WindowsXP Command Line Utilities
Added 1/5/02
While there are a lot of command line utilities in WindowsXP, here are some that I have been using lately.
bootcfg - Configures, queries, or changes Boot.ini file settings.
driverquery - Displays a list of all installed device drivers and their properties.
getmac - Returns the media access control (MAC) address and list of network protocols associated with each address for all network cards in each computer
gpresult - Displays Group Policy settings and Resultant Set of Policy (RSOP) for a user or a computer
netsh - You can use commands in the Netsh Interface IP context to configure the TCP/IP protocol
schtasks - Schedules commands and programs to run periodically or at a specific time
systeminfo - Displays detailed configuration information about a computer and its operating system
Disabling Error Reporting
Added 12/5/01
By default, WindowsXP will request to report application errors to Microsoft.
To turn this off:
Right click on the My Computer icon on the desktop
Select Properties / Advanced
Click on the Error Reporting tab
Check Disable error reporting
Adding a Title for the Command Prompt Title Bar
Added 11/27/01
If you create a batch file that might take a while to run,
you can add a title to the command prompt title bar it by simply adding the line:
title YOUR TEXT
where YOUR TEXT would be replaced by whatever text you want to show.
Increasing Graphics Performance
Added 11/27/01
By default, WindowsXP turns on a lot of shadows, fades, slides etc to menu items.
Most simply slow down their display.
To turn these off selectively:
Right click on the My Computer icon
Select Properties
Click on the Advanced tab
Under Performance, click on the Settings button
To turn them all of, select Adjust for best performance
My preference is to leave them all off except for Show shadows under mouse pointer and Show window contents while dragging
Creating an Automated Install of WindowsXP
Added 11/12/01
On the WindowsXP CP, in the SUPPORT\TOOLS directory,
there is a file called DEPLOY.CAB.
Extract the programs DEPLOY.CHM (help file) and SETUPMGR.EXE (main program)
Run SETUPMGR and answer the prompts.
This will create both a unattend.bat and unattend.txt file you can use for automated installs.
Note: The batch file might need some minor modification for file locations but it is fairly basic.
Creating a Shutdown/Reboot Icon
Added 11/11/01
WindowsXP has a program called SHUTDOWN.EXE which allows you to easily create icons to shutdown or restart your computer.
To create a shutdown shortcut on the desktop:
Right click on an open area of the desktop
Select New / Shortcut
Enter in "shutdown -s -t 00" - no quotes
Press the Next button
For the name, enter in anything you like. I just use shutdown. Click on the Finish button.
For a reboot, enter "shutdown -r -t 00"
Shutdown [{-l|-s|-r|-a}] [-f] [-m [\\ComputerName]] [-t xx] [-c "message"] [-d[u][p]x:yy]
Parameters
• -l - Logs off the current user, this is also the defualt. -m ComputerName takes precedence.
• -s - Shuts down the local computer.
• -r - Reboots after shutdown.
• -a - Aborts shutdown. Ignores other parameters, except -l and ComputerName. You can only use -a during the time-out period.
• -f - Forces running applications to close.
• -m [\\ComputerName] - Specifies the computer that you want to shut down.
• -t xx - Sets the timer for system shutdown in xx seconds. The default is 20 seconds.
• -c "message" - Specifies a message to be displayed in the Message area of the System Shutdown window. You can use a maximum of 127 characters. You must enclose the message in quotation marks.
Command Line Help Reference
Added 11/11/01
To get a quick help for all the commands you can enter from WindowsXP,
simply create a shortcut:
hh.exe ms-its:C:\WINDOWS\Help\ntcmds.chm::/ntcmds.htm
Using the System File Checker
Added 11/11/01
You can run the System File Checker to verify protected system files.
Command line switches are:
sfc [/scannow] [/scanonce] [/scanboot] [/revert] [/purgecache] [/cachesize=x]
• /scannow - Scans all protected system files immediately.
• /scanonce - Scans all protected system files once.
• /scanboot - Scans all protected system files every time the computer is restarted.
• /revert - Returns the scan to its default operation.
• /purgecache - Purges the Windows File Protection file cache and scans all protected system files immediately.
• /cachesize=x - Sets the size, in MB, of the Windows File Protection file cache.
Disabling Balloon Tips
Added 11/9/01
To turn off balloon tips in applications that support XP Themes:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\Advanced\
Change the value of EnableBalloonTips from 1 to 0
Speeding Up the Display of Start Menu Items
Added 11/8/01
An easy way to speed up the display of the Start Menu Items is to turn off the menu shadow.
Right click on an open area of the Desktop
Select Properties
Click on the Appearance tab
Click on the Effects button
Uncheck Show shadows under menus
Installing the NetBEUI Protocol
Added 11/7/01
Microsoft no longer supports the NetBEUI protocol as part of WindowsXP.
You can add it as a installable protocol by going to the VALUEADD \ MSFT \ NET \ NETBEUI
directory on the CD ROM.
Note: %SYSTEMROOT% refers to the drive and directory where you installed WindowsXP.
Typically this is in the C:\WINDOWS directory
Copy the nbf.sys into the %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ directory
Copy netnbf.inf into the %SYSTEMROOT%\INF\ directory
Open the Network connection properties for your local area network and use "Install..." button to add NetBEUI protocol
I included a zipped file <software/xp_netbeui.zip> with the above files and a simple batch file to copy both to the appropriate directories
Setting System Time Over the Internet
Added 11/5/01
You can set your system clock to a time server on the Internet.
Double-click the time on your taskbar
Click the Internet Time tab
Check Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server
Click on the Update Now button
Creating a Password Recovery Disk
Added 11/5/01
In case you forget your password, you can create a password recovery floppy disk beforehand to help you out of this problem.
Single-click Start menu
Go to the Control Panel / User Accounts
Click the User Account
On the left hand side, click on Prevent forgotten password
You will need to know your password to create the disk.
If you don't remember your password sometime in the future, click on the green arrow like normal at the login and you will be prompted to insert the password recover disk.
Changing the Default Search Settings
Added 11/5/01
By default, when you start a search,
you are prompted for what you want to search for.
(e.g. Pictures, Documents, Files, Computers)
To change the preferences, simply click on Change preferences
From here you can:
Turn off the animated screen character
Change files and folders search behavior (setting it to Advanced changes the default search screen to be for simply files)
Internet search settings
Turn off balloon tips
Opening an Explorer Window to the Directory You Want
Added 9/4/01
If you want to create a shortcut for the Explorer to a specific directory,
include the directory you want in the Target.
For example:
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n, /e, d:\internet
would open the Explorer to the D:\INTERNET directory
Disabling Hibernation
Added 8/20/01
If you don't want to use up the disk space taken by Hibernation, or don't need to use it at all,
you can easily disable it.
Open up the Control Panel / Power Options icon
Click on the Hibernation icon
Uncheck Enable Hibernation
Locking the Workstation
Added 8/19/01
There are two ways you can lock the workstation.
With a Windows key + L
Create an shortcut rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
Changing the Picture Displayed for a User
Added 8/19/01
You can change the picture that gets displayed for a particular user
Go to the Control Panel
Select User Accounts
Click on the Account to change
Click on Change my picture
You can then browse to the picture you want to use
Displaying the QuickLaunch Toolbar
Added 8/16/01
By default, WindowsXP does not show the QuickLaunch toolbar.
To enable it again:
Right click on an open area of the toolbar
Select Toolbars
Select Quick Launch
Now you can add programs like with Win98
Increasing System Performance
Added 8/16/01
If you have 512 megs or more of memory, you can increase system performance
by having the core system kept in memory.
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive
Set the value to be 1
Reboot the computer
Clearing the Page File on Shutdown
Added 8/16/01
If you want to clear the page file on each shutdown:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Set the value to 1
Removing the MSN Messenger
Added 8/16/01
If you want to remove the MSN Messenger from always starting in the system tray, do
Start / Run
Then enter in the following string: RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
To remove it completely, see the section Adding / Removing Additional Programs
Remove the hide from the line:
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
Common Command Console Utilities
Added 8/16/01
WindowsXP comes with quite a few console utilities you can easily run from the command line:
Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
Disk Managment - diskmgmt.msc
Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
Disk Defrag - dfrg.msc
Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
Group Policies - gpedit.msc
Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
Resultant Set of Policies - rsop.msc
Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
Services - services.msc
Component Services - comexp.msc
Automatically Ending Non-Responsive Tasks
Added 8/16/01
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\AutoEndTasks
Set the value to be 1
In the same section, change the WaitToKillAppTimeout to the number of milliseconds you want.
Changing the Internet Explorer Title
Added 8/16/01
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Window Title
Enter what you want appear in the title bar
Changing Visual Effects
Added 8/16/01
To change visual effects such as fade menus, mouse shadow, visual styles on buttons, drop shadows for icons, slide open boxes and buttons etc.:
Right click on My Computer
Select Properties
Click on the Advanced tab
Under Performance, click on the Settings button
From here you have a list of items you can select
Changing System Restore Settings
Added 8/16/01
By default, WindowsXP uses a large amount of hard drive space for storing system restore points.
If this is not necessary, you can change the settings.
Go to Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools
Run System Restore
For each drive or partition, you can click on the Setting button to change how much hard drive space is devoted to each one.
There is even the option to turn it off for all drives.
Configuring the Firewall
Added 8/16/01
WindowsXP has firewall capabilities built into the operating system.
For your network connection to the Internet, select Properties
Click on the Advanced tab
Check the Internet Connection Firewall section
Click on the Settings button to change the settings
Changing Programs That Start Automatically
Added 8/16/01
WindowsXP has a similar program, MSCONFIG, that was available in Windows98.
This allows you to view and change what programs are automatically started each time you log in.
The new version also allows you to view and edit the boot.ini file (as well as check for errors and use several advanced switches)
Adding / Removing Additional Programs
Added 8/16/01
By default, WindowsXP does not display all the programs you can add or remove.
To show this list:
Edit the \Windows\Inf\sysoc.inf file
In the Components section, simply remove the word hide.
This will leave two commas together (like on the rest of the items).
Then you can go to the Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs / Add/Remove Windows Components and the new items will be displayed.
[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp4 0ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7
Displaying and Configuring the Classic Start Menu
Added 8/16/01
If you prefer the original Start Menu, you can easily switch it back.
Right click on the Taksbar
Select Properties
Click on the Start Menu tab
Select Classic Start Menu
If you click on the Customize button you can choose to display Administrative Tools, Favorites, Run, and expanding many of the sub-menus like the Control Panel.
Increasing File System Caching
Added 8/16/01
To increase the amount of memory Windows will locked for I/O operations:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management
Edit the key IoPageLockLimit
4096 - 32megs of memory or less
8192 - 32+ megs of memory
16384 - 64+ megs of memory
32768 - 128+ megs of memory
65536 - 256+ megs of memory
Enabling NumLock on by Default
Added 8/16/01
To have numlock turned on for each user:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators
Change the value from 0 to 2
Turn Numlock on manually
Log off and back on again.
For all users, make the same change to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators