Windows Command Line Quick Reference¶

Alias¶

Using `Alias.exe`¶

REM Define individual alias
alias.exe vi "C:\Tools\vim74\gvim.exe" --remote-tab-silent "$*"

REM Batch define aliases using a text file
alias.exe -f myalias.txt

REM Example myalias.txt content
vi "C:\Tools\vim74\gvim.exe" --remote-tab-silent "$*"

Using `DOSKEY` command¶

DOSKEY vi=C:\vim80\gvim.exe --remote-tab-silent $*

The special symbol $* is the string after the alias in the command line. For example,

vi ~/.vimrc

will be executed as

C:\vim80\gvim.exe --remote-tab-silent ~/.vimrc

Diff¶

fc.exe file1.txt file2.txt

grep¶

findstr.exe /snip /c:"string to find" *.cpp *.h *.c

dir¶

Recursively search

dir.exe myfile /S

Processes¶

List the processes (on the current machine)

tasklist

REM List the process as well as the services loaded by the process
tasklist /svc   

REM List the processes that load sapi_onecore.dll
tasklist /FI "MODULES eq sapi_onecore.dll"  

REM List the processes that load any service whose name starts with "audio"
tasklist /FI "SERVICES eq audio*"

REM List the processes that load any service whose name starts with "audio", and show all the services loaded by each of such processes
tasklist /FI "SERVICES eq audio*" /SVC

List the processes that load a specific DLL abc.dll

tlist -m *abc.dll

Note

Option -m requires a match to the full path. As a result, the wildcard char * is necessary because we usually don't know (or don't want to type) the full path to abc.dll.

(Powershell) List the processes on the remote device

tlistd

REM List the process as well as the services loaded by the process
tlistd -s

Kill the process (on the current machine)

kill <PID>

(Powershell) Kill the process (on the current machine)

Stop-Process <PID>
Stop-Process -name <ProcessName>

(Powershell) Kill the processes on the remote device

killd <PID>

sc¶

Show the services that are dependent on a given <TargetService>

sc enumdepend <TargetService>

Note

It seems that sc enumdepend will show the nested dependencies. If service A depends on service B, which depends on service C, which depends on service D, then sc enumdepend D will show service A, B, and C in order.

Setting for Computer and User¶

(elevated Powershell) Set the computer to join a domain

Add-Computer -domain MyDomainName -cred MyDomainName\MyUserName

Add the user MyDomainName\MyUserName as local admin

net localgroup administrators MyDomainName\MyUserName /add

Note: If the user account belongs to the local machine instead of a domain, user . as MyDomainName (for example, .\yyc).

Enabling/disabling the remote desktop feature

REM Enabling
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

REM Disabling
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Registry¶

Query registry

REM query the key HKLM. This will only list the subkeys and values under the key HKLM.
reg query HKLM                       

REM recursively query the pattern "*microsoft*" under all subkeys under HKLM
reg query HKLM /f "*microsoft*" /s

Mapping directory to Drive¶

subst x: %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
subst x: /D

Open URL in IE/Edge¶

REM open in Microsoft IE
"c:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" <url>

REM open in Microsoft Edge
start microsoft-edge:<url>

Redirection¶

dir > a.txt 2>&1

ftp¶

Specify a script for the ftp client to run:

ftp -i -s:<script_filename>

An example of the script file to login ftp server example.com as user uname with password pword to upload file1.exe

open example.com
uname
pword
cd ./Folder1
binary
put file1.exe
quit

Shutdown/sleep/hibernate¶

REM Shutdown
%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -s

REM Reboot
%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -r
%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -r -t 0

REM Logoff
%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -l

REM Sleep
%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState 0,1,0

REM Hibernate
%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Hibernate

powercfg¶

Change power plan

REM Disable hibernation
powercfg -hibernate off

REM List available power plans
powercfg -list

REM Change to "high performance" power plan
powercfg -setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c

PROMPT¶

Change the cmd.exe command prompt.

List of special code:

   $A  &           (Ampersand)
   $B  |           (pipe)
   $C  (           (Left parenthesis)
   $D Current date
   $E Escape code  (ASCII code 27)
   $F  )           (Right parenthesis)
   $G  >           (greater-than sign)
   $H  Backspace   (erases previous character)
   $L  <           (less-than sign)
   $M  Display the remote name for Network drives
   $N  Current drive
   $P  Current drive and path
   $Q  =           (equal sign)
   $S              (space)
   $T  Current time
   $V  Windows version number
   $_  Carriage return and linefeed
   $$  $           (dollar sign)
   $+  Will display plus signs (+) one for each level of the PUSHD directory stack

For example:

REM Show the time (HH:MM) at the prompt
PROMPT=[$T$H$H$H$H$H$H]

REM Show the time (HH:MM) at the prompt, with color
PROMPT=$E[1;37;42m[$T$H$H$H$H$H$H]$E[;m

REM Reset to default
PROMPT=

Ref: https://ss64.com/nt/prompt.html

Environment Variable¶

Set a variable in the current environment

set FOOBAR=1

Remove a variable in the current environment (not permanently)

set FOOBAR=

Permanently remove the variable from the user environment (require logout/reboot to take effect):

REG delete HKCU\Environment /F /V FOOBAR

Permanently remove the variable from the system environment (require logout/reboot to take effect):

REG delete "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment" /F /V FOOBAR

Windows System Info¶

ver
systeminfo