15 Best Command Prompt (CMD) Tips, Tricks & Hacks

CMD is short for command prompt or cmd.exe. CMD is used to enter command lines to interact with user and to execute written commands. It is more suited and portable with different hardware platforms than the old COMMAND.COM which was used in DOS and Windows 9x systems.

Command Prompt Tips, Tricks & Hacks

Another difference between them is that in command.com user has to use shortened file name whereas in CMD one can use long file names. Here I’m going to suggest some of these working & Genuine command lines which you can try out in your leisure time on your PC.

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Top 15 Best Working Command Prompt Tricks

1. Watch Star War IV

This is the most insensible but very entertaining type of command. Just enter this ‘telnet towels.blinkenights.nl’ command in your command prompt and see the magic. The film literally plays in this window. You just have to make sure that the Telnet is enabled on your PC from Microsoft website. Also make no mistake the movie will not be played in HD quality but in the ASCII version.

2. Creating WI-Fi Hotspot

We generally download various software from internet to share our internet connection with our friends but by using a simple command in the CMD you can easily share without having to download 3rd party apps. 

For enabling the Wi-Fi hotspot enter the command “netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Hotspotname key=password” into your command prompt window. Then use “netsh wlan start hostednetwork” to start hotspot and “netsh wlan stop hostednetwork” for stopping the hotspot.

But before this you need to make some changes in your network settings. Check the option “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection” in the properties windows of “change adapter settings” in the “network and sharing menu”. Also for running this command administrator privileges should be used. 

See Also: – 3 Ways to Create Wi-Fi Hotspot in Windows

3. Hiding Files and Folders

For hiding some important files which you don’t want others to see and which cannot be accessed via the regular old hiding feature of Windows you can easily use this command. Just type “Attrib +h +s +r” along with the file or folder name you want to hide and the command will look like this “D: Attrib +h +s +r haider” afterwards.

4. Getting Network Details

It is the most easiest and remembered command present till now. Its operation is to get all the information about the computer network such as IP Address, MAC Address etc. You just have to write “ipconfig” in the prompt box.

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5. Changing Command Prompt Color

If you are bored with the same old and drab black color of your command prompt, you can just go to properties by right clicking at any top corner and selecting colors option from it to change the color of text and screen.

6. Scanning System

Your antivirus is not working properly and you just want to scan your files once again and check them for any present virus then you can easily use this simple command line “sfc/scannow”. Press enter to start the scan immediately. This process will take time depending on the condition of your speed working. It will also clean and repair your files without any prompting.

7. Checking IP Address of a Website

This is also done by using one of the easiest commands available. Just type “nslookup” command in the window along with site’s name if you want to know its IP address.

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8. Comparing of Two Files

Simple file comparison without the advanced features of some professional data comparison can be easily done by using “FC” command. After entering FC command one has to get into the directory of both the files for starting the comparison. For Example “fc D:samplef1.txt” is used as one directory. After entering both directories press enter and get the results. If the files are different then the difference will be displayed and if not then the message “no difference encountered” may be displayed.

9. Creating Undeletable Folders

Sometimes necessary files can get deleted by mistake and you can come to regret your action. But if you create a folder using command prompt in any driver you want then you can reduce the risk of it. Just enter the commands “md new” or “md file” after the driver’s name to create the folder with the similar name as new and file. For deleting the files just replace md with rd such as “rd new” or “rd file”.

10. Getting Drivers Names

Just type “driverquery” in the command prompt window to get the list of the drivers with their name, date of formation, size of the disk etc.

11. Using Function Keys

Different function keys are used to perform various operations in the command prompt. Such as:

  • F1: – It is used to paste each character of the last used command. 
  • F2: – It is also used to paste last used command but only the more specified characters.
  • F3: – It is used to paste last used command. 
  • F4: – It is used to delete the last used command but for only the more specified characters. 
  • F5: – Used to paste last used command without cycling. 
  • F6: – Used to paste ^Z. 
  • F7: – Using this one will give you the list of last used commands. 
  • F8: – Used to paste commands which are cycleable. 
  • F9: – If you want to paste some command from the list of recently used command, use this.

12. Saving a Command in a File

Want to save the result of the command you used recently? Add “> (destination/file name with .txt extension)” after writing the command line for execution.

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13. Executing Multiple Commands at Once

If you are waiting for some command to finish running before you type some other command then you need not wait. You can quickly type more than one command at once. Use “&&” between each command for separating them. The commands then will be executed simultaneously after each other.

14. For Shutting and Restarting the Computer

Use “shutdown – s” for shutting down and “shutdown – r” for restarting the computer after shutting down.

15. Knowing File Extension

From the many data presents in our computer, it was difficult to know which file has got what file extension and thus the command “assoc” is used to display the list of files with their extension.
By using these commands one can easily learn about all the shortcuts used in a computer. Also using these commands is fun.

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