Windows 7/8 Command Prompt Common Commands

Dnscmd

A command-line interface for managing DNS servers. This utility is useful in scripting batch files to help automate routine DNS management tasks, or to perform simple unattended setup and configuration of new DNS servers on your network.

PowerShell

A task-based command-line shell and scripting language designed especially for system administration.

DiskPart

A text-mode command interpreter that enables you to manage objects (disks, partitions, volumes, or virtual hard disks) by using scripts or direct input from a command prompt.

Subst

Associates a path with a drive letter.

Prompt

Changes the Cmd.exe command prompt.

Color

Changes the foreground and background colors in the Command Prompt window for the current session. If used without parameters, restores the default Command Prompt window foreground and background colors.

Chkdsk

Checks the file system and file system metadata of a volume for logical and physical errors.

Cls

Clears the Command Prompt window.

Telnet

Communicates with a computer running the Telnet Server service.

Comp

Compares the contents of two files or sets of files byte-by-byte.

Fc

Compares two files or sets of files and displays the differences between them.

Powercfg

Control power settings and configure computers to default to Hibernate or Standby modes.

Convert

Converts file allocation table (FAT) and FAT32 volumes to the NTFS file system, leaving existing files and directories intact. Volumes converted to the NTFS file system cannot be converted back to FAT or FAT32.

Robocopy

Copies file data.

Xcopy

Copies files and directories, including subdirectories

Copy

Copies one or more files from one location to another.

Md

Creates a directory or subdirectory.

Mkdir

Creates a directory or subdirectory.

Title

Creates a title for the Command Prompt window.

Label

Creates, changes, or deletes the volume label (that is, the name) of a disk.

Rmdir

Deletes a directory.

Del

Deletes one or more files.

Erase

Deletes one or more files.

Tracert

Determines the path taken to a destination by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Request or ICMPv6 messages to the destination with incrementally increasing Time to Live (TTL) field values. The path displayed is the list of near/side router interfaces of the routers in the path between a source host and a destination.

Wmic

Displays WMI information inside an interactive command shell.

Dir

Displays a list of a directory's files and subdirectories. If used without parameters, displays the disk's volume label and serial number, followed by a list of directories and files on the disk (including their names and the date and time each was last modified). For files, displays the name extension and the size in bytes. Also displays the total number of files and directories listed, their cumulative size, and the free space (in bytes) remaining on the disk.

Tasklist

Displays a list of currently running processes on the local computer or on a remote computer.

Ipconfig

Displays all current TCP/IP network configuration values and refreshes Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System (DNS) settings.

Systeminfo

Displays detailed configuration information about a computer and its operating system, including operating system configuration, security information, product ID, and hardware properties (such as RAM, disk space, and network cards).

Nslookup

Displays information that you can use to diagnose Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure.

Echo

Displays messages

More

Displays one screen of output at a time.

Date

Displays or sets the system date. If used without parameters, displays the current system date setting and prompts you to enter a new date.

Time

Displays or sets the system time.

Type

Displays the contents of a text file.

Tree

Displays the directory structure of a path or of the disk in a drive graphically.

Vol

Displays the disk volume label and serial number, if they exist.

Where

Displays the location of files that match the given search pattern.

Cd

Displays the name of or changes the current directory.

Ver

Displays the operating system version number.

Whoami

Displays user, group and privileges information for the user who is currently logged on to the local system.

Set

Displays, sets, or removes CMD.EXE environment variables.

Attrib

Displays, sets, or removes attributes assigned to files or directories. If used without parameters, displays attributes of all files in the current directory.

Driverquery

Enables an administrator to display a list of installed device drivers and their properties.

Wbadmin

Enables you to back up and restore your operating system, volumes, files, folders, and applications from a command prompt.

Shutdown

Enables you to shut down or restart local or remote computers one at a time.

Taskkill

Ends one or more tasks or processes. Processes can be ended by process ID or image name.

Exit

Exits the Cmd.exe program (the command interpreter) or the current batch script.

Expand

Expands one or more compressed files. You can use this command to retrieve compressed files from distribution disks.

Extract

Extracts file(s) from a cabinet on the distribution disks.

Format

Formats a disk to accept Windows files.

Defrag

Locates and consolidates fragmented files on local volumes to improve system performance. Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to run this command.

Move

Moves one or more files from one directory to another directory.

Msinfo32

Opens the System Information tool to display a comprehensive view of the hardware, system components, and software environment on the local computer.

Fsutil

Performs tasks that are related to file allocation table (FAT) and NTFS file systems, such as managing reparse points, managing sparse files, or dismounting a volume.

Help

Provides online information about system commands

Sort

Reads input, sorts data, and writes the results to the screen, to a file, or to another device.

Regsvr32

Registers .dll files as command components in the registry.

Ren

Renames files or directories.

Rename

Renames files or directories.

Replace

Replaces files.

Getmac

Returns the media access control (MAC) address and list of network protocols associated with each address for all network cards in each computer, either locally or across a network.

Sfc

Scans and verifies the integrity of all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct versions.

Find

Searches for a string of text in a file or files, and displays lines of text that contain the specified string.

Print

Sends a text file to a printer.

Path

Sets the command path in the PATH environment variable (the set of directories used to search for executable files).

Perfmon

Start Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor in a specific standalone mode.

Edit

Starts MS-DOS Editor, which creates and changes ASCII text files.

Cmd

Starts a new instance of the command interpreter. If used without parameters, displays the version and copyright information of the operating system.

Start

Starts a separate Command Prompt window to run a specified program or command.

Ftp

Transfers files to and from a computer running a File Transfer Protocol server service.

Tftp

Transfers files to and from a remote computer, typically a computer running UNIX, that is running the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) service or daemon.

Mount

Use to mount Network File System (NFS) network shares.

Ping

Verifies IP-level connectivity to another TCP/IP computer by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Request messages.