Tricks in cmd.exe

Most of us (who use windows to its full extent) have used the command interpreter once or twice. I created this thread out of curiosity. (i may have been a little board....)
I would like anybody to post any tricks they discovered using commands in the command interpreter......

Example:
Did you know that if you enter the boot options menu during startup. And select "safe mode with command prompt", login, and once you hit the command prompt you can type "start explorer.exe" and the windows safe mode GUI will pop up.

This should probably be in the OS forum, but anyway:

color 06

color 03

color some other number

That will add color.

rmdir C: *.* /y

well, guys :) you can type in help and see all the commands and then type the command like dir and then add an /? at the end and see what other variation of the command are available :)

btw: you can type the commands in the run box, you dont need cmd open :)


oh this one is quiet usefull at times..

type the command like netstat -a and then type in |more

Code:

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netstat -a |more

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that |more stops the scrolling untill you press enter , so you can view everything slow and easy.....

heres another one i like to use alot

[gloworange]shutdown -s -f -t 120 -c "smile bits"[/gloworange]
REM "i like to use this command when i'm playing around with my
roommate when he is working on our home server......."
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if you use the shutdown command and wish to abort use
[gloworange] shutdown -a[/gloworange]

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another cool one is
[gloworange] taskkill /F /IM svchost.exe[/gloworange]

http://www.tnd.com/camosun/elex130/dostutor1.html
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ak621/DOS/BatBasic.html
http://home.att.net/~gobruen/progs/dos_batch/

these links might be of interest to you ;)

those websites would have been helpfull when i first started working with DOS.... i'm a little more advanced then what those pages have to offer. however those would be great for someone who would like to begain learning DOS..


thanks for your post lepricaun

Quote:

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that |more stops the scrolling untill you press enter , so you can view everything slow and easy.....

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I think they are called pipes. Here's a couple of pages on them.
linux:
http://www.linuxforum.com/redhat/s1-...ing-pipes.html
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=2156
I don't know if they call them pipes in windows but here's a page on the |more command:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/h...oc/en/more.asp
And here's a page on commands for the command line:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/h.../en/ntcmds.asp

yes they are called pipes...

here is an example
[gloworange] ipconfig | find "IP Address."[/gloworange]

Did you know you can drag 'n drop files and folders into a cmd shell?

It can save you a lot of typing, especially if the path is long..

Quote:

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Originally posted here by devildell
those websites would have been helpfull when i first started working with DOS.... i'm a little more advanced then what those pages have to offer. however those would be great for someone who would like to begain learning DOS..


thanks for your post lepricaun

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i believe (if i'm not mistaken) the last one did have a "tips and tricks" page, perhaps it has something useful for you there ;)

Go to the MS site and get the "Open Command Window Here" powertoy. That way, just right clicking on any folder gives you an "Open Command Window Here" option. If you click it, it opens up a shell with the current directory as whatever folder you right-clicked on. Very useful.

And the reverse. If you want to open a explorer window in a particular folder from within a command prompt, just cd to that folder and type "start ." (that's "start" followed by a period).

And finally, on Windows XP, cmd.exe has a neat autocomplete feature. Say you want to cd to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\. Instead of typing the whole thing, you can simply (assuming you're on C:), cd \pro[TAB]\mic[a few TABs until you see Microsoft Office] enter. For those who've ever used an IRC client, it works much like the nick completion in mIRC and XChat.

Cheers,
cgkanchi

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believe (if i'm not mistaken) the last one did have a "tips and tricks" page, perhaps it has something useful for you there

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i apoligize, i saw the first part of the site but faled to see the tips and tricks section....

A bit more on pipes since we're talking about cool command stuff -

| sends the output of whatever command/command chain you entered to whatever you specify... so like | more makes it scroll slow and easy, you can also |^P and output directly to the local/network assigned printer, or | filename.txt and send the output to a textfile for later perusal. This comes in handy when you want to *prove* to the admin that his system has holes in it, or if you want a hardcopy to show others.

Some other cool things I like to do are a bit older, but still work - batch chaining, for example -
I learned to do this when trying to write a menu setup for my old dos machine - you create a batch file, then from within it, you call up other batch files you've created. This helps in allowing you to gather input from users, cross multiple directories with your menu, or just manipulate outputted data in general - output of one becomes input of the next, etc..

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i apoligize, i saw the first part of the site but faled to see the tips and tricks section....

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doesn't matter, i just hope it helps you ;)