1.2 Windows Commands

Windows Command Line Tools

 

Privileges

• Not all users can run all commands - Some are the administrator only
• Standard privileges - Normal user, works fine for many commands
• Administrative / elevated privileges - Be a member of the Administrators group, Choose Run as Adiministrator, cmd Ctrl + Shift + Enter

 

Command line troubleshooting

• Use "help" if you are not sure > 'help dir' > 'help chkdsk'
• Also use - '[command] /?'
• Close the prompt with 'exit'

: To clear the cmd screen: 'cls'

 

When using "help"

 

 

 

 

File management

• dir - List files and directories
• cd or chdir - Change working directory, Use backslash \ to specify volume or folder name
• .. - Two dots/periods, The folder above the current folder

 

 

 

 

 

 

MD / CD / RD

• Make / Change / Remove Directory - mkdir / chdir / rmdir

 

 

Use 'md', 'cd', 'rd'

 

 

 

 

 

When making filename by using md command

 

 

 

 

 

When removing filename by using rd command

 

 

 

 

 

Drive letters

• Each partitions is assigned a letter - Primary storage drive is usually 'C'
• Reference the drive with the letter and a colon - 'C:'
• Combine with the folder - Folder names are separated with backslashes 'C:\Users\owner'

 

hostname

• View the name of the device - This is very useful when there are 10 different terminal screen tabs in use
• This is the Windows Device name - in the system settings
• cmd - 'hostname'

 

 

 

format

• Formats a disk for use with Windows - You can lose DATA, BACKUP!

 

copy /v, /y

• /v - Verifies that new files are written correctly
• /y - Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite
• cmd - copy source destination

use 'copy', 'copy /v', 'copy /y'

 

 

 

the result of copy cmd

 

 

 

 

 

 

xcopy

• copies files and directory trees (multiple)
• cmd - xcopy /s Documents m:\backups

 

Robust copy

• robocopy - A better xcopy (included with Windows 10 and 11), Extensive features

 

shutdown

• Shutdown a computer
• shutdown /s /t nn - Wait nn sec, then shutdown
• shutdown /r /t nn - Shutdown and restart after nn sec
• shutdown /a - Abort the shutdown! (stop the shutdown)

 

diskpart

• Manage disk configurations - You can lose DATA

 

winver

• View the About Windows dialog - A quick check
• Useful when troubleshooting - Are you running the latest version?

 

 

 

 

Managing Group Policy

• Group Policy - Manage computers in a Active Directory Domain, Group Policy is usually updated at login
• gpupdate - Force a Group Policy update : allow the user to perform that update without having to cycle
• gpupdate /target: {computer | user}
• gpupdate /target: user /force
• gpresult - Verify policy settings for a computer or user
• gpresult /r - complie all of the information about the current Active Directory configuration
• gpresult /user sgc/professor /v

 

 

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The Windows Network Command Line

 

ipconfig

• Most of your troubleshooting starts with your IP address - ping [your local router/gateway]
• Determine TCP/IP and network adapter information - And some additional IP details
• View additional configuration details - DNS servers, DHCP server, etc.

 

ipconfig

 

 

ping

• Test reachability - Determine round-trip time, Uses Internal Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
• One of your primary troubleshooting tools - Can you ping the host?

 

ping

 

 

 

netstat

• Network statistics - Many different operating systems
• netstat -a - Show all active connections
• netstat -b - Show binaries (Windows) requires elevation (administrator only)
• netstat -n - Do not resolve names, just IP address

 

 

netstat -a

 

 

 

netstat -b (administrator only)

 

 

 

 

netstat -n

 

 

 

 

 

nslookup

• Name Server lookup - lookup information from DNS servers, Canonical names, IP addresses, cache timers, etc
• Lookup names and IP addresses - Many different options
• cmd - nslookup [domain address]

 

nslookup

 

 

 

net

• Windows network commands

 

Common 'net' commands

• View network resources - net view \\<servername>, net view /workgroup:<work group name>
• Map a network share to a drive letter - net use <drive letter>: \\<servername>\<sharename>
• View user account information and reset passwords - net user <username>, net user <username> * /domain

 

tracert

• Determine the route a packet tasks to a destination - map the entire path
• takes advantage of ICMP Time to Live Exceeded error message
  
  • The time in TTL refers to hops, not seconds or minutes
  • TTL = 1 is the first router, TTL = 2 is the second router, etc
• Not all devices will reply with ICMPTime Exceeded messages
  • Some firewalls filter ICMP
  • ICMP is low-priority for many devices
• TTL is decreased by hitting the router - If TTL is exceeded (TTL = 0), TTL is sent back to sender's computer and then increasing TTL and repeating this way until receiver get the message. Then, receiver send ICMP Reply to sender.

 

 

 

 

pathping

• Combine ping and traceroute - Included with Windows NT and later
• First phase runs a traceroute - Build a map
• Second phase - Measure round trip time and packet loss at each hop

 

pathping