The community rules state:

• "Someone else has relevant content and you want to help them share it with the world. It's a nice thought, but do not copy other people's content to the Wiki, even if the owner said it was OK."

Affected articles:

• The index of contents of this article is nearly identical to Darril Gibson's book.
• All linked sub-article - except the one about "systeminfo" - are also pirated content.

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This Wiki article reveals the command line to you for better managing Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Using the information in this article, you not only discover the vast array of commands that are at your disposal but you also see how to automate those commands so that you can save significant time and effort while performing administrative tasks.

Command Prompt Basics

• Launching and Using the Command Prompt

• How to Launch the Command Prompt Window
  

• How to Launch the Command Prompt with Elevated Privileges (Administrative Credentials)

• How to Pin the Command Prompt to the Start Menu and the Taskbar
  

• Tracking Command Line Actions with the Doskey Utility
  

• How to Create Mini Macros in Doskey Program

• Copying from and Pasting into the Command Prompt Window
  

• Changing the Options and Display of the Command Prompt

• Basic Rules When Using the Command Prompt

• Using uppercase or lowercase?

• Using quotes to enclose spaces

• Understanding variables

• Understanding switches

• Understanding wildcards

• Getting help

• Using Basic Commands

• Understanding folders and directories

• Understanding paths

• Viewing files and folders with "dir" Command

• Changing the path with "cd" Command

• Using drag and drop to the Command Prompt window

• How to Delete Folders with "rd" Command
  

• Creating folders with md

• Controlling output with more

• Redirecting output

• Using "exit" Command

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Working with Files, Folders, and Disks

• Manipulating Files and Folders

• Associating File Extensions with "assoc" and "ftype" Commands

• How to View Attributes of Files and Folders by Using "attrib" Command

• Compressing Files with "compact" Command

• Encrypting Files with "cipher" Command

• Copying Files with "copy", "xcopy", and "robocopy" Commands

• Deleting or Removing Files with "del" Command

• Expanding Cabinet Files with "expand" Command

• Taking Ownership of Files with "takeown" Command

• Mapping Drives with "net use" Command

• Managing "Disk Cleanup" at the command Line

• Manipulating Disks

• Manipulating and Viewing Disks with "diskpart" Command

• Defragmenting Volumes with "defrag" Command

• How to Convert FAT/FAT32 File Systems to NTFS with "convert" Command

• Managing File System with "fsutil" Command

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Managing and Maintaining Windows

• Using Windows 7 Maintenance Tools

• Controlling Power Settings with "powercfg" Command

• Checking Memory with "mdsched" Command

• Manipulating Services with "sc" Command

• Collecting Events with "wecutil" Command

• Restarting Systems with "shutdown" Command

• Launching Control Panel Applets from the Command Line

• Retrieving Information About Windows 7

• How to View System Information with "systeminfo" Command

• Viewing User Information with "whoami" Command

• Launching System Configuration with "msconfig" Command

• Managing Security in Windows 7

• Manipulating credentials with "cmdkey" Command

• Installing updates with "wusa" Command

• Installing applications with "msiexec" Command

• Auditing systems with "mbsacli" Command

• Using the "SysKey" Utility to Secure the Windows Security Accounts Manager (SAM) Database

• Configuring Windows 7 with netsh Command
  

• understanding "netsh" Command

• Understanding Contexts

• Configuring a Proxy Server

• Configuring Network Interfaces with "netsh" Command

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Troubleshooting Windows

• Configuring Windows Using Basic Troubleshooting Tools

• How to Verify Windows Protected (Core) System Files with "sfc" Command
  
• Viewing the System Name with "hostname" Command
  
• Verifying Driver Safety with the "sigverif" Utility
  
• Viewing Active Tasks with "tasklist" Command
• Terminating Processes with "taskkill" Command
• Viewing Installed Drivers with "driverquery" Command

• Troubleshooting Network Issues

• How to View the MAC Address of a (Remote) System with "getmac" Command
  
• Manipulating TCP/IP Configuration with "ipconfig" Command
  
• Checking Connectivity with "ping" Command
• Managing the Address Resolution Protocol with the ARP Command
• Viewing the Router Path with "tracert" Command
• Manipulating the Windows Routing Table with the "Route" Command
• Checking for Data Loss with "pathping" Command
• Checking for Records in DNS with "nslookup" Command

• Using Recovery Tools

• Manipulating the Boot Process with "bcdedit" Command

• Creating a System Repair Disc with "recdisc" Command

• Checking and Repairing Disks with "chkdsk" Command

• Repairing BitLocker Drives with "repair-bde" Command

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Remote Administration

• Managing Windows 7 Remotely

• Configuring Windows 7 for Remote Administration

• How to Connect to Remote Windows 7 Systems with "mstsc" Command
  

• Configuring Windows Remote Management with "winrm" Command

• Executing Commands Remotely with "winrs" Command

• Windows Management Instrumentation Command Line

• Understanding wmic

• Configuring the Firewall to Allow wmic

• Running wmic

• Modifying the Format with the /format Switch

• Retrieving Help from wmic

• Understanding Aliases

• Using Verbs

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Working with WinPE and Windows Setup

• WinPE Commands

• Add drivers to WinPE with "drvload" Command

• Run commands within WinPE with "wpeutil" Command

• Installing Windows 7 with setup

• Installing Windows 7 with "setup"

• Using the autounattend.xml file

• Using "slmgr" Command

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Using PowerShell

• Understanding PowerShell Commands

• Launching PowerShell

• Understanding PowerShell verbs and nouns

• Tabbing through PowerShell commands

• Understanding the different types of PowerShell commands

• Creating aliases

• Discovering Windows PowerShell commands

• Exploring get-member

• Redirecting output with Windows PowerShell

• Understanding PowerShell errors

• Understanding PowerShell variables

• Using comparison operators

• Understanding pipelining

• Using the Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE)

• Launching the ISE

• Exploring the ISE

• Executing commands in the ISE

• Creating and saving a script in the ISE

• Creating and Running PowerShell Scripts

• Setting the security context

• Creating a PowerShell profile

• Creating and modifying the Global PowerShell profile

• Running PowerShell Scripts

• Flushing the DNS cache

• Creating a list of domain computers

• Logging processes with a get-process script

• Testing for the existence of a file

• Creating output as HTML

• Running a script against multiple computers

• Creating a PowerShell message box

• Scheduling PowerShell scripts

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• Viewing Group Policy Settings with "gpresult" Command
  

• Refreshing Group Policy Settings with "gpupdate" Command

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