07/10/2015
02/10/2015
01/10/2015
PowerShell commands
An A-Z Index of Windows PowerShell commands
% Alias for ForEach-Object ? Alias for Where-Object a Get-Acl Get permission settings for a file or registry key Set-Acl Set permissions Active Directory Account, Computer, Group and User cmdlets Get-Alias gal Return alias names for Cmdlets Import-Alias ipal Import an alias list from a file New-Alias nal Create a new alias. Set-Alias sal Create or change an alias Get-AuthenticodeSignature Get the signature object associated with a file Set-AuthenticodeSignature Place a signature in a .ps1 script or other file b Begin Function BEGIN block BITS Background Intelligent Transfer Service cmdlets Break Exit a program loop c Catch Handle a terminating error within a scriptblock Set-Location cd/chdir/sl Set the current working location Get-ChildItem dir/ls/gci Get child items (contents of a folder or registry key) Clear-Host clear/cls Clear the screen Clear-Item cli Remove content from a variable or an alias Get-Command gcm Retrieve basic information about a command Measure-Command Measure running time Trace-Command Trace an expression or command Add-Computer Add a computer to the domain Checkpoint-Computer Create a system restore point (XP) Remove-Computer Remove the local computer from a workgroup or domain Restart-Computer Restart the operating system on a computer Restore-Computer Restore the computer to a previous state Stop-Computer Stop (shut down) a computer Reset-ComputerMachinePassword Reset the machine account password for the computer Test-ComputerSecureChannel Test and repair the secure channel to the domain Add-Content ac Add to the content of the item Get-Content cat/type/gc Get content from item (specific location) Set-Content sc Set content in the item (specific location) Clear-Content clc Remove content from a file/item Continue Skip just this iteration of a loop Get-Command gcm Get basic information about cmdlets Invoke-Command icm Run command Enable-ComputerRestore Enable System Restore on a drive Disable-ComputerRestore Disable System Restore on a drive Get-ComputerRestorePoint Get the restore points on the local computer Test-Connection Ping one or more computers ConvertFrom-CSV Convert object properties (in CSV format) into CSV objects ConvertTo-CSV Convert .NET Framework objects into CSV variable-length strings ConvertTo-Html Convert the input into an HTML table ConvertTo-Xml Convert the input into XML ConvertFrom-SecureString Convert a secure string into an encrypted standard string ConvertTo-SecureString Convert an encrypted standard string into a secure string Copy-Item copy/cp/ci Copy an item from a namespace location Export-Counter Export Performance Counter data to log files Get-Counter Get performance counter data Import-Counter Import performance counter log files Get-Credential Get a security credential (username/password) Get-Culture Get region information (language and keyboard layout) d Get-ChildItem Dir/ls/gci Get child items (contents of a folder or registry key) Get-Date Get current date and time Set-Date Set system time on the host system Remove-Item Del/erase/rd/rm/rmdir Delete an item Compare-Object diff/compare Compare the properties of objects Do Loop while a condition is True Get-DscConfiguration Get the current config. of a node Get-DscLocalConfigurationManager Get Local Config Manager settings Get-DscResource Get Desired State Config. resources from a computer New-DSCCheckSum Create checksum files for DSC docs/resources Start-DscConfiguration Apply Desired State config to nodes e End Function END block Get-Event Get events in the PowerShell event queue New-Event Create a new event Remove-Event Delete events from the event queue Unregister-Event Cancel an event subscription Wait-Event Wait until a particular event is raised Clear-EventLog Delete all entries from an event log Get-Eventlog Get event log data (2003) Limit-EventLog Limit the size of the event log New-Eventlog Create a new event log and a new event source Remove-EventLog Delete an event log Show-EventLog Display an event log Write-EventLog Write an event to an event log Get-WinEvent Get event log data (Vista+) Get-EventSubscriber Get event subscribers Register-EngineEvent Subscribe to PowerShell events Register-ObjectEvent Subscribe to .NET events Register-WmiEvent Subscribe to a WMI event Get-ExecutionPolicy Get the execution policy for the shell Set-ExecutionPolicy Change the execution policy (user preference) Export-Alias epal Export an alias list to a file Export-Clixml Produce a clixml representation of PowerShell objects Export-Console Export console configuration to a file Export-Csv epcsv Export to Comma Separated Values (spreadsheet) Exit-PSSession Exit Exit PowerShell (or exit a script) f -F operator Format operator ForEach-Object foreach Loop through each item in the pipeline ( % ) ForEach Loop through each item in a collection For Loop through items that match a condition Format-Custom fc Format output using a customized view Format-List fl Format output as a list of properties, each on a new line Format-Table ft Format output as a table Format-Wide fw Format output as a table listing one property only Export-FormatData Save formatting data from the current session Get-FormatData Get the formatting data in the current session g Get-Item gi Get a file/registry object (or any other namespace object) Get-ChildItem dir/ls/gci Get child items (contents of a folder or registry key) h Get-Help help Open the help file Add-History Add entries to the session history Clear-History clhy Delete entries from the session history Get-History history/h/ghy Get a listing of the session history Invoke-History r/ihy Invoke a previously executed Cmdlet Get-Host Get host information (PowerShell Version and Region) Clear-Host clear/cls Clear the screen Read-Host Read a line of input from the host console Write-Host Write customized output to the host/screen Get-HotFix Get Installed hotfixes i if Conditionally perform a command Import-Clixml Import a clixml file and rebuild the PS object Import-Csv ipcsv Take values from a CSV list and send objects down the pipeline Invoke-Command Run commands on local and remote computers Invoke-Expression iex Run a PowerShell expression Get-Item gi Get a file object or get a registry (or other namespace) object Invoke-Item ii Invoke an executable or open a file (START) New-Item md/mkdir/ni Create a new item in a namespace Remove-Item rm/del/erase/rd/ri/rmdir Remove an item Set-Item si Change the value of an item Clear-ItemProperty clp Remove the property value from a property Copy-ItemProperty cpp Copy a property along with it's value Get-ItemProperty gp Retrieve the properties of an object Move-ItemProperty mp Move a property from one location to another New-ItemProperty Set a new property Remove-ItemProperty rp Remove a property and its value Rename-ItemProperty rnp Renames a property at its location Set-ItemProperty sp Set a property at the specified location to a specified value j Get-Job gjb Get PowerShell background jobs that are running Receive-Job rcjb Get PowerShell background job results Remove-Job rjb Delete a PowerShell background job Start-Job sajb Start a PowerShell background job Stop-Job spjb Stop a PowerShell background job Wait-Job wjb Wait for a background job Job Trigger cmdlets Get/Set Scheduled job triggers k Stop-Process kill/spps Stop a running process l Update-List Add and remove items from a collection Get-Location pwd / gl Get and display the current location Pop-Location popd Set the current working location from the stack Push-Location pushd Push a location to the stack Set-Location cd/chdir/sl Set the current working location m Send-MailMessage Send an email message Add-Member Add a member to an instance of a PowerShell object Get-Member gm Enumerate the properties of an object Get-Module gmo Get the modules imported to the session Import-Module ipmo Add a module to the session New-Module nmo Create a new dynamic module (only in memory) Remove-Module rmo Remove a module from the current session Export-ModuleMember Export specific module members Move-Item mv/move/mi Move an item from one location to another o Compare-Object diff/compare Compare the properties of objects Group-Object group Group objects that contain the same value Measure-Object Measure the properties of an object New-Object Create a new .Net object Select-Object select Select properties of objects Sort-Object sort Sort objects by property value Where-Object Filter the objects passed along the command pipeline Out-Default Send output to default Out-File Send output to a file Out-GridView ogv Send output to an interactive table Out-Host oh Send output to the host Out-Null Send output to null Out-Printer lp Send the output to a printer Out-String Send objects to the host as strings p Param Script Parameters Pause Pause and display the message "Press Enter to continue" Powershell Launch a PowerShell session Convert-Path cvpa Convert a ps path to a provider path Join-Path Combine a path and child-path Resolve-Path rvpa Resolves the wildcards in a path Split-Path Return part of a path Test-Path Return true if the path exists, otherwise return false Get-Pfxcertificate Get pfx certificate information Pop-Location popd Set the current working location from the stack Push-Location pushd Push a location to the stack Process Function PROCESS block Get-Process ps/gps Get a list of processes on a machine Debug-Process Attach a debugger to a running process Start-Process start/saps Start one or more processes Stop-Process kill/spps Stop a running process Wait-Process Wait for a process to stop Enable-PSBreakpoint ebp Enable a breakpoint in the current console Disable-PSBreakpoint dbp Disable a breakpoint in the current console Get-PSBreakpoint gbp Get the currently set breakpoints Set-PSBreakpoint sbp Set a breakpoint on a line, command, or variable Remove-PSBreakpoint rbp Delete breakpoints from the current console Get-PSDrive gdr Get drive information (DriveInfo) New-PSDrive mount/ndr Create a mapped network drive. Remove-PSDrive rdr Remove a provider/drive from its location Get-PSProvider Get information for the specified provider Set-PSdebug Turn script debugging on or off Enter-PSSession etsn Start an interactive session with a remote computer Exit-PSSession exsn End an interactive session with a remote computer Export-PSSession epsn Import commands and save them in a PowerShell module Get-PSSession gsn Get the PSSessions in the current session Import-PSSession ipsn Import commands from another session New-PSSession nsn Create a persistent connection to a local or remote computer Remove-PSSession rsn Close PowerShell sessions Disable-PSSessionConfiguration Deny access to PS session configuration Enable-PSSessionConfiguration Enable PS session configuration Get-PSSessionConfiguration Get the registered PS session configuration Register-PSSessionConfiguration Create and register a new PS session configuration Set-PSSessionConfiguration Change properties of a registered session configuration Unregister-PSSessionConfiguration Delete registered PS session configuration New-PSSessionOption Advanced options for a PSSession Add-PsSnapIn asnp Add snap-ins to the console Get-PsSnapin gsnp List PowerShell snap-ins on this computer Remove-PSSnapin rsnp Remove PowerShell snap-ins from the console q Quest AD cmdlets Read and write to Active Directory r Get-Random Get a random number Read-Host Read a line of input from the host console Remove-Item rm/del/erase/rd/ri/rmdir Remove an item Rename-Item ren/rni Change the name of an existing item Rename-ItemProperty Rename a property of an item Return Exit the current scope, (function, script, or script block) Run/Call & Run a command (call operator) s Scheduler cmdlets Get/Set scheduled jobs Select-Object select Select properties of objects Select-XML Find text in an XML string or document Send-MailMessage Send an email message Get-Service gsv Get a list of services New-Service Create a new service Restart-Service Stop and then restart a service Resume-Service Resume a suspended service Set-Service Change the start mode/properties of a service Start-Service sasv Start a stopped service Stop-Service spsv Stop a running service Suspend-Service Suspend a running service Sort-Object sort Sort objects by property value Set-StrictMode Enforce coding rules in expressions & scripts Start-Sleep sleep Suspend shell, script, or runspace activity Switch Multiple if statements ConvertFrom-StringData Convert a here-string into a hash table Select-String Search through strings or files for patterns t Tee-Object tee Send input objects to two places New-Timespan Create a timespan object Trace-Command Trace an expression or command Get-Tracesource Get components that are instrumented for tracing. Set-Tracesource Trace a PowerShell component Start-Transaction Start a new transaction Complete-Transaction Commit the transaction Get-Transaction Get information about the active transaction Use-Transaction Add a command or expression to the transaction Undo-Transaction Roll back a transaction Start-Transcript Start a transcript of a command shell session Stop-Transcript Stop the transcription process Trap Handle a terminating error Try ... Catch Handle a terminating error within a scriptblock Add-Type Add a .NET Framework type to a PowerShell session Update-TypeData Update extended type configuration u Get-Uiculture Get the ui culture information Get-Unique gu Get the unique items in a collection Update-Formatdata Update and append format data files Update-Help Download and install help files Update-Typedata Update the current extended type configuration v Clear-Variable clv Remove the value from a variable Get-Variable gv Get a PowerShell variable New-Variable nv Create a new variable Remove-Variable rv Remove a variable and its value Set-Variable set/sv Set a variable and a value w Checkpoint-WebApplicationMonitoring Create a checkpoint for an IIS web app Get-WebApplicationMonitoringStatus Get the monitoring status of web apps New-WebServiceProxy Create a Web service proxy object Where-Object where/? Filter input from the pipeline Where Filter objects from the pipeline While Loop while a condition is True Add-WindowsFeature Install roles, role services, and features Get-WindowsFeature Retrieve roles, role services, and features Remove-WindowsFeature Remove roles, role services, and features Write-Debug Write a debug message to the host display Write-Error Write an object to the error pipeline Write-Host Display text on screen Write-Output write/echo Write an object to the pipeline Write-Progress Display a progress bar Write-Verbose Write a string to the host's verbose display Write-Warning Write a string in reverse video to the display Set-WmiInstance Create or update an instance of an existing WMI class Invoke-WmiMethod iwmi Call WMI methods Get-WmiObject gwmi Get WMI class information Remove-WmiObject rwmi Delete an instance of a WMI class Connect-WSMan Connect to the WinRM service on a remote computer Disconnect-WSMan Disconnect from the WinRM service on a remote computer Test-WSMan Test whether the WinRM service is running Invoke-WSManAction Invoke an action on a specified object Disable-WSManCredSSP Disable Credential Security Service Provider (SSP) authentication Enable-WSManCredSSP Enable Credential SSP authentication Get-WSManCredSSP Get the Credential SSP configuration New-WSManInstance Create a new instance of a management resource Get-WSManInstance Display management information (XML or value) Set-WSManInstance Modify the management information related to a resource Remove-WSManInstance Delete a management resource instance Set-WSManQuickConfig Configure the local computer for remote management New-WSManSessionOption Options for WSMan commands Zipfile Compress or Extract zip files # Comment / Remark . (source) Run a command script in the current shell & (call) Run a command, script or function % Alias for ForEach-Object --% Stop parsing input ? Alias for Where-Object $variable = "value" Define a variable also: ${n!a#me} = "value" $_ The current pipeline object @(...) Force an expression to be evaluated as an arrayThe cmdlets on this page are listed in A-Z order, matching either the Verb- or -Noun or Alias of the cmdlet (some are listed more than once). In addition to the above, PowerShell can also run all the standard CMD commands (apart from internal commands), plus VBScript and Resource kit utilities. Call batch files with CMD.exe and VBScripts with cscript.
Microsoft: PowerShell 5.0 cmdlets, core cmdlets, Windows 2008 R2 cmdlets... more optional cmdlets.
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Links to other websites & books
VBSCRIPT
VBScript - Syntax
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Your First VBScript
Let us write a VBScript to print out "Hello World".<html> <body> <script language="vbscript" type="text/vbscript"> document.write("Hello World!") </script> </body> </html>In the above example, we called a function document.write, which writes a string into the HTML document. This function can be used to write text, HTML or both. So, above code will display following result:
Hello World!
Whitespace and Line Breaks
VBScript ignores spaces, tabs and newlines that appear within VBScript programs.Because one can use spaces, tabs and newlines freely within the program so you are free to format and indent your programs in a neat and consistent way that makes the code easy to read and understand.
Formatting
VBScript is based on Microsoft's Visual Basic. Unlike JavaScript, no statement terminators such as semicolon is used to terminate a particular statement.Single Line Syntax
Colons are used when two or more lines of VBScript ought to be written in a single line. Hence, in VBScript, Colons act as a line separator.<script language="vbscript" type="text/vbscript"> var1 = 10 : var2 = 20 </script>
Multiple Line Syntax
When a statement in VBScript is lengthy and if user wishes to break it into multiple lines, then the user has to use underscore "_".This improves the readability of the code. The following example illustrates how to work with multiple lines.
<script language="vbscript" type="text/vbscript"> var1 = 10 var2 = 20 Sum = var1 + var2 document.write("The Sum of two numbers"&_ "var1 and var2 is " & Sum) </script>
Reserved Words
The following list shows the reserved words in VBscripting. These reserved words SHOULD NOT be used as a constant or variable or any other identifier names.| Loop | LSet | Me |
| Mod | New | Next |
| Not | Nothing | Null |
| On | Option | Optional |
| Or | ParamArray | Preserve |
| Private | Public | RaiseEvent |
| ReDim | Rem | Resume |
| RSet | Select | Set |
| Shared | Single | Static |
| Stop | Sub | Then |
| To | True | Type |
| And | As | Boolean |
| ByRef | Byte | ByVal |
| Call | Case | Class |
| Const | Currency | Debug |
| Dim | Do | Double |
| Each | Else | ElseIf |
| Empty | End | EndIf |
| Enum | Eqv | Event |
| Exit | False | For |
| Function | Get | GoTo |
| If | Imp | Implements |
| In | Integer | Is |
| Let | Like | Long |
| TypeOf | Until | Variant |
| Wend | While | With |
| Xor | Eval | Execute |
| Msgbox | Erase | ExecuteGlobal |
| Option Explicit | Randomize | SendKeys |
Case Sensitivity
VBScript is a case-insensitive language. This means that language keywords, variables, function names and any other identifiers need NOT be typed with a consistent capitalization of letters.So identifiers int_counter, INT_Counter and INT_COUNTER have the same meaning within VBScript.
Comments in VBScript
Comments are used to document the program logic and the user information with which other programmers can seamlessly work on the same code in future.It can include information such as developed by, modified by and it can also include incorporated logic. Comments are ignored by the interpreter while execution.
Comments in VBScript are denoted by two methods.
1. Any statement that starts with a Single Quote (‘) is treated as comment. Following is the example:
<script language="vbscript" type="text/vbscript"> <!— ' This Script is invoked after successful login ' Written by : TutorialsPoint ' Return Value : True / False //- > </script>2. Any statement that starts with the keyword “REM”. Following is the example:
<script language="vbscript" type="text/vbscript"> <!— REM This Script is written to Validate the Entered Input REM Modified by : Tutorials point/user2 //- > </script>
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CMD COMMANDS_1
15 CMD Commands Every Windows User Should Know
Microsoft has slowly but surely pushed the command line
aside in the Windows interface. This is not without reason, as it’s an
antiquated and mostly unnecessary tool from an era of text-based input
that has long passed.
But there still are some commands that remain useful, and Windows 8 even added new features. Here are the commands every Windows user needs to know.
In case you’re not sure how to access the command prompt, forgot basic commands, or would like to know how to see a list of switches for each command, you can refer to our beginners guide to the Windows command line for instructions.
Most files in Windows are associated with a specific program that is assigned to open the file by default. At times, remembering these associations can become confusing. You can remind yourself by entering the command “assoc” to display a full list of file extensions and the programs they’re connected with.
You can also extend the command to change file associations. For example, “assoc .txt=” will change the file association for text files to whatever program you enter after the equal sign. The ASSOC command itself will reveal both the extension names and program names, which will help you properly use this command. You can probably do this more easily in the GUI, but the command line interface is a perfectly functional alternative.
Deleting files on a mechanical hard drive doesn’t really delete them at all. Instead, it marks the files as no longer accessible and the space they took up as free. The files remain recoverable until they’re overwritten with new data, which can take some time.
The cipher command, however, can be used to wipe a directory by writing random data to it. To wipe your C drive, for example, you’d use the command “cipher /w:c”, which will wipe free space on the drive. The command does not overwrite undeleted data, so you will not wipe out files you need by running this command.
There’s also a host of other cipher commands, however, they are generally redundant with Bitlocker enabled versions of Windows.
Drivers remain among the most important software installed on a PC. Improperly configured or missing drivers can cause all sorts of trouble, so its good to have access to a list of what’s on your PC. That’s exactly what the “driverquery” command does. You can extend it to “driverquery -v” to obtain more information including the directory in which the driver is installed.
You can also extend the command in several ways. Typing “/b” compares only binary output, “/c” disregards the case of text in the comparison, and “/l” only compares ASCII text.
So, for example, you could use the following:
to compare ASCII text in two word documents.
Still, ipconfig is useful because of its extensions. “ipconfig /release” followed by “ipconfig /renew” can force your Windows PC into asking for a new IP address, which is useful if your computer claims one isn’t available. You can also use “ipconfig /flushdns” to refresh your DNS address. These commands are great if the Windows network troubleshooter chokes, which does happen on occasion.
Sometimes, you need to know whether or not packets are making it to a specific networked device. That’s where ping comes in handy. Typing “ping” followed by an IP address or web domain will send a series of test packets to the specified address. If they arrive and are returned, you know the device is capable of communicating with your PC; if it fails, you know that there’s something blocking communication between the device and your computer. This can help you decide if an issue is caused by improper configuration or a failure of network hardware.
The “tracert” command is similar to pathping. Once again, type “tracert” followed by the IP address or domain you’d like to trace. You’ll receive information about each step in the route between your PC and the target. Unlike pathping, however, tracert also tracks how much time (in milliseconds) each hop between servers or devices takes.
Another useful command is “powercfg /devicequery s1_supported” which displays a list of devices on your computer that support connected standby. When enabled, these devices can be used to bring your computer out of standby – even remotely. You can enable this by selecting the device in Device Manager, opening its properties, going to the Power Management tab and then checking the “Allow this device to wake the computer” box.
“Powercfg /lastwake” will show you what device last woke your PC from a sleep state. You can use this command to troubleshoot your PC if it seems to wake from sleep at random.
The “powercfg /energy” command can be used to build a detailed power consumption report for your PC, which is output to a directory indicated after the command finishes. This report will let you know of any system faults that might increase power consumption, like devices that are blocking certain sleep modes, or which aren’t properly configured to respond to your power management settings.
Windows 8 added “powercfg /batteryreport”, which provides a detailed analysis of battery use, if applicable. Normally output to your Windows user directory, the report provides details about the time and length of charge and discharge cycles, lifetime average battery life, and estimated battery capacity.
Virtually all Windows 8/8.1 computers ship from the factory with a recovery image, but the image may include bloatware you’d rather not have re-installed. Once you’ve un-installed the software you can create a new image using the “recimg” command. Entering this command presents a very detailed explanation of how to use it. You must have administrator privileges to use the recimg command, and you can only access the custom recovery image you create via the Windows 8 “refresh” feature.
There’s also a wide range of modifiers. “Tasklist -svc” shows services related to each task, “tasklist -v” can be used to obtain more detail on each task, and “tasklist -m” can be used to locate .dll files associated with active tasks. These commands are useful for advanced troubleshooting.
You can check out our Windows command cheat sheet for an expanded list or download Microsoft’s command line reference guide for advanced support and troubleshooting.
Which commands do you find yourself using frequently?
But there still are some commands that remain useful, and Windows 8 even added new features. Here are the commands every Windows user needs to know.
In case you’re not sure how to access the command prompt, forgot basic commands, or would like to know how to see a list of switches for each command, you can refer to our beginners guide to the Windows command line for instructions.
ASSOC
Most files in Windows are associated with a specific program that is assigned to open the file by default. At times, remembering these associations can become confusing. You can remind yourself by entering the command “assoc” to display a full list of file extensions and the programs they’re connected with.
You can also extend the command to change file associations. For example, “assoc .txt=” will change the file association for text files to whatever program you enter after the equal sign. The ASSOC command itself will reveal both the extension names and program names, which will help you properly use this command. You can probably do this more easily in the GUI, but the command line interface is a perfectly functional alternative.
Cipher
Deleting files on a mechanical hard drive doesn’t really delete them at all. Instead, it marks the files as no longer accessible and the space they took up as free. The files remain recoverable until they’re overwritten with new data, which can take some time.
The cipher command, however, can be used to wipe a directory by writing random data to it. To wipe your C drive, for example, you’d use the command “cipher /w:c”, which will wipe free space on the drive. The command does not overwrite undeleted data, so you will not wipe out files you need by running this command.
There’s also a host of other cipher commands, however, they are generally redundant with Bitlocker enabled versions of Windows.
Driverquery
Drivers remain among the most important software installed on a PC. Improperly configured or missing drivers can cause all sorts of trouble, so its good to have access to a list of what’s on your PC. That’s exactly what the “driverquery” command does. You can extend it to “driverquery -v” to obtain more information including the directory in which the driver is installed.
File Compare
This command can be used to identify differences in text between two files, and is particularly useful for writers and programmers trying to find small changes between two versions of a file. Simply type “fc” and then the directory path and file name of the two files you want to compare.You can also extend the command in several ways. Typing “/b” compares only binary output, “/c” disregards the case of text in the comparison, and “/l” only compares ASCII text.
So, for example, you could use the following:
fc /l "C:\Program Files (x86)\example1.doc" "C:\Program Files (x86)\example2.doc"to compare ASCII text in two word documents.
Ipconfig
This command relays the IP address that your computer is currently using. However, if you’re behind a router (like most computers today), you’ll instead receive the local network address of the router.Still, ipconfig is useful because of its extensions. “ipconfig /release” followed by “ipconfig /renew” can force your Windows PC into asking for a new IP address, which is useful if your computer claims one isn’t available. You can also use “ipconfig /flushdns” to refresh your DNS address. These commands are great if the Windows network troubleshooter chokes, which does happen on occasion.
Netstat
Entering the command “netstat -an” will provide you with a list of currently open ports and related IP addresses. You’ll also be told what state the port is in – listening, established or closed. This is a great command if you’re trying to troubleshoot the devices your PC is connected to or you’re afraid you’re infected with a Trojan and are trying to locate a malicious connection.Ping
Sometimes, you need to know whether or not packets are making it to a specific networked device. That’s where ping comes in handy. Typing “ping” followed by an IP address or web domain will send a series of test packets to the specified address. If they arrive and are returned, you know the device is capable of communicating with your PC; if it fails, you know that there’s something blocking communication between the device and your computer. This can help you decide if an issue is caused by improper configuration or a failure of network hardware.
Pathping
This is a more advanced version of ping that’s useful if there are multiple routers between your PC and the device you’re testing. Like ping, you use this command by typing “pathping” followed by the IP address, but unlike ping, pathping also relays some information about the route the test packets take.Tracert
The “tracert” command is similar to pathping. Once again, type “tracert” followed by the IP address or domain you’d like to trace. You’ll receive information about each step in the route between your PC and the target. Unlike pathping, however, tracert also tracks how much time (in milliseconds) each hop between servers or devices takes.
Powercfg
Powercfg is a very powerful command for managing and tracking how your computer uses energy. You can use the command “powercfg /hibernate on” and “powercfg /hibernate off” to manage hibernation, and you can also use the command “powercfg /a” to view the power-saving states currently available on your PC.Another useful command is “powercfg /devicequery s1_supported” which displays a list of devices on your computer that support connected standby. When enabled, these devices can be used to bring your computer out of standby – even remotely. You can enable this by selecting the device in Device Manager, opening its properties, going to the Power Management tab and then checking the “Allow this device to wake the computer” box.
“Powercfg /lastwake” will show you what device last woke your PC from a sleep state. You can use this command to troubleshoot your PC if it seems to wake from sleep at random.
The “powercfg /energy” command can be used to build a detailed power consumption report for your PC, which is output to a directory indicated after the command finishes. This report will let you know of any system faults that might increase power consumption, like devices that are blocking certain sleep modes, or which aren’t properly configured to respond to your power management settings.
Windows 8 added “powercfg /batteryreport”, which provides a detailed analysis of battery use, if applicable. Normally output to your Windows user directory, the report provides details about the time and length of charge and discharge cycles, lifetime average battery life, and estimated battery capacity.
Shutdown
As of Windows 8/8.1 there is now a shutdown command that – you guessed it! – shuts down your computer. This is of course redundant with the already easily accessed shutdown button, but what’s not redundant is the “shutdown /r /o” command, which restarts your PC and launches the Advanced Start Options menu, which is where you can access Safe Mode and Windows recovery utilities. This is useful if you want to restart your computer for troubleshooting purposes.System File Checker
System File Checker is an automatic scan and repair tool that focuses on Windows system files. You will need to run the command prompt with administrator privileges and enter the command “sfc /scannow”. If any corrupt or missing files are found, they’ll be automatically replaced using cached copies kept by Windows for just that purpose. The command can require a half-hour to run on older notebooks.Recovery Image
Virtually all Windows 8/8.1 computers ship from the factory with a recovery image, but the image may include bloatware you’d rather not have re-installed. Once you’ve un-installed the software you can create a new image using the “recimg” command. Entering this command presents a very detailed explanation of how to use it. You must have administrator privileges to use the recimg command, and you can only access the custom recovery image you create via the Windows 8 “refresh” feature.
Tasklist
The “tasklist” command can be used to provide a current list of all tasks running on your PC. Though somewhat redundant with Task Manager, the command may sometimes find tasks hidden from view in that utility.There’s also a wide range of modifiers. “Tasklist -svc” shows services related to each task, “tasklist -v” can be used to obtain more detail on each task, and “tasklist -m” can be used to locate .dll files associated with active tasks. These commands are useful for advanced troubleshooting.
Taskkill
Tasks that appear in the “tasklist” command will have an executable and process ID (a four-digit number) associated with them. You can force stop a program using “taskkill -im” followed by the executable’s name, or “taskkill -pid” followed by the process ID. Again, this is a bit redundant with Task Manager, but may be used to kill otherwise unresponsive or hidden programs.Conclusion
This article doesn’t cover every Windows command available. There are literally hundreds of them when all variables are included. Most, however, are no longer useful because they’ve been replaced by more convenient menus in the Windows GUI or simply aren’t commonly used (telnet, for example).You can check out our Windows command cheat sheet for an expanded list or download Microsoft’s command line reference guide for advanced support and troubleshooting.
Which commands do you find yourself using frequently?
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CMD CODES
An A-Z Index of the Windows CMD command line
ADDUSERS Add or list users to/from a CSV file ADmodcmd Active Directory Bulk Modify ARP Address Resolution Protocol ASSOC Change file extension associations• ASSOCIAT One step file association AT Schedule a command to run at a specific time ATTRIB Change file attributes b BCDBOOT Create or repair a system partition BCDEDIT Manage Boot Configuration Data BITSADMIN Background Intelligent Transfer Service BOOTCFG Edit Windows boot settings BROWSTAT Get domain, browser and PDC info c CACLS Change file permissions CALL Call one batch program from another• CERTREQ Request certificate from a certification authority CERTUTIL Utility for certification authority (CA) files and services CD Change Directory - move to a specific Folder• CHANGE Change Terminal Server Session properties CHKDSK Check Disk - check and repair disk problems CHKNTFS Check the NTFS file system CHOICE Accept keyboard input to a batch file CIPHER Encrypt or Decrypt files/folders CleanMgr Automated cleanup of Temp files, recycle bin CLIP Copy STDIN to the Windows clipboard CLS Clear the screen• CMD Start a new CMD shell CMDKEY Manage stored usernames/passwords COLOR Change colors of the CMD window• COMP Compare the contents of two files or sets of files COMPACT Compress files or folders on an NTFS partition COMPRESS Compress one or more files CONVERT Convert a FAT drive to NTFS COPY Copy one or more files to another location• Coreinfo Show the mapping between logical & physical processors CSCcmd Client-side caching (Offline Files) CSVDE Import or Export Active Directory data d DATE Display or set the date• DEFRAG Defragment hard drive DEL Delete one or more files• DELPROF Delete user profiles DELTREE Delete a folder and all subfolders DevCon Device Manager Command Line Utility DIR Display a list of files and folders• DIRQUOTA File Server Resource Manager Disk quotas DIRUSE Display disk usage DISKPART Disk Administration DISKSHADOW Volume Shadow Copy Service DISKUSE Show the space used in folders DOSKEY Edit command line, recall commands, and create macros DriverQuery Display installed device drivers DSACLs Active Directory ACLs DSAdd Add items to active directory (user group computer) DSGet View items in active directory (user group computer) DSQuery Search for items in active directory (user group computer) DSMod Modify items in active directory (user group computer) DSMove Move an Active directory Object DSRM Remove items from Active Directory e ECHO Display message on screen• ENDLOCAL End localisation of environment changes in a batch file• ERASE Delete one or more files• EVENTCREATE Add a message to the Windows event log EXIT Quit the current script/routine and set an errorlevel• EXPAND Uncompress CAB files EXTRACT Uncompress CAB files f FC Compare two files FIND Search for a text string in a file FINDSTR Search for strings in files FOR /F Loop command: against a set of files• FOR /F Loop command: against the results of another command• FOR Loop command: all options Files, Directory, List• FORFILES Batch process multiple files FORMAT Format a disk FREEDISK Check free disk space FSUTIL File and Volume utilities FTP File Transfer Protocol FTYPE File extension file type associations• g GETMAC Display the Media Access Control (MAC) address GOTO Direct a batch program to jump to a labelled line• GPRESULT Display Resultant Set of Policy information GPUPDATE Update Group Policy settings h HELP Online Help HOSTNAME Display the host name of the computer i iCACLS Change file and folder permissions IEXPRESS Create a self extracting ZIP file archive IF Conditionally perform a command• IFMEMBER Is the current user a member of a group IPCONFIG Configure IP INUSE Replace files that are in use by the OS l LABEL Edit a disk label LODCTR Load PerfMon performance counters LOGMAN Manage Performance Monitor logs LOGOFF Log a user off LOGTIME Log the date and time in a file m MAKECAB Create .CAB files MAPISEND Send email from the command line MBSAcli Baseline Security Analyzer MEM Display memory usage MD Create new folders• MKLINK Create a symbolic link (linkd) • MODE Configure a system device COM/LPT/CON MORE Display output, one screen at a time MOUNTVOL Manage a volume mount point MOVE Move files from one folder to another• MOVEUSER Move a user from one domain to another MSG Send a message MSIEXEC Microsoft Windows Installer MSINFO32 System Information MSTSC Terminal Server Connection (Remote Desktop Protocol) n NET Manage network resources NETDOM Domain Manager NETSH Configure Network Interfaces, Windows Firewall & Remote access NBTSTAT Display networking statistics (NetBIOS over TCP/IP) NETSTAT Display networking statistics (TCP/IP) NLSINFO Display locale information (reskit). NLTEST Network Location Test (AD) NOW Display the current Date and Time NSLOOKUP Name server lookup NTBACKUP Backup folders to tape NTDSUtil Active Directory Domain Services management NTRIGHTS Edit user account rights NVSPBIND Modify network bindings o OPENFILES Query or display open files p PATH Display or set a search path for executable files• PATHPING Trace route plus network latency and packet loss PAUSE Suspend processing of a batch file and display a message• PERMS Show permissions for a user PERFMON Performance Monitor PING Test a network connection POPD Return to a previous directory saved by PUSHD• PORTQRY Display the status of ports and services POWERCFG Configure power settings PRINT Print a text file PRINTBRM Print queue Backup/Recovery PRNCNFG Configure or rename a printer PRNMNGR Add, delete, list printers and printer connections ProcDump Monitor an application for CPU spikes PROMPT Change the command prompt• PsExec Execute process remotely PsFile Show files opened remotely PsGetSid Display the SID of a computer or a user PsInfo List information about a system PsKill Kill processes by name or process ID PsList List detailed information about processes PsLoggedOn Who's logged on (locally or via resource sharing) PsLogList Event log records PsPasswd Change account password PsPing Measure network performance PsService View and control services PsShutdown Shutdown or reboot a computer PsSuspend Suspend processes PUSHD Save and then change the current directory• q QGREP Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern Query Process / QPROCESS Display processes Query Session / QWinsta Display all sessions (TS/Remote Desktop) Query TermServer /QAppSrv List all servers (TS/Remote Desktop) Query User / QUSER Display user sessions (TS/Remote Desktop) r RASDIAL Manage RAS connections RASPHONE Manage RAS connections RECOVER Recover a damaged file from a defective disk REG Registry: Read, Set, Export, Delete keys and values REGEDIT Import or export registry settings REGSVR32 Register or unregister a DLL REGINI Change Registry Permissions REM Record comments (remarks) in a batch file• REN Rename a file or files• REPLACE Replace or update one file with another Reset Session Delete a Remote Desktop Session RD Delete folder(s)• RMTSHARE Share a folder or a printer ROBOCOPY Robust File and Folder Copy ROUTE Manipulate network routing tables RUN Start | RUN commands RUNAS Execute a program under a different user account RUNDLL32 Run a DLL command (add/remove print connections) s SC Service Control SCHTASKS Schedule a command to run at a specific time SET Display, set, or remove session environment variables• SETLOCAL Control the visibility of environment variables• SetSPN Edit Service Principal Names SETX Set environment variables SFC System File Checker SHARE List or edit a file share or print share ShellRunAs Run a command under a different user account SHIFT Shift the position of batch file parameters• SHORTCUT Create a windows shortcut (.LNK file) SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer SLEEP Wait for x seconds SLMGR Software Licensing Management (Vista/2008) SORT Sort input START Start a program, command or batch file• STRINGS Search for ANSI and UNICODE strings in binary files SUBINACL Edit file and folder Permissions, Ownership and Domain SUBST Associate a path with a drive letter SYSMON Monitor and log system activity to the Windows event log SYSTEMINFO List system configuration t TAKEOWN Take ownership of a file TASKLIST List running applications and services TASKKILL End a running process TELNET Communicate with another host using the TELNET protocol TIME Display or set the system time• TIMEOUT Delay processing of a batch file TITLE Set the window title for a CMD.EXE session• TLIST Task list with full path TOUCH Change file timestamps TRACERT Trace route to a remote host TREE Graphical display of folder structure TSDISCON Disconnect a Remote Desktop Session TSKILL End a running process TSSHUTDN Remotely shut down or reboot a terminal server TYPE Display the contents of a text file• TypePerf Write performance data to a log file TZUTIL Time Zone Utility v VER Display version information• VERIFY Verify that files have been saved• VOL Display a disk label• w W32TM Time Service WAITFOR Wait for or send a signal WEVTUTIL Clear event logs, enable/disable/query logs WHERE Locate and display files in a directory tree WHOAMI Output the current UserName and domain WINDIFF Compare the contents of two files or sets of files WINRM Windows Remote Management WINRS Windows Remote Shell WMIC WMI Commands WUAUCLT Windows Update x XCACLS Change file and folder permissions XCOPY Copy files and folders :: Comment / Remark•Commands marked • are Internal commands only available within the CMD shell.
All other commands (not marked with •) are external commands.
External commands may be used under the CMD shell, PowerShell, or directly from START-RUN.
See also: a categorized list of Windows CMD commands
Microsoft Help pages: XP , 2003 Server, 2008 Server, Windows 7/Server 2012 / Technology
Discussion forum
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GuccizBud
Very useful list?;??I took the ones I like the most and documented them in a file of my own for later reference.
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Phill Heath
yeah the shutdown command is quite a useful one, i
didn’t make use of it when i was using XP, although in win 7 there is
the task scheduler, if i was say downloading something that was going to
take a few hours like a game update or a whole client and I wanted to
go to sleep, you can set a ‘/shutdown /s’ task to fire at a specific
time and have your pc turn off instead of staying on until you wake up.
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jimtech
it good to make this
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Derek
Is there a command to check how long a program has
been running? sorry if I missed it in the original post, new to running
things from the cmd.
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Gr3nD
I Just Know Hacking Another Pc ON My Network.. By
Type ‘shutdown -i’ but.. i cant to shut to diferent network… And I Want
Talk Something Too. How To Control Another PC… I Mean Like Open Files…
Like 100% Controling
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Krutik Shah
that’s extremely illegal and you will most likely be sent to jail.. and thats coming from a guy who pirates..
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N. Cognito
I use it to stop unnecessary programs from loading at startup.
Load 10 more?One thing, though?:? I’m not sure why you’re under the impression the Shutdown command exists “as of Windows 8/8.1″. It’s that very same Shutdown routine that the OS itself has been invoking every time a user logged off, powered down, or restarted his system since *at least* Windows XP.? I can’t recall before that, but for all I know it was around before then too.? But I can absolutely confirm its existence since XP since I’ve been using it since then to log off, power down, or restart my system through keyboard shortcuts assigned to “.cmd” scripts that use the Shutdown command.? So for example one can create a text file called “reboot.cmd” containing the one line “shutdown /r /t 10″, create a shortcut to “reboot.cmd” and store it in his personal ?%?appdata?%? Start Menu folder, and associate the keyboard shortcut ?Ctrl+Shift+R? (for example) to that shortcut.? Now whenever he does ?Ctrl+Shift+R? his computer will power down and restart after a 10 second delay.? I’ve been doing that kind of thing since XP.
?Other than that though, highly useful piece, like I said.