The list of commands we can use with CMD is very large. In this article, the main objective is to discover and familiarize yourself with the command prompt, we will essentially see the few useful commands, those that we use regularly to test, repair or troubleshoot the system. There are different ways to find CMD in your system. The cmd command is located in the directory:
C: \ Windows \ System32 \ cmd.exe
By the command Execute
Start menu, Run… and type cmd
Start menu, Run … and type cmdStart menu, Run… and type cmd
You can also open CMD which will interpret a command instantly with the option: / k command
CMD with the / k option cmd with the / k option
Via the Start menu
Start menu, Programs, Accessories then Command Prompt
Configure CMD
When you want to work properly with a tool, the first thing to do is to configure it properly in order to adapt it to your needs. CMD has the advantage of being very easily configurable. Here are its main options:
- Properties
- Right-click then choose the Properties option.
- CMD properties
- Command prompt properties
- Shortcut
In the Shortcut tab, we don’t normally touch anything, CMD opens in your work environment, namely: Documents And Settings \ Your_account \
CMD shortcut
But if you prefer to choose your own launch path, you just have to modify the default PATH and replace it with the path you want.
Modification of the CMD PATH
To work with more comfort, here are some modifications to make:
- Assigning the value 999 to the Screen buffer size allows you to scroll through the Command Prompt window.
- Assigning the value 5 to the Number of buffer zones allows you to assign 5000 lines to the window.
- Activating Quick Edit Mode allows you to perform copy and paste operations.
CMD options
Nothing special here, you can simply change the size of the font used.
Disposition
Here you can change the dimensions of the window, as well as its placement on the screen.
Colors
Like the police, the choice of colors cannot be discussed.
Security
CMD is a powerful tool, the security of the system can depend on it, it can be interesting to put restrictions on users if you do not want them to do anything.
Now that CMD is well configured, let’s take the opportunity to put a shortcut in the quick launch bar so that it is always at hand. Now, let’s get down to business, use.
Basic usage
CMD uses various commands, the syntax consisting of the command itself as well as parameters or options depending on the commands placed. But let’s start by discovering its use:
For a better understanding, some commands or arguments presented on the screenshots are colored and a brief comment for each of the parameters will be given.
Help To get help on a command, we use command “space” /?
Which gives here: cmd /?
Help with an order
Another possibility is to use help “space” command
Help on CMD
The process is the same for all orders, so it is strongly recommended that you use it.
Change directory
To change directory use the cd command
cd \ returns to the root of the partition.
Here, we see in yellow the various commands placed to navigate your directories.
