, the Run menu item is removed by default. In this case, press + R, enter cmd, then Enter. You can also launch the command line directly from the system32 folder by making a shortcut to launch it on the desktop (right-click on cmd.exe and select Send/Desktop from the menu) or through the task manager (new task button - cmd).
By default, you cannot use the mouse in the command line (move the cursor or select text). This is inconvenient in general and for beginners in particular. In addition, the black screen looks somehow too gloomy and dull. So after running the command line
you will need to change its settings. Right-click on the cmd window and select defaults. It’s worth noting right away that the default settings apply to cmd.exe as a whole, and the properties apply to a specific open window.
In the command line properties window that appears, we see four tabs:
On the Options tab, it is worth checking the items to discard repetitions (to reduce the filling of the command buffer) and mouse selection (so that you can use the mouse in your work).
On the Fonts and Colors tabs, everything is simple: select the size, type and color of the font, as well as the background color of the window. I will only note that the font size affects the size of the command line window, so it should be set before the window size, and not after.
In the Arrangement tab, you set the size of the window and its initial location at startup. I still don’t fully understand in what units the quantities are presented, so I advise you to set the size, guided by the preview window on the left.
It is worth noting that the buffer size affects the window capacity, i.e. on the amount of information that can be viewed without problems after the command execution results are displayed on the screen (horizontal and vertical scroll bars). If you set equal sizes for the window and the buffer, then the window will display only the tail of the output information that will fit there.
Also, if the line does not fit into the width of the window, this will lead to its wrapping. It is less convenient to perceive information presented in this way. Therefore, I always set the buffer much larger than the window size. This allows you to view large amounts of information using the scroll bars on the right and bottom. The image below is clickable. The preview shows the beginning of the output of the dir command for the system32 folder, and by clicking on the preview you can see the tail of the output (pay attention to the scroll bar on the right - there is a lot of data).
Command Line Commands
The console is configured, now it remains to familiarize you with the command line commands. To display a complete list of them, just type the help command.
help - displays help for the commands help CD or CD /? - display help for one command (for the CD command) cd - go to the root directory cd .. - go to the parent directory D: - go to drive D. dir - output all contents of the folder dir *.exe - output a list of exe files in the folder cls - clear the command line screenCommand Prompt remembers the commands you enter. You can scroll through them using the ⇑ and ⇓ keys. You can view the contents of a folder using the Tab key (Shift + Tab scrolls in reverse order). You can scroll through files to a specific letter or letters. For example, by typing the letter s and pressing Tab, you can scroll through only files and folders starting with this letter ( s system, s ystem32, s ystem.ini, etc.) . How this can be used:
For example, you need to go from the root of drive C to the system32 folder, find and launch the control panel in it. You can simply type:
C:\ windows\system32\control.exeBut this is not always fast and convenient, and besides, you don’t always know what exactly you need to type. Therefore, you can type the command CD, then after the space type wi Windows, put a slash after it, type the letters sy, scroll with the Tab key to the folder sy stem32, then slash again and the same with control.exe.
C: cd wi ndows\ sy stem32\ co ntrol.exe
This tab method is much faster in most cases than simple typing, since file and folder names can be long.
When you enable mouse support, you can copy information from the command line by selecting a section of text with the mouse and pressing Enter. The right mouse button, on the other hand, pastes information from the clipboard into the command line.
To conclude this article, I will say that cmd.exe is just an input/output program, the same as notepad. Of course, there are more advanced analogues that can also be used. One such program is Console Portable
By the way, in the GNU Linux operating system the command line can be called directly from the folder. In this case, a line will open immediately with the folder address and you will not need to enter it manually. In Windows, in order to open the command line directly in a folder, you need to hold down Shift, press the right mouse button and select "Open command window" from the menu.
You can also add this feature (and a number of others) using the FileMenu Tools context menu extension program:
Read how to use the command line to check the integrity of system files, find an IP address by domain name, create a Windows shutdown shortcut, troubleshoot network connection problems, and much more. There are some functions in Windows that you can only run from the Command Prompt. Several of them do not have a GUI, while others that run this way simply run faster.
It doesn't matter whether you use PowerShell as a command line add-in or not, all the commands we'll cover in this article work the same everywhere. Obviously, we will not be able to cover all teams and talk about each one. Instead, we'll focus on the ones we think will be most useful. Even if you don't like working with the command line.
Content:
How to Run Command Prompt in Windows as Administrator
On Windows 10:
- Click the button "Start" or select "Search"– start typing the word "cmd" in English or "Command line" in Russian.
- The search result will appear at the top, click on "Command line" right-click and click on the item.
On Windows 8 and 8.1:
- Go to the home screen by pressing the button "Windows" on the keyboard or button "Start".
- At the top right click on "Search" and start typing the word "cmd" or "Command line". The search result will appear below.
- Click on the application "Command line" right click and select "Run as administrator".
On Windows 7:
- Click on the button "Start", go to the tab "My programs"– then go to "Standard".
- Find the shortcut "Command line" and right-click on it, select the item "Run as Administrator".
Now let's move on to the commands.
ipconfig: Quick work with network connections
You will be able to find your IP address and all your network settings from the Control Panel, but it will require a few clicks. "ipconfig" is a Windows command line utility for managing computer network interfaces. That is, the fastest way to find out information such as: IP addresses, default gateway address, information about network connections that your computer uses, etc.
To use this utility, simply enter "ipconfig" on the command line and press "Enter". As a result, you will see a list of all the network connections that your computer is using. Look below the inscriptions "wireless LAN adapter" if you are connected to Wi-Fi, or "Ethernet Adapter" if you are connected to a wired network. For more information about "ipconfig" type the command "ipconfig /all", the result will be a list of all keys, and, accordingly, the capabilities of the utility.
ipconfig /flushdns: Flush-flush DNS cache
If you changed the DNS server in the network settings, this action will not take effect immediately. Windows uses a cache that stores DNS responses received, this saves time when accessing the same network resources again in the future. To have Windows obtain addresses from new DNS servers, enter the command "ipconfig /flushdns" after changing your DNS server.
When you constantly surf the Internet, your computer automatically caches IP addresses and other necessary data from the domain name service. Flushing the DNS cache helps refresh this data. Stale cached data can, over time, cause connection problems.
ping and tracert: Troubleshooting network connection problems
If you have problems connecting to a local network, the Internet, or any website, then Windows has standard tools that you can use to solve them.
"ping" is a utility for checking the integrity of networks and the quality of connections in them based on the TCP/IP protocol. The utility sends so-called ICMP requests to a specified IP address or host on the network, and monitors the responses received from them. The time between sending such a request and receiving a response to it allows us to determine the delay of packets along the route, as well as the number and frequency of their loss. That is "Ping" allows you to determine how heavily loaded the data transmission channel is.
Enter "ping site"(or any other server on the Internet you want to test) and Windows will send packets to that address. You can enter the server name, or the actual IP address of the resource. The server at that IP address will respond and report that it has received them. You will be able to see if there was any packet loss along the route and how long it took to receive a response.
Also, team "ping" has many keys and information display capabilities, such as: checking connection with the specified IP address before manual termination, decoding host names by IP addresses, number and size of packets, recording route, changing time, etc.
"tracert" is a utility utility designed to track data routes on TCP/IP networks. When entering the command "tracert", the complete delivery route of the package is displayed, with information about each server through which it was routed. For example, if you enter "tracert site", then get information about each node along the path to our server with which the package interacts. If you are having problems connecting to a website, the utility "tracert" will determine at what stage the error occurred.
shutdown: Create Windows shutdown shortcuts
Team "shutdown" Allows you to shut down or restart Windows from the command line. Basically, this is more useful for Windows 8, where the standard button "Shutdown" was harder to find. This command can be used to create your own shortcuts: "Shutdown", , "Sleep mode" etc. And place them where it is convenient for you: in the menu "Start", on the desktop, on the taskbar..!
In Windows 8 and 10, you can use a dedicated computer restart button for specific OS boot options. .
To use the command on the command line, simply enter one of the following values (all command parameters are entered using a backslash):
- "shutdown /s /t 45" - analogue "Shutdown" with a delay of 45 seconds.
- "shutdown /r /t 0" - analogue.
- "shutdown/l" - analogue “Logout/Change user”.
- "shutdown /r/o" – reboots the computer into Recovery environment.
sfc /scannow: Check the integrity of Windows system files
"sfc" is a standard utility for checking the integrity of Windows system files. It allows the user to find and restore missing system files. If, for some reason, the files are missing or damaged, the utility will scan them all and replace the erroneous versions of the files with the original versions. System File Checker also checks the cache directory and updates its contents if necessary.
To scan, you must run the command line as an administrator, enter the command "sfc /scannow" and let the program do its job. .
telnet: Connect to Telnet servers
Protocol client "telnet" It is not installed by default in Windows OS. But this is one of its additional features that you can install through the control panel. After installation you will be able to use the command "telnet" to connect to servers without installing additional software, directly from the command line.
Just go "Start" – "Control Panel" – "Programs and Features"– next click "Turn Windows features on or off"- find and check the box "Telnet Client".
cipher: permanently deleting and overwriting a directory
Team "cipher" provides efficient encryption and decryption functions for files and directories in Windows OS. It also has an option that will overwrite free disk space with garbage data. This will not allow you to recover deleted files and folders using specialized software. In Windows, files deleted normally remain on the disk unless you use a Trim-enabled SSD. Team "cipher" allows you to effectively "erase" all free disk space without installing additional software.
For example: To clear disk space on drive F:, enter the command "cipher /w:F:\". Note that there is no space between the command switch (/w:) and the drive letter (F:\).
netstat -an: List network connections and ports
"netstat" is a standard Windows command line utility that displays the status of incoming and outgoing TCP connections. The main purpose of the utility is to search for problems in the network and determine its performance. The command has many keys and options, but the most interesting is "netstat –an". This line will display a list of all open network connections, along with the ports they are using and the external IP address they are connected to.
nslookup: Find IP address by domain name
When you enter the name of a website into the address bar of your browser, your computer finds the IP address associated with that domain name and displays the result. You can use the command "nslookup" to independently find out the IP addresses and names of the servers on which the domain is located.
For example, on the command line, enter "nslookup –type=any site"(the -type=any parameter means displaying all available data). And all the information about our server will be revealed to you. You can also perform a reverse search, that is, find out the name of the server by IP address.
This is not a complete list of all commands that may be useful to you. We have provided an introduction to ten useful command line utilities in Windows and hope that you will find them easy to use in the future.
Why is there such chaos in the world? Yes, because the administrator of our system forgot to fulfill his duties. Or I just lost the list of cmd commands from our world. Although this is a somewhat original look at the existing order of things, it nevertheless reflects part of the truth we need: using the command line, you can easily bring order to your computer:
What is the command line
The command line is the simplest tool for managing your computer's operating system. Control occurs using a number of reserved commands and a set of text keyboard characters without the use of a mouse ( in the Windows operating system).
On UNIX-based systems, you can use the mouse when working with the command line.
Some commands came to us from MS-DOS. The command line is also called the console. It is used not only to administer the operating system, but also to manage common programs. Most often, the most rarely used commands are included in this set of commands.
The advantage of using cmd basic commands is that it consumes a minimal amount of system resources. And this is important in emergency situations when all the computer’s powers are, one way or another, involved.
cmd implements the ability to execute and create entire batch files, which represent a specific order of execution of a number of commands (scripts). Thanks to this, they can be used to automate certain tasks ( account management, data archiving and more).
The Windows command shell for manipulating and redirecting commands to certain operating system utilities and tools is the Cmd.exe interpreter. It loads the console and redirects commands in a format that the system understands.
Working with the command line in the Windows operating system
You can call the console in Windows in several ways:
Both methods involve running the console as the current user. That is, with all the rights and restrictions that are imposed on its role in the operating system. To run cmd with administrator rights, you need to select the program icon in the Start menu and select the appropriate item in the context menu:
After launching the utility, you can get help information about commands and the format for writing them in the console. To do this, enter the help statement and press “Enter”:
Basic commands for working with files and directories
The most frequently used commands are:
- RENAME – renaming directories and files. Command syntax:
RENAME | REN [drive/path] original file/directory name | final filename
Example: RENAME C:UsershomeDesktoptost.txt test.txt
- DEL (ERASE) – used to delete files only, not directories. Its syntax is:
DEL | ERASE [processing method] [filename]
Example: Del C:UsershomeDesktoptest.txt/P
By processing method we mean a special flag that allows you to implement a certain condition when deleting a file. In our example, the “P” flag enables the display of a permission dialog for deleting each file:
More information about the possible values of the “processing method” parameter can be found in the technical documentation for the Windows operating system.
- MD – allows you to create a folder at the specified path. Syntax:
MD [drive:] [path]
Example:
MD C:UsershomeDesktoptest1test2
The example will create a subfolder test2 within the test1 folder. If one of the path's root folders does not exist, it will be created too:
- RD ( RMDIR) – deleting a specific folder or all directories at a specified path. Syntax:
RD | RMDIR [process_key] [drive/path]
Example:
rmdir /s C:UsershomeDesktoptest1test2
The example uses the s flag, which will cause the entire branch of directories specified in the path to be deleted. Therefore, you should not use the rmdir command unnecessarily with this processing key.
In the next section, we'll take a closer look at network cmd commands.
Commands for working with the network
The command line allows you to manage not only the PC file system, but also its network capabilities. The console's network commands include a large number of operators to monitor and test the network. The most relevant of them are:
- ping – the command is used to monitor the network connection capabilities of a PC. A set number of packets are sent to the remote computer and then sent back to them. The transmission time of packets and the percentage of losses are taken into account. Syntax:
ping [-t] [-a] [-n counter] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v type] [-r counter] [-s counter] [(-j host_list | - k node_list)] [-w interval] [target_PC_name]
Example command implementation:
ping example.microsoft.com
ping –w 10000 192.168.239.132
In the last example of the cmd ping command, the request is sent to the recipient with the specified IP address. The waiting interval between packets is 10,000 (10 seconds). By default this parameter is set to 4000:
- tracert – used to determine the network path to a specified resource by sending a special echo message through the protocol
- ICMP (Control Message Protocol). After running the command with parameters, a list of all routers through which the message passes is displayed. The first element in the list is the first router on the side of the requested resource.
Syntax of tracer cmd command:
tracert [-d] [-h maximum_hop_number] [-j node_list] [-w interval] [target_resource_name]
Example implementation:
tracert -d -h 10 microsoft.com
The example traces the route to a specified resource. This increases the speed of the operation due to the use of the d parameter, which prevents the command from attempting to obtain permission to read IP addresses. The number of transitions (jumps) is limited to 10 using the set value of the h parameter. By default, the number of jumps is 30:
shutdown [(-l|-s|-r|-a)] [-f] [-m [\PC_name]] [-t xx] [-c “messages”] [-d[u][p]: xx:yy]
Example:
shutdown /s /t 60 /f /l /m \191.162.1.53
The remote PC (m) with the specified IP address (191.162.1.53) will shut down (s) after 60 seconds (t). This will force you to log out of all applications (f) and the current user's session (l).
The command shell is a separate software product that provides direct communication between the user and the operating system. The command line text user interface provides an environment in which to run text-based applications and utilities. In the command shell, programs are executed and the execution result is displayed on the screen.
The Windows command shell uses a command interpreter cmd.exe, which loads applications and directs the flow of data between applications to translate the entered command into a form understandable to the system. The command line console is present in all versions of Windows operating systems. The difference between working from the command line is the complete absence of large and cumbersome graphical utilities.
How to open the command line
The command line is the cmd.exe application and can be launched in the following ways:
- Start -> All programs -> Standard -> Command line.
- Start -> Execute and enter the program name cmd.exe
In order to go to the desired directory, you need to use the command CD. For example, if you need to run a program ExifPilot.exe, which is in the directory C:\Program Files\Exif Pilot, then you need to run the command cd C:\Program Files\Exif Pilot. You can do the same by changing directories one by one and calling the command one by one CD.
So, the next set of commands is similar to the previous one.
cd c:\Program Files
cd Exif PilotTo print the contents of a folder, just type the command dir. It is possible to redirect the stream output by the program directly to a text file for further processing. To do this you need to use a control character ">" and the name of the text file, for example dir > report.txt.
- In order not to manually navigate to the desired directory, you can use some file manager. First you need to go to the desired directory in the file manager and call cmd.exe from the manager's command console.
You can use file managers such as Total Commander, FAR Manager, 2xExplorer, EF Commander, Speed Commander and etc.
You can find out more about file managers.
How to pass command line parameters to the called application
Each application that supports the command line has a special set of commands that the program can process. Command parameters can have a variety of formats. To pass parameters to the program, you must enter the application name and command parameters on the command line. After clicking Enter The application will launch with the entered commands.
For example, program.exe /print c:\doc\1.txt. The result of the command will be to print the file doc\1.txt.
Customizing the Command Prompt Window
To configure the command line, follow these steps:
- Open a command prompt window.
- Click the upper left corner of the window and select the command Properties.
- Select a tab Are common.
- In area Remembering commands select or enter a value 999 in field Buffer size and then select or enter a value 5 in field Number of buffers.
- In area Editing check the boxes Selection And Quick insert.
- Select a tab Location.
- In area Buffer size screen, enter or select a value 2500 in field Height.
- Do one of the following as you choose:
- In area Screen Buffer Size Width.
- In area Window size increase the parameter value Height.
- In area Window size increase the parameter value Width. - Uncheck Automatic selection, and then in the area Window position change field values Left edge And Top edge.
- In the dialog box Changing Properties select an option Save properties for other windows with the same name.
Notes:
- To open a window Properties -> Command Line using the keyboard, press the keys ALT+SPACEBAR +Y.
- Checkbox Mouse selection Allows you to copy and paste data in the command line window. To copy, left-click the text in the command line window and right-click. To paste into a command line or text file, right-click.
- Increasing the screen buffer size to 999 allows scrolling in the Command Prompt window.
- Increasing the number of buffers to five increases the number of lines in the Command Prompt window to 5000.
Editing text in the command prompt window
To copy and paste text into a command prompt window, use common Windows keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, will not work.
To extract text from the clipboard you will have to bring up the menu by right-clicking on the window title and select submenu Change. Or just right-click on the window.
To copy text from the window select the item Flag and use the mouse to select the desired text. Then either click Enter, or in the same menu select Copy. If you need to paste some text into the command line window, refer to the command Insert.
To re-execute a command use the arrows "up" And "down", allowing you to navigate through the list of executed commands. To clear the screen of text, use the directive cls.
How to close the command prompt window
To close the command line console, you need to run the command exit.
There are many commands and utilities in modern operating systems. It is very difficult to remember so many different programs, and even more so their parameters, so one of the most important parameters for each program is the combination of symbols "/?"
. After executing a command with this parameter, the user will receive a comprehensive message about the use of the utility and the syntax of its parameters. For example, by typing on the command line cmd /?, you can view information about the team cmd.
Often inexperienced users perceive it as something completely unnecessary and outdated. Thinking like this is a big mistake. The importance of the CMD console is difficult to overestimate even after it has lost most of its commands available in MSDOS. The advantage of the command line lies, first of all, in providing direct access to its hidden capabilities; in addition, the CMD console has several useful built-in utilities designed for working with software and hardware components of the computer.
Being a command line ace is not at all necessary, however, there are commands that every self-respecting Windows user should know. Here they are.
Assoc
Most user files in operating systems are associated with certain programs that process them by default. This connection is called an association. To view it, there is just the assoc command. When executed, a list of extension and file type associations is displayed. The assoc command also allows .
For example, the command assoc .html = txtfile for HTML sets the file type to txtfile (text). If you need to find out which program opens files with this extension, use the ftype txtfile command.
Cipher
This command is intended to encrypt and decrypt data on drives with the NTFS file system, but it can just as well be used to clear free disk space. It's very easy to use. If you need to be sure to delete the remains of all previously deleted files on drive D, run the command cipher /w:D in the console.
Driverquery
A useful command that allows you to view a list of all drivers installed in the operating system. When a command is executed without parameters, the data is output as a sorted list. The “Module” column contains the names of drivers without extension, the “Name” column includes a brief description of the driver, “Driver Type” - accordingly the type, “Reference Date” indicates the date of installation or last modification of the driver.
FC (File Compare)
The FC command is useful mainly for coders; it can also be used by those users who have to work with text files. This command allows you to compare the contents of two files, looking for inconsistencies between them. Let's say you have two files file1.docx and file2.docx and you want to compare them. Run the following command in the console:
fc /U “D:file1.docx” “D:file2.docx”
In this example, we compared two simple text documents. The command line interpreter found a discrepancy in one of the sentences and pointed to the specific location. The FC command also allows you to compare binary files, Unicode files, determine the number of inconsistencies, etc. If the compared files are identical, a corresponding message will be displayed when executing the FC command.
Ipconfig
A useful command that allows you to determine the current TCP/IP protocol settings or simply the IP address. However, it only shows the internal IP address; if you use a router and want to find out the IP with which you access the global Network, it is better to turn to special online services like 2ip.ru.
Netstat
This command lists all current Internet connections. It is mainly used by administrators to display TCP and UDP connections, listening ports, routing tables and statistics for various protocols. It can also be used to search for traces left by viruses and other malicious objects. Running without parameters, the Netstat command displays the connection type, local address, foreign address, and current status.
Ping
Like Netstat, the ping command is used primarily by system administrators. It is used to diagnose computer networks. With its help, you can determine the availability of certain resources. Let's say you need to check the availability of Google. Since Google's DNS server has the address 8.8.8.8, you need to run the ping 8.8.8.8 command in the CMD console.
The digital IP address can also be replaced with a text URL - ping google.com. If the node is unavailable, the message “waiting limit exceeded” will be displayed, and the number of losses will be 100 percent.
Tracert
Another “network” command designed for network diagnostics (tracing). The command allows you to obtain a chain of nodes through which an IP packet addressed to the end node passes. Used by system administrators to identify a problem that is preventing packets from being delivered to an end node. An example of using the command is tracing to a Google node: tracert google.com.
Pathping
This command works in much the same way as tracert, but unlike the latter it is more functional. The command performs a trace plus sending queries to intermediate nodes on the route to collect information about delays and packet losses at each of them.
Powercfg
A powerful command line utility designed to manage Windows power settings. Executed only with parameters. The Powercfg command executed with the /Q switch displays the current configuration of the power supply circuit, with the /a switch it displays a report on the use of electricity in laptops, with the –energy switch it generates a detailed text log about the state of computer components, including batteries. The Powercfg command can also be used to create backup copies of power settings and deploy them to new equipment.
Shutdown
This command is used to log off the user's session, shut down, restart, and hibernate the computer. Supports remote control. Shudown is always performed with parameters. For example, a command like shutdown /s /t 0 will shut down open applications and immediately shut down the computer. You can view the list of available keys by running shutdown /? in the console.
Sfc (System File Checker)
One of the most useful and necessary commands. Designed to detect and restore damaged or modified Windows system files. Restoration is performed from backup copies created by the operating system itself. To run a system scan followed by file recovery, run the sfc command with the /scannow parameter. After the scan is completed, you will need to restart your computer. You need to run this command in a console running as an administrator.
Tasklist
The Tasklist command does the same job as the Task Manager. Executed without parameters, it displays a list of all running processes running on a local or remote computer. At the same time, for each process its name, identifier (PID), session name, session number and allocated amount of RAM are displayed. The Tasklist command supports the use of keys and filters. For example, Tasklist /SVC displays a list of processes along with services for each process individually.
Taskkill
If Tasklist simply displays a list of running processes, then Taskkill terminates them in force mode. True, for this you will need to know the identifier of the process being terminated or the name of the executable file. Let's say you need to force close Notepad. First, run the Tasklist command and look at the PID of the notepad.exe process. In our case, it has a value of 2580. Knowing the PID of the process, you can easily “kill” it. The command itself will look like this: Taskkill /PID 2580. The command Taskkill /IM notepad.exe will work in approximately the same way, only in this example all instances of the notepad.exe process will be terminated.
Bottom line
That's all for now. There are other useful CMD commands that users would like to become familiar with, but we will talk about them next time. These include, in particular, Diskpart - a powerful disk and partition management tool that is not inferior in capabilities to commercial software products such as Acronis Disk Director.
Does it make sense to learn the command line professionally? Unlikely, unless you are planning to become a programmer or system administrator.
However, those wishing to master the CMD console would also do well to pay attention to its advanced analogue - the built-in PowerShell utility.
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