Windows CMD commands: A list of command prompt codes

at Starts commands and programs at a particular time. With the parameter /every:date[,…] you can also set regular appointments. 10/8/7/Vista/XP auditpol Displays current monitoring policies. 10/8/7/Vista backup Creates backups of files. These can be recovered with restore (replaced by msbackup). DOS bcdboot Creates and repairs start files. 10/8/7 bcdedit Allows users to make changes to start configuration data storage (the command is a new version of bootcfq). 10/8/7/Vista bdehdcfg Prepares a hard drive for BitLocker Drive Encryption. 10/8/7 bootcfg Creates, edits, or displays the content of boot.ini (although it’s still included in the Windows 7 CMD, it has lost its function since boot.ini is no longer used for startup options, instead you should use bcdedit). 10/8/7/Vista/XP bootsect Modifies the master boot code sot that it’s compatible with the Windows Boot Manager or NT Loader (can only be started via system restore in Windows 7 and Vista). 10/8/7/Vista cacls Edits and displays the access control list. This sets access rights (outdated – replaced by icacls in newer Windows versions). 10/8/7/Vista/XP chkdsk Checks and repairs (with the parameter /R) a data drive. All Win/DOS chkntfs Changes or displays the data driver check at startup. 10/8/7/Vista/XP cmdkey Can display (/list), create (/add), or delete (/delete) login information. 10/8/7/Vista convert Converts partitions from FAT/FAT32 to NTFS. 10/8/7/Vista/XP ctty Changes the standard input and output for the system. 98/95/DOS dblspace Creates or configures compresses drives (a newer version of the command is called drvspace) .98/95/DOS defrag Defragments all or only specified drives. Use /U to observe the progress. To get an evaluation statistic after the defragmentation, use the parameter /V. All Win/DOS diskpart Manages, creates, and deletes partitions from the hard drive. 10/8/7/Vista/XP diskperf Allows users to remotely control the disk performance counter. 10/8/7/Vista diskraid Manages RAID systems. 10/8/7/Vista dism Manages and integrates Windows images. 10/8/7 dispdiag Creates a file in the current directory in which you’ll find information about your display. 10/8/7/Vista dosx Starts the DOS Protected Mode Interface, which allows MS-DOS programs more than 640 KB of RAM. Is only available to support older DOS programs. 32-Bit driverquery Creates a list with all installed drivers. 10/8/7/Vista/XP drvspace Creates or configures compressed drives. An older version of the command is called dblspace. 98/95/DOS emm386 Provides DOS with more than 640 KB of RAM. 98/95/DOS esentutl Manages databases within the extensible storage engine. 10/8/7/Vista/XP eventcreate Creates an entry (ID and message) in an event log. 10/8/7/Vista/XP eventtriggers Configures and displays event trigger. XP fdisk Creates, deletes, and manages partitions on the hard drive. Use diskpart in newer Windows versions. 98/95/DOS fltmc Allows users to manage and display filter drivers. 10/8/7/Vista/XP fondue Installs additional Windows features. The command is an abbreviation for the underlying tool: Features on Demand User Experience Tool. 10/8 format Formats a drive to the file system specified by the user. All Win/DOS fsutil Provides numerous features related to the file system, such as disk removal. 10/8/7/Vista/XP hwrcomp Compiles self-created dictionaries for handwriting recognition. 10/8/7 hwrreg Installs a compiled dictionary for handwriting recognition. 10/8/7 icacls Edits and displays the access control list. This sets access rights. An outdated version of this command is cacls. 10/8/7/Vista ktmutil Starts the kernel transaction manager. 10/8/7/Vista label Changes or deletes a drive’s label. All Win/DOS lh Loads a program into the high memory area (UMB) – has the same function as loadhigh. 98/95/DOS licensingdiag Creates an XML and a CAB file that contain information on the Windows product license. 10/8 loadfix Ensures that a program is loaded and executed above the first 64 KB of RAM. 32-bit/DOS loadhigh Has the same function as lh. 98/95/DOS lock Locks a drive so that only a user-selected program can access it directly. 98/95 lodctr Updates all registry entries that have to do with performance indicators. All Win logman Creates and manages event trace sessions and performance logs. 10/8/7/Vista/XP manage-bde Configures drive encryption with BitLocker. Use -on to encrypt a drive. Use -off to decrypt it again and end BitLocker protection. 10/8/7 mem Displays information about the RAM and indicates which programs are currently loaded in it. 32-bit/DOS memmaker Optimizes the RAM. 98/95/DOS mode Configures system devices – primarily on the COM or LPT port. All Win/DOS mofcomp Analyzes files in managed object format (MOF) and adds the classes and instances to the WMI repository. All Win mountvol Creates and deletes mount points for drives and displays them. 10/8/7/Vista/XP msav Starts Microsoft Antivirus. DOS msbackup Starts Microsoft Backup (replaces backup and restores). DOS mscdex Loads the CD-ROM support for MS-DOS. 98/95/DOS msd Starts the program Microsoft Diagnostics, with which system information can be displayed. DOS msiexec Starts the Windows installer, with which Windows can be installed and configured. 10/8/7/Vista/XP muiunattend Starts an automatic setup process for the multilingual user interface (MUI). 10/8/7/Vista netcfg Installs the minimal operating system Microsoft Windows PE. 10/8/7/Vista ocsetup Installs additional Windows functions. 8/7/Vista pentnt Recognizes floating point division errors in Pentium chips, starts floating point emulation, and disables floating point hardware. XP pkgmgr Installs, uninstalls, and configures packages and functions for Windows. 10/8/7/Vista pnpunattend Automates the installation of device drivers. 10 pnputil Installs plug-and-play devices from the command prompt. 10/8/7/Vista power Uses the IDLE status of a processor to reduce energy consumption. 98/95/DOS powercfg Allows the user to change the computer’s energy options and control energy conservation plans. 10/8/7/Vista/XP pwlauncher Configures the startup options for Windows To Go with which you can boot Windows from a USB drive. 10/8 qprocess Provides information on running processes. 10/8/7/Vista query Displays the status of a particular service. 10/8/7/Vista quser Provides information on the currently logged-in users. 10/8/7/Vista reagentc Configures the Windows recovery environment, with which you can repair the installation of the operating system. 10/8/7 recimg Creates a user-defined Windows image to restore the system. 8 reg Manages the registry of the command prompt. Users can create new keys (reg add) or delete them (reg delete). 10/8/7/Vista/XP regini Changes registry authorizations. 10/8/7/Vista/XP register-cimprovider Registers a common information model provider (CIM provider) in Windows. 10/8 regsvr32 Registers a DLL file in the registry. 10/8/7/Vista/XP relog Creates new performance indicator protocols from the data in the existing protocols. 10/8/7/Vista/XP repair-bde Repairs and decrypts defective drives that are encrypted with BitLocker. The files should be saved on a replacement drive. 10/8/7 reset Resets a session. You can also use the rwinsta command. 10/8/7/Vista/XP restore Restores backups that were created with the backup command (replaced by msbackup). DOS rwinsta Command has the same function as reset. 10/8/7/Vista/XP sc Manages services by connecting to the Service Controller. 10/8/7/Vista/XP scanreg Repairs the registry and allows a backup to be created of it. 98/95 sdbinst Applies user-defined database files (SDB). 10/8/7/Vista/XP secedit Analyzes the security settings by comparing the current configurations with templates. Settings can also be configured, imported, and exported with this command. 10/8/7/Vista/XP setver Sets a version number of MS-DOS that’s forwarded to a program – even if it doesn’t match the actual version. 32-bit/DOS setx Creates or changes environmental variable in the user of system environment. 10/8/7/Vista sfc Checks all important and protected system files. Incorrect versions are replaced by correct ones. 10/8/7/Vista/XP smartdrv Starts and manages the hard drive cache program SMARTDrive. 98/95/DOS sys Copies system files from MS-DOS and the command interpreter to another hard drive. This makes it bootable. 98/95/DOS systeminfo Displays information about the Windows installation, including all installed service packages. The information can be obtained from the local system as well as a remote computer. 10/8/7/Vista/XP tpmvscmgr Creates and deletes TPM virtual smart cards. These are virtual smartcards encrypted on the basis of the Trusted Platform Model. 10/8 tracerpt Processes logs or real-time data generated during the tracing of computer programs. 10/8/7/Vista/XP typeperf Displays performance counter data or writes it into a file. 10/8/7/Vista/XP unformat Undoes the drive formatting done by the format command. DOS unlock Unlocks a drive that was locked with the lock command. 98/95 unlodctr Deletes names as well as descriptions for extensible performance counters in the Windows registry. 10/8/7/Vista/XP vaultcmd Creates, deletes, and displays saved registration information. 10/8/7 vol Displays the label and serial number of a drive. All Win/DOS vsafe Starts the antivirus software VSafe. DOS vssadmin Manages the volume shadow copy services that can be used to store different versions (snapshots) of drives. 10/8/7/Vista/XP wbadmin Creates backups of the operating system and delivers information to the created backup copies. 10/8/7/Vista wevtutil Manages event logs and event log files. 10/8/7/Vista whoami Provides information about the current user. With the /GROUP parameter you can obtain additional information about group membership. 10/8/7/Vista winmgmt Manages WMI repositories. Backups (/backup) are possible with the command, for example. All Win winsat Evaluates various system factors – for example, processor performance or graphical capabilities. 10/8/7/Vista wmic Starts the Windows Management Instrumentation in the command prompt. Various Windows settings can be changed here – both locally and on remote computers. 10/8/7/Vista/XP xwizard Registers Windows data in the form of XML files. 10/8/7