DOS OR COMMAND PROMPT TRICKS BY RAJ THE HACKER

DOS OR COMMAND PROMPT TRICKS

BY RAJ THE HACKER

1. Use Robocopy as a Backup Solution

Thanks to the robocopy command, you don't need to use Window's backup software or install a third party program to manage your backups.

Just execute robocopy c:\users\tim\documents f:\backup\documents /copyall /e /r:0 /dcopy:t /mir, obviously replacing the source and destination folders with whatever you'd like to backup and where. The robocopy command with these options functions identically to an incremental backup software tool, keeping both locations in sync.

You don't have the robocopy command if you're using Windows XP or earlier. However, you do have the xcopy command, which can be used to do something very similar: xcopy c:\users\tim\documents f:\backup\documents /c /d /e /h /i /k /q /r /s /x /y.

I've chosen to use the robocopy command on my personal computers as my only local backup solution because I like the level of control it gives me. Hopefully you take that as a vote of confidence in this incredibly useful Command Prompt trick.

2. View Your Computer's Important Network Information

Maybe just for your own information, but certainly when you're troubleshooting a network or Internet problem, you'll probably at some point need to know details about your computer's network connection.

Everything you'd want to know about your network connection is available somewhere in the Control Panel in Windows, but it's much easier to find, and much better organized, in the results from the ipconfig command.

Open Command Prompt and execute ipconfig /all. What displays on screen next is everything important about your network connection: your IP address, hostname, DHCP server, DNS information, and much, much more.

3. Map a Local Folder Just Like a Network Drive

The net use command is used to assign shared drives on a network to your own computer as a drive letter, but did you know there's another command that can be used to do the same thing to any folder on any of your local hard drives?

There is and it's called the subst command. Just execute the subst command, followed by the path of the folder you wish to appear as a drive. For example, let's say you want your C:\Windows\Fonts folder to appear as the Q: drive. Just execute subst q: c:\windows\fonts and you're set!

This Command Prompt trick makes accessing a particular location from the Command Prompt much easier.

4. Access Previously Used Command with the Arrow Keys

Another great Command Prompt trick has to be the use of the keyboard arrow keys to cycle through previously executed commands. The up and down arrow keys cycle through the commands you've entered and the right arrow automatically enters, character by character, the last command you executed.

This might not sound that interesting, but there are several situations where the arrow keys become huge time savers.

Consider this example: You've typed out 75 characters of a command and then try to execute it, only to find that you forgot to add an option at the very end. No problem, just hit the up arrow and the entire command is automatically entered in the Command Prompt window, ready for you to edit to make it work.

5. Automatically Complete Commands with Tab Completion

Tab completion is another Command Prompt trick that can save you lots of time, especially if your command has a file or folder name in it that you're not completely sure of.

To use tab completion in the Command Prompt, just enter the command and then the portion of the path that you do know, if at all. Then press the tab key over and over to cycle through all of the available possibilities.

For example, let's say you want to change directories to some folder in theWindows directory but you're not sure what it's named. Type cd c:\windows\ and then press tab until you see the folder you're looking for. The results cycle or you can use Shift+Tab to step through the results in reverse.

6. Find a Website's IP Address

Like to know the IP address of a website? There are a few different commands you can use to find it.

Let's use the nslookup command to find the IP address of About.com. Just execute nslookup about.com and view the result. Make sure you don't confuse any private IP addresses that also show up in the nslookup results alongside About.com's public IP address.

Another way to find a site's IP address is to use the ping command. Execute ping about.com and then look at the IP address between the brackets in the results shown.

Using either Command Prompt trick, the result is 207.241.148.80.

7. Copy & Paste Easier with QuickEdit Mode

How about an even easier way to copy from the Command Prompt? And a secret way to easily paste?

Just right-click on the Command Prompt title bar and select Properties. On the Options tab, in the Edit Options section, check the QuickEdit Modebox and then click OK.

8. Watch Star Wars Episode

Just open Command Prompt and execute telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl. The movie will start immediately. This isn't a terribly productive use of the Command Prompt, nor is it really a trick of the Command Prompt or any command.

THANKS

BY RAJ THE HACKER

8270859989