How to find how long a Windows XP system has been running since the last restart or shut down.
Note: This works for Windows XP Professional.
1. Click Start > Run.
2. Type cmd and click OK.
3. Type systeminfo and press the Enter key.
4. Scroll back toward the top of the screen and look on the line that says System Up Time.
Ending a process in Windows using a command can be handy if you’re writing a batch file. You can accomplish this by using the TSKILL command. Let’s try this command out by ending the Notepad process.
1. Open Notepad by clicking Start > Run or hold down the Windows Key and press R.
2. Type notepad and click OK.
3. Click Start > Run or Hold down the Windows Key and press R.
4. Type CMD and click OK to bring up a DOS command box.
5. At the command prompt, type TSKILL notepad.
6. The Notepad application should close.
You can also use wildcards:
Typing TSKILL note* will close all processes that start with note.
You can also kill the process by the ID:
Type TSKILL 15203
See also:
HOW TO: Use the TSKILL Command to End Processes in Windows 2000 Terminal Services
A friend of mine recently told me how he makes it look like he’s really busy doing his server administration duties. His boss is like many managers in the computer industry. They know little about how to do stuff technically. Many have been managers so long that they lack the understanding of the tools that are used to troubleshoot and maintain computers these days. They pretty much just focus their time on managing people and making sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
This is why my friend and any other person working as an administrator can fake it and make it look like they are busy. He uses the NETSTAT command in a DOS window to achieve this. On the right side of his giant screen, he has NETSTAT running all the time. This command provides information about the network connections that are currently being used by the computer.
He goes to a command prompt and types netstat -o 3
This makes the netstat command run every 3 seconds. It generates a nice, busy looking DOS window. Your manager will most likely not understand what’s on the screen, but he will definitely think you have an eye on things whenever he walks by your desk.
Find your own variation on using a method like this to fake working. Use some script that runs commands over and over again. Run software that is very active on the screen. Looking busy is half the workplace battle.
knr writes “Here is a quick and easy tip that can come in pretty handy if you find yourself always wanting to access a specific location on your hard drive using a command prompt. In the following example, I will create a shortcut to a command prompt window that opens using my desktop as the root. This can be handy when you want to work with files that you are using on your desktop (e.g. that you just downloaded from Firefox, etc.).
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /k
“C:\Documents and Settings\knrDesktop\”
Be sure to include the quotation marks, and of course you would need to customize this file path to your own system (i.e. replacing “knr” with your own Windows username).
That’s it! Now, whenever you want a command prompt window at the location that you specified in the shortcut, just click the icon (or use your shortcut key, if you defined one) and you are in business! “
How to get the MAC address of a network card by IP address or Computer Name by using the GETMAC command.
To use this command…
1. Open a command prompt with administrator priveleges.
2. You can use one of the following commands
GETMAC /s computername - Get MAC by Computer Name
GETMAC /s 192.168.1.1 - Get MAC by IP Address
For other ways to use this command you can visit the Microsoft Documentation on GETMAC.
Also, Technipages has made a little GUI utility that will easily pull the MAC address by the computer name or IP address. You can download it here.
NOTE: You must have administrator rights on the machine you are getting the IP address for.
How to prevent Local GPO processing on your computer.
1. Click Start > Run and type gpmc.msc. Launch the Group Policy Management Console
2. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Group Policy
3. Double-click Turn off Local Group Policy objects processing in the right-hand pane and set it to Enabled. Click OK.
4. Restart the computer.
Local GPO processing will now be disabled.
How to synchronize the time with another computer on the network.
You can syncronize your Windows computer with another computer on the network by using the NET TIME command.
To use this command, open a command prompt and type:
NET TIME \\computername /SET /Y
If you are on a domain, it’s usually standard to synchronize the time with your login server. To do this type:
NET TIME \\%LOGONSERVER% /SET /Y
If you only know the IP address of the computer, you can use that as well:
NET TIME \\192.168.1.1 /SET /Y
Using the NET STATISTICS command, you can get a lot of detailed information about how a workstation or server is communicating over the network.
Open a command prompt and type:
NET STATISTICS WORKSTATION
for workstation communication information about your computer
A typical workstation report will look like the following:
Workstation Statistics for \\COMPUTERNAME
Statistics since 07/17/2007 1:02 PM
Bytes received 97328
Server Message Blocks (SMBs) received 670
Bytes transmitted 158765
Server Message Blocks (SMBs) transmitted 656
Read operations 73
Write operations 0
Raw reads denied 0
Raw writes denied 0
Network errors 0
Connections made 18
Reconnections made 3
Server disconnects 2
Sessions started 0
Hung sessions 0
Failed sessions 0
Failed operations 0
Use count 22
Failed use count 0
The command completed successfully.
For server communication information about your computer type:
NET STATISTICS SERVER
Using a simple command, you can add or remove a computer to a domain.
You must be a domain administrator to run this command
Open a command prompt:
Type:
net computer \\computername /add
to add a computer to the domain
Type:
net computer \\computername /del
to remove a computer from the domain.
These command are especially valuable if you are using batch files.
Launch special Windows Vista folders using shell commands.
shell:AddNewProgramsFolder
shell:Administrative Tools
shell:AppData
shell:AppUpdatesFolder
shell:CD Burning
shell:CSCFolder
shell:Cache
shell:ChangeRemoveProgramsFolder
shell:Common Administrative Tools
shell:Common AppData
shell:Common Desktop
shell:Common Documents
shell:CommonDownloads
shell:CommonMusic
shell:CommonPictures
shell:Common Programs
shell:Common Start Menu
shell:Common Startup
shell:Common Templates
shell:CommonVideo
shell:ConflictFolder
shell:ConnectionsFolder
shell:Contacts
shell:ControlPanelFolder
shell:Cookies
shell:CredentialManager
shell:CryptoKeys
shell:Default Gadgets
shell:Desktop Read more… »
NET SEND commands don’t usually work once Windows XP SP2 has been installed because SP2 disabled the Messenger Service. This service needs to be re-enabled on the sending and receiving computers in order to use it. You might get the error:
An error occurred while sending a message to Computer Name/Username.
The message alias could not be found on the network.
More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 2273.
1. Right-click My Computer, and click Manage.
2. Click the plus sign next to Services and Applications, and then click Services.
3. double-click Messenger.
4. Click the General tab and select Automatic from the Startup type list, and then click Apply.
5. Under Service status, click Start, and click OK.
6. Click OK, then OK again.
Be sure to perform these steps on both the sending computer and the receiving computer.
How to prevent the login script console screen from being seen by the user when they login to the system.
Create a batch file that calls your login script.
START /MIN LOGON.BAT
Set this file as the new login script name for the user accounts in User Manager for Domain.
Now the login script will be executed seperately, preventing the user from seeing the commands that are being run.
Ensure that there is no prompt to restart the computer when applying Microsoft Hotfix Updates.
Use the /norestart switch to prevent a message to restart the computer from appearing.
For example, I downloaded a hotfix from Microsoft with a filename of WindowsInstaller-KB893803-v2-x86.exe and saved it to my Desktop. So I ran the command:
“C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop\
WindowsInstaller-KB893803-v2-x86.exe” /norestart
NOTE: This works if you have version 5.3.24.3 of update.exe or later. For earlier versions, you can use the /z switch instead.
Want to create a text file of all the processes currently running on the computer? Here’s how.
You can run either of the following commands:
WMIC /OUTPUT:C:ProcessList.txt PROCESS get Caption,Commandline,Processid
or
WMIC /OUTPUT:C:ProcessList.txt path win32_process get Caption,Processid,Commandline
This will produce a text file called ProcessList.txt on the C: drive that will list all of the processes that were running when this command was executed
Create a shortcut that will put your computer into Hibernate or Suspend Mode.
1. Right click on your desktop and select New and then Shortcut.
2. Type RunDll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState into the location box and click Next.
3. Enter a name for the shortcut and click Finish.
Here is a list of RUNDLL32 shortcuts that can be used in Windows Vista.
I love these shortcuts. I use them all the time to create shortcut icons for my users or when creating batch files.
Add/Remove Programs
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl,,0
Content Advisor
RunDll32.exe msrating.dll,RatingSetupUI
Control Panel
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL
Date and Time Properties
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL timedate.cpl
Display Settings
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL access.cpl,,3
Device Manager
RunDll32.exe devmgr.dll DeviceManager_Execute
Folder Options - File Types
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_Options 2
Folder Options - General
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 0
Folder Options - Search
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 2
Folder Options - View
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Options_RunDLL 7
RUNDLL32 shortcut that can be used to access the list of stored usernames and passwords.
To run commands you may need to enable the Run option within Vista.
Use the command:
RunDll32.exe keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr
These are usernames and passwords that are used when logging into network resources.
Install Microsoft Updates without user interaction screens appearing by using a command line switch.
Use the /quiet switch to install Microsoft Hotfixes in “Quiet Mode”
For example, I downloaded a hotfix from Microsoft and saved it to my Desktop. So I ran the command:
“C:\Documents and Settings\username\
Desktop\WindowsInstaller-KB893803-v2-x86.exe” /quiet
NOTE: This works if you have version 5.3.24.3 of update.exe and later. For earlier versions, you can use the /q switch instead.
Skip the part of Microsoft Hotfix installers that backup your files for uninstall with this switch.
Use the /nobackup switch to bypass this part.
For example, I downloaded a hotfix from Microsoft and saved it to my Desktop. So I ran the command:
“C:\Documents and Settings\username\Desktop\WindowsInstaller-KB893803-v2-x86.exe” /nobackup
NOTE: This works if you have version 6.1.22.0 of update.exe or later. For earlier versions, you can use the /n switch instead.
You can use a Rundll32 shortcut to access the Map Network Drive screen.
Use the following command.
rundll32.exe shell32, SHHelpShortcuts_RunDLL Connect
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