terminal.md

Classic Windows Command Line Tools – Progressive Guide

This guide covers essential legacy command-line tools available in the Windows Command Prompt (cmd.exe).
Each tool is introduced with a basic example, then followed by more advanced usage and real‑world scenarios.

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1. Getting Started – Navigating & Viewing Files

dir – List directory contents

Basic – show files in current folder

dir

Progressive – show only directories, wide format, including hidden/system files

dir /A:D /W
dir /A:H /S   (find hidden files in all subfolders)

cd – Change directory

Basic – go to C:\Windows

cd C:\Windows

Progressive – go up two levels, then down to Users\Public

cd ..\..\Users\Public

cls – Clear the screen

cls

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2. Working with Files – Copy, Move, Delete

copy – Simple file copy

Basic – copy one file to another location

copy report.txt D:\Backup\

Progressive – concatenate multiple text files into one

copy file1.txt + file2.txt combined.txt

xcopy – Advanced copy (folders, attributes, timestamps)

Basic – copy all files and subfolders (/E), preserving read‑only attribute (/K)

xcopy C:\Data D:\DataBackup /E /K

Progressive – copy only files modified after a certain date, with verification

xcopy "C:\Users\Public\*.docx" D:\Archive /D:01-01-2025 /V

move – Move or rename

Basic – move old.txt into Archive\

move old.txt Archive\

Progressive – rename a folder (both source and destination paths can be directories)

move "Project X" "Project_X_2025"

del – Delete files

Basic – delete all .tmp files quietly

del *.tmp /Q

Progressive – delete files recursively, prompting for each one

del /S /P *.log

mkdir & rmdir – Create / remove directories

Basic – create Backup inside Logs

mkdir Logs\Backup

Basic – remove empty folder

rmdir OldEmptyFolder

Progressive – remove a non‑empty folder and all its contents (/S), without confirmation (/Q)

rmdir /S /Q TempData

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3. Viewing & Searching File Content

type – Display text file

Basic – show readme.txt

type readme.txt

Progressive – use with more to paginate long files

type longfile.txt | more

find – Search for a string

Basic – find lines containing “Error” in app.log

find "Error" app.log

Progressive – search case‑insensitively (/I) and display line numbers (/N) across multiple files

find /I /N "warning" *.log

fc – Compare two files

Basic – ASCII comparison

fc old_config.ini new_config.ini

Progressive – binary comparison (/B) for non‑text files

fc /B image1.jpg image2.jpg

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4. Disk & File System Management

attrib – View or change file attributes

Basic – make a file hidden and read‑only

attrib +h +r secret.txt

Progressive – recursively remove the “system” attribute from all files in a folder

attrib -s C:\Windows\Temp\*.* /S

chkdsk – Check disk for errors

Basic – check drive C: (read‑only)

chkdsk C:

Progressive – fix errors (/F), locate bad sectors (/R), and force dismount if needed (/X)

chkdsk C: /F /R /X

Note: /R implies /F. The drive may need to be dismounted – answer Y to run at next reboot.

sfc – System File Checker

Basic – verify and repair protected system files

sfc /scannow

Progressive – verify only (no repair) and write logs to a custom path

sfc /verifyonly
sfc /scanfile=C:\Windows\System32\kernel32.dll

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5. Networking Tools – From Ping to Route Tracing

ipconfig – IP configuration

Basic – show all adapters’ IP, subnet mask, default gateway

ipconfig /all

Progressive – release and renew DHCP lease, then flush DNS cache

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns

ping – Test connectivity

Basic – send 4 ICMP packets to google.com

ping google.com

Progressive – ping continuously (-t), with 1500 byte packets (-l), stop after 10 pings

ping -t -l 1500 8.8.8.8

Stop with Ctrl+C.

tracert – Trace route

Basic – trace hops to example.com

tracert example.com

Progressive – avoid hostname resolution (-d) and use a specific timeout per hop

tracert -d -w 1000 192.168.1.1

netstat – Network statistics & connections

Basic – show all active TCP connections and listening ports numerically (-an)

netstat -an

Progressive – show process IDs (-o) and refresh every 5 seconds

netstat -ano 5

Then use taskkill (see next section) to close a connection’s owning process.

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6. Process & System Control

tasklist – List running processes

Basic – show all processes with PID, memory usage

tasklist

Progressive – filter only notepad.exe instances and show detailed modules (-m)

tasklist /fi "imagename eq notepad.exe" /m

taskkill – Terminate processes

Basic – end a process by PID (ask nicely, then force)

taskkill /PID 1234
taskkill /PID 1234 /F

Progressive – kill all processes that match a name (e.g., all calc.exe)

taskkill /IM calc.exe /F

shutdown – Restart or shut down the system

Basic – restart after 60 seconds with a comment

shutdown /r /t 60 /c "Scheduled restart"

Progressive – abort a pending shutdown, then perform an immediate shutdown

shutdown /a
shutdown /s /t 0

systeminfo – Detailed system information

Basic – display everything (OS version, manufacturer, uptime, hotfixes)

systeminfo

Progressive – filter for specific values using findstr

systeminfo | findstr /i "boot"    (find boot time)
systeminfo | findstr /i "hotfix"   (list installed updates)

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7. Batch Script Helpers – Echo, Set, Help

echo – Output text and control command echoing

Basic – print “Hello World”

echo Hello World

Progressive – turn off command echoing in a batch file (use @echo off) and create an empty file

@echo off
echo. > empty.txt

set – Environment variables

Basic – show all variables

set

Progressive – create a temporary variable and use it in a path

set MYDIR=C:\Temp\Work
mkdir %MYDIR%
copy %USERPROFILE%\*.txt %MYDIR%

help – Built‑in command reference

Basic – list all available commands

help

Progressive – get detailed syntax for xcopy

help xcopy

(Alternative: xcopy /? works for most commands.)

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Putting It All Together – A Real‑World Batch Example

The following script demonstrates several tools together:

• Check disk health,
• Copy logs,
• Kill a stuck process,
• Restart the machine if needed.

@echo off
echo === Starting maintenance ===

:: 1. Check disk C: (read-only)
chkdsk C:

:: 2. Find any "crash" entries in system logs
find /I "crash" C:\Windows\Logs\System.log

:: 3. Kill any hanging notepad processes
taskkill /IM notepad.exe /F >nul 2>&1

:: 4. Backup current user's documents to D:\Backup
xcopy "%USERPROFILE%\Documents\*" D:\Backup /E /Y /Q

:: 5. Ask user to restart
set /p answer="Restart now? (Y/N): "
if /i "%answer%"=="Y" shutdown /r /t 10 /c "Restart after maintenance"

echo === Maintenance complete ===

Save as maintenance.cmd and run as Administrator for full effect.

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Quick Reference Table (Updated)

Tool	Basic Task	Progressive Example
dir	List files	dir /A:D /S – list all folders recursively
xcopy	Copy folders	xcopy src dst /E /K /D:01-01-2025 – copy newer files
fc	Compare files	fc /B file1.bin file2.bin – binary compare
attrib	Change file attributes	attrib +h +r *.* /S – hide & protect all files in tree
chkdsk	Check disk	chkdsk C: /F /R – fix errors and scan bad sectors
ipconfig	Show IP	ipconfig /release && ipconfig /renew
ping	Test host	ping -t 8.8.8.8 – continuous ping
tracert	Trace route	tracert -d example.com – fast trace without DNS
netstat	Show connections	netstat -ano 5 – live update with PIDs
taskkill	Kill process	taskkill /IM virus.exe /F
shutdown	Restart PC	shutdown /r /t 0 – immediate restart
systeminfo	System details	systeminfo | findstr "OS Name"
set	Manage variables	set TEMP=C:\FastTemp – change temp folder for session
help	Command help	help copy

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Final Notes

• Use command /? for built‑in documentation of any tool.
• Most tools accept redirection: dir > filelist.txt, find "text" < input.txt.
• These commands are still fully functional on Windows 10/11, though PowerShell offers more power.
  For scripting on modern Windows, consider PowerShell – but the classics remain lightweight and omnipresent.

Keep this guide handy – you now have a progressive reference from simple commands to batch automation.