Skip to main content

Secrets Revealed Part III

The Best Command Line Tricks : -

Save A List of Files to a Text File by Extension

dir *.ext /s /b > files.txtThis command line will create a file called files.txt. When you open this file, there will be a complete list of all the files in that directory and all subdirectories with the .ext extension. You can then open up this text file in any text editor and work this the information.By changing the ext part, you can select different files. For example, if you wanted to list all of the PDF documents, you would type:

dir *.pdf /s /b > files.txt

Get Your IP Address Information

ipconfig /all This will retrieve a pile of information about your network connection and IP information. From this command, you can get:

  • Host Name
  • Primary DNS Suffix
  • Node Type
  • IP Routing Enabled
  • WINS Proxy Enabled
  • DNS Suffix Search List
  • Connection-specific DNS Suffix
  • Network Adapter Description
  • Physical (MAC) Address
  • DHCP Enabled
  • IP Address
  • Subnet Mask
  • Default Gateway
  • DNS Servers

Get Installed Driver Information

driverquery

It can be very useful when troubleshooting to know what drivers are installed on a system. This command will give you a complete listing of the drivers and when they were installed.

Copy Files Via Infrared Port

irftp filename.ext

This will fire up the Wireless Link dialog so that you can copy the specified file via an infrared port.

Find Files Opened By Network Users

openfiles /query

If you are running a system and you want to know who has files open on your computer, this command will provide you a list of those users and the files that they have open.

Note: If you get an error saying The system global flag ‘maintain objects list’ needs to be enabled to see local opened files, you can fix this issue by typing openfiles /local on. You will have to reboot the system but it will resolve the issue.

Monitor Port Activity

netstat -a 30

This will show you all of the TCP/IP ports that are being used on your system and what they are connecting to (or being connected from). It will continue to monitor these ports and refresh the information every 30 seconds. You can change the refresh rate by changing the number at the end of the command.

Recover Information From A Corrupt File

recover filename.ext

If you have a disk with damaged sectors, you can attempt to recover as much information as possible from the damaged file. Data that is not damaged can be retrieved but data in damaged sectors will be lost.

Defragment Remote Computer

rexec remotePC defrag C: /F

This command used the rexec command to force a defragment of the C: drive on the computer named remotePC. You can use whatever you want to for the command (I just used defrag C: /F as an example). This is very useful for remote maintenance.

Retrieve Detailed System Information

systeminfo

With this command, you can retrieve the following information:

  • Host Name
  • OS Name
  • OS Version
  • OS Manufacturer
  • OS Configuration
  • OS Build Type
  • Registered Owner
  • Registered Organization
  • Product ID
  • Original Install Date
  • System Up Time
  • System Manufacturer
  • System Model
  • System type
  • Processor(s)
  • BIOS Version
  • Windows Directory
  • System Directory
  • Boot Device
  • System Locale
  • Input Locale
  • Time Zone
  • Total Physical Memory
  • Available Physical Memory
  • Virtual Memory Max Size
  • Virtual Memory Available
  • Virtual Memory In Use
  • Page File Location(s)
  • Domain
  • Logon Server
  • Hotfix(s)
  • NetWork Card(s)

Automatically Defragment C: Daily

schtasks /create /tn "Defrag C" /tr "defrag c: /f" /sc daily /st 23:00:00 /ru "System"

This will set your computer to automatically perform a complete defrag of the C: drive each day at 11:00:00 PM (23:00:00). It does this by creating a scheduled task called Defrag C. It will run this command under the computer’s system account.

Map A Drive Letter to a Folder

subst W: C:\windows
Sometimes, your directory structure can get pretty deep and complicated. You can simplify this a bit by mapping a drive letter to commonly used folders. In the example that I have given, this will create a drive letter W: and map it to the C:\windows directory. Then, whenever you go into My Computer, you will see a W: drive and when you browse to it, it will automatically take you to the contents of the C:\windows folder.

You can do this with any unused drive letter and any folder that exists on your system.

List All Tasks Running On The Computer

tasklist

It’s always good to know what is running on your system. This is the command line version of the processes tab in Taks Manager.

Kill A Program

taskkill /im programname.exe /f

If, when using the tasklist command, you discover that there is something running you just want killed. This is the way to do it! Just note the program name and use it in place of programname.exe.

Reboot a Remote Computer

shutdown -r -f -m \\remotePC -c "System will be rebooted in 30 seconds"
Sometimes, you just need to reboot a system. This will do it remotely and give the user a 30 second warning.

Super Hide your files

Besides normal hidden files, windows file system provides another attribute for files that makes them super hidden so that they aren’t visible form explorer or with normal dir command. Use the command

attrib +s +h pathtofile

to super hide a file. Replace + symbol with - to remove super hidden attribute from file.

You can also use this command to show hidden files in usb drives, simply use

attrib -s -h *.* c command.

Join multiple mp3 files

Here’s a nice trick that otherwise would require some software to perform. You can join multiple mp3 files to form a single mp3 file. Simply move to the folder in command line where mp3 files are stored that you want to combine and run the command

copy /b *.mp3 newfile.mp3

The wildcard *.mp3 will combine all mp3 files to form a newfile.mp3 file. You can control which files are combined using wildcard parameters.

Here’s a nice trick using this method to embed mp3 file in a jpg image file.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Operational Situational Summary - Ukraine 2 March

From a glance at the map and the news reports, it appears that the Russian advance has been very slow or even checked. However, a deeper look shows the situation has worsened significantly for Ukraine. That this happened as per my expectation in the past few posts makes me feel worse. In the North, the Russian forces have already encircled Chernihiv in the past couple of days. This is not yet fully updated on this map. The two strong armored spearheads from Konotop (which had also fallen) are currently holding in Pryluky and Nizhyn. The Chernihiv garrison probably has a day or two before the Russians reach Kozelets. Then any breakout attempt to Kyiv will become extremely difficult and will likely result in very heavy losses. It is to be expected that this city too, will fall soon without affecting the battle of Kyiv. This is bad for Ukraine. Now that the International Community has rallied for Ukraine, the previous fears of Russia dealing with breakaway republics in the East should be

Growing up

Time affects everything and everyone We all grow up. After college, friends go places, to different states and far away countries. You get less and less time. Some go for higher studies, again, in other states. Parents get older. Then friends start getting married. First it’s usually the girls. One by one, your crushes tie the knot. You dismiss it, you are still young. Then your guy friends start getting married too. Your circle shrinks. In the end you look around. All you are left with are ideological nutjobs, immature imbeciles, idealistic crazies, bohemian hippies, or other misfits. Do you really belong here? Okay, that was too harsh. But you think. You say to yourself, ‘ dil to baccha hai jee ’.  Okay, fair enough. And then... Then, you see a growing pot belly. Something you always despised. Your dad had one (he still does). After taking a shower, you look at the mirror. You are losing hair. You search on Amazon for hair growing products - it is too much of a hassle. Hair transplan

Operation Situation Report Summary - Ukraine 4 March

 Defense Without Strategy Ukraine seems to be hell bent on fighting a static war without almost any flexibility. Their forces may be valiant and defiant, but without a coherent strategy, the best they can hope for is to prolong their own suffering WITHOUT significantly hurting the enemy. Here is how the situation stands as of now. Kherson has fallen. The front in the South was decisively broken day before yesterday with the capture of the railway station and port. Naturally, the Russian forces did not wait and moved straight North to Mykolaiv. All UA forces on the Dnepr facing South are likely to be outflanked. Unless the Russian spearheads are cut off and destroyed in a day or two, it will be too late. The fall of the entire South seems to be inevitable.  To extricate the forces, UA should have withdrawn forces from other sectors (including far away Donetsk front). Now, the best they can try is to win time to reinforce Kyiv. Kharkov is almost surrounded. This battle seems to be fought