15 Must Know Windows Run Commands - Updated

On the Microsoft Windows operating system, the Run command is used to directly open an application or document whose path is known.

We will show up you 15 awesome Run commands that’d helps you to bypass a series of clicks, thereby making things faster in your daily usage of Windows.

Do note that the Run hasn’t disappeared in Windows 8 either. It might not show up like it did in its predecessors, but a simple Win+R keystroke would bring it up. Hence knowing how to use it is only going to help you.

Note: To run these commands, press Win+R button to open the Run box, type in the command you want to run and press the enter key.

Here are the Commands start from :

1. cleanmgr

To do a disk cleanup with a simple steps which is having a default program, no need to use any third party applications to clean your system (temp, Internet cache junk... etc.)

Probably, the easiest way to clean up the junk files accumulated in your computer. Run the command to open up the Windows Disk Cleanup Manager, select the drive you want to clean and click ok. Computer will then scan the particular drive for junk files and give the option to clean them.

2. %userprofile%

Just like the previous command, this will open up the user profile directory for the particular user. You can access your picture, music, videos and other personal folders easily from here.

3. control

If you want to open your system Control Panel, this command will open it up for you directly. You’ll be surprised how few people know this one. So many of my so called geeky friends had no notion about this one.

We will be seeing how to open certain Control Panel settings directly as we proceed.

4. %programfiles%

We have to open program files most of the time to run and manage installed applications. This command will open your Program Files folder directly no matter on which drive Windows is installed on your computer. It’s better than opening Windows Explorer and then navigating to the folder manually.

5. compmgmt.msc

The command will open Computer Management, directly which you open conventionally by right-clicking on My Computer (or Computer), and selecting Manage. One can manage shared folders, manage disk services and take care of other management stuff using that window.

6. firewall.cpl

Want to disable or enable firewall quickly? Type in firewall.cpl in the Run box and press enter. Takes you right into Windows Firewall.

7. fsmgmt.msc

Keep track of all the shared folder and devices using this command. You can control sharing on your computer easily from here.

8. Open Web Browser (iexplore, chrome, firefox, opera)

These commands will open up Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera on your system respectively if they are installed on your computer. That’s not all. You can append the URL of the website at the end of the browser name to open the website directly. For e.g. if you want to open Guiding Tech on Chrome, open Run Command and type in Chrome www.guidingtech.com and press enter. For the note, this command is my personal favorite (no points for guessing why).

9. msinfo32

Probably, the easiest way to see your computer’s complete system info. Here you can find all the hardware and software information you will need to know about your computer.

10. Netplwiz

This command is useful for a multi-user computer. Administrators can directly open User Account advance configuration and configure any account they would like. Other users, however, can edit and change their personal account preferences.

11. osk

Abbreviation for On Screen Keyboard, this one opens it on your computer screen. You can use these on screen keyboards to fight keyloggers while browsing through a shared public computer.

12. Logoff/shutdown

As the name speaks, these commands quickly logoff a user or shut down the computer respectively. You can also use “shutdown –a” to abort a system shutdown, but you have to be very quick while using the command.

13. utilman

We have seen how osk can open the on screen keyboard Windows utility, but if you want to use magnifier or a narrator, this command will open up the full utility manager for you.

14. wuapp

This command will open up the Windows Update Manager for you. You can then install and configure your Windows updates from here.

15. write

Just as the notepad command is used to open Windows Notepad, write launches the default Windows WordPad. Oh, you never knew this existed, did you? Try it out.

For more Usefull Commands - Visit Here

Command prompts for Windows

Some of these command below can cause harmful an undesirable functions, leading to the formatting of your hard disk and data loss, while others will not run under Windows XP. As for Windows Vista the Run Tab is not visible in the start up menu. Windows Vista specific command prompts are not included.

Feel free to add any additional information and tips, you think necessary.

Here is a list of commands you can use under Microsoft Windows prearranged depending of their functionality :

• Control Panel
• Windows utility and applications
• Disk management
• Connection management
• Miscellaneous commands

Control Panel

• CONTROL: opens the control panel window
• CONTROL ADMINTOOLS: opens the administrative tools
• CONTROL KEYBOARD: opens keyboard properties
• CONTROL COLOUR: opens display properties.Appearance tab
• CONTROL FOLDERS: opens folder options
• CONTROL FONTS: opens font policy management
• CONTROL INTERNATIONAL or INTL.CPL: opens Regional and Language option
• CONTROL MOUSE or MAIN.CPL: opens mouse properties
• CONTROL USERPASSWORDS: opens User Accounts editor
• CONTROL USERPASSWORDS2 or NETPLWIZ: User account access restrictions
• CONTROL PRINTERS: opens faxes and printers available
• APPWIZ.CPL: opens Add or Remove programs utility tool
• OPTIONALFEATURES: opens Add or Remove Windows component utility
• DESK.CPL: opens display properties. Themes tab
• HDWWIZ.CPL: opens add hardware wizard
• IRPROPS.CPL: infrared utility tool
• JOY.CP: opens game controllers settings
• MMSYS.CPL: opens Sound and Audio device Properties. Volume tab
• SYSDM.CPL: opens System properties
• TELEPHON.CPL: Opens phone and Modem options
• TIMEDATE.CPL: Date and Time properties
• WSCUI.CPL: opens Windows Security Center
• ACCESS.CPL: opens Accessibility Options
• WUAUCPL.CPL: opens Automatic Updates
• POWERCFG.CPL: opens Power Options Properties
• AZMAN.MSC: opens authorisation management utility tool
• CERTMGR.MSC: opens certificate management tool
• COMPMGMT.MSC: opens the Computer management tool
• COMEXP.MSC or DCOMCNFG: opens the Computer Services management tool
• DEVMGMT.MSC: opens Device Manager
• EVENTVWR or EVENTVWR.MSC: opens Event Viewer
• FSMGMT.MSC: opens Shared Folders
• NAPCLCFG.MSC: NAP Client configuration utility tool
• SERVICES.MSC: opens Service manager
• TASKSCHD.MSC or CONTROL SCHEDTASKS: opens Schedule Tasks manager
• GPEDIT.MSC: opens Group Policy utility tool
• LUSRMGR.MSC: opens Local Users and Groups
• SECPOL.MSC: opens local security settings
• CIADV.MSC: opens indexing service
• NTMSMGR.MSC: removable storage manager
• NTMSOPRQ.MSC: removable storage operator requests
• WMIMGMT.MSC: opens (WMI) Window Management Instrumentation
• PERFMON or PERFMON.MSC: opens the Performance monitor
• MMC: opens empty Console
• MDSCHED: opens memory diagnostics tools
• DXDIAG: opens DirectX diagnostics tools
• ODBCAD32: opens ODBC Data source Administrator
• REGEDIT or REGEDT32: opens Registry Editor
• DRWTSN32: opens Dr. Watson
• VERIFIER: opens Driver Verifier Manager
• CLICONFG: opens SQL Server Client Network Utility
• UTILMAN: opens Utility Manager
• COLORCPL: opens color management
• CREDWIZ: back up and recovery tool for user passwords
• MOBSYNC: opens Synchronization center
• MSCONFIG: opens System Configuration Utility
• SYSEDIT: opens System Configuration Editor (careful while using this command)
• SYSKEY: Windows Account Database Security management (careful while using this command)

Windows utility and applications

• EPLORER: Opens windows Explorer
• IEXPLORER: Opens Internet explorer
• WAB: opens Contacts
• CHARMAP: opens Character Map
• WRITE: opens WordPad
• NOTEPAD: opens Notepad
• CALC: opens Calculator
• CLIPBRD: opens Clipbook Viewer
• WINCHAT: opens Microsoft Chat Interface
• SOUNDRECORDER: opens sound recording tool
• DVDPLAY: run CD or DVD
• WMPLAYER: opens Windows Media Player
• MOVIEMK: Opens untitled Windows Movie Maker
• OSK: opens on-screen Keyboard
• MAGNIFY: opens Magnifier
• WINCAL: opens Calendar
• DIALER: opens phone Dialer
• EUDCEDIT: opens Private Character Editor
• NDVOL: opens the mixer volume
• RSTRUI : opens Tool System Restore (For Vista only)
• %WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\RESTORE\rstrui.exe: opens Tool System Restore (for XP only).
• MSINFO32: Opens the System Information
• MRT : launches the utility removal of malware.
• Taskmgr : Opens the Windows Task Manager
• CMD: opens a command prompt
• MIGWIZ: Opens the tool for transferring files and settings from Windows (Vista only)
• Migwiz.exe: Opens the tool for transferring files and settings from Windows (for XP only)
• SIDEBAR: Open the Windows (Vista only)
• Sigverif : Opens the tool for verification of signatures of files
• Winver : Opens the window for your Windows version
• FSQUIRT: Bluetooth Transfer Wizard
• IExpress opens the wizard for creating self-extracting archives. Tutorial HERE
• MBLCTR: opens the mobility center (Windows Vista only)
• MSRA : Opens the Windows Remote Assistance
• Mstsc : opens the tool connection Remote Desktop
• MSDT: opens the diagnostic tools and support Microsoft
• WERCON: opens the reporting tool and solutions to problems (for Vista only)
• WINDOWSANYTIMEUPGRADE: Enables the upgrade of Windows Vista
• WINWORD : opens Word (if installed)
• PRINTBRMUI : Opens migration wizard printer (Vista only)

Disk management

• DISKMGMT.MSC: opens disk management utility
• CLEANMGR: opens disk drive clean up utility
• DFRG.MSC: opens disk defragmenter
• CHKDSK: complete analysis of disk partition
• DISKPART: disk partitioning tool

Connection management

• IPCONFIG: list the configuration of IP addresses on your PC (for more information type IPCONFIG/? in the CMD menu)
• INETCPL.CPL: opens internet properties
• FIREWALL.CPL: opens windows firewall
• NETSETUP.CPL: opens network setup wizard

Miscellaneous commands

• JAVAWS: View the cover of JAVA software (if installed)
• AC3FILTER.CPL: Opens the properties AC3 Filter (if installed)
• FIREFOX: Mozilla launches Firefox (if installed)
• NETPROJ: allow or not connecting to a network projector (For Vista only)
• LOGOFF: closes the current session
• SHUTDOWN: shut down Windows
• SHUTDOWN-A: to interrupt Windows shutdown
• %WINDIR% or %SYSTEMROOT%: opens the Windows installation
• %PROGRAMFILES%: Opens the folder where you installed other programs (Program Files)
• %USERPROFILE%: opens the profile of the user currently logged
• %HOMEDRIVE%: opens the browser on the partition or the operating system is installed
• %HOMEPATH%: opens the currently logged user C: \ Documents and Settings \ [username]
• %TEMP%: opens the temporary folder
• VSP1CLN: deletes the cache for installation of the service pack 1 for Vista
• System File Checker (Requires Windows CD if the cache is not available):
  
  • SFC / scannow: immediately scans all system files and repairs damaged files
  • SFC / VERIFYONLY: scans only those files system
  • SFC / Scanfil = "name and file path": scans the specified file, and repaired if damaged
  • SFC / VERIFYFILE = "name and file path": Scans only the file specified
  • SFC / scanonce: scans the system files on the next restart
  • SFC / REVERT: return the initial configuration (For more information, type SFC /? In the command prompt CMD.
  
  

Debug a Windows XP batch file and output the current date and time to a log file

The Windows 2003 Resource Kit comes with a batch file command, logtime, that lets you output the current time, date, and a custom text message to a log file. This is great for benchmarking batch files and commands in that you can output when such a command starts and completes.

To run logtime, first download and install the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit using the instructions mentioned in MalekTips (check the other Windows XP and DOS command tips).

Once the Resource Kit is installed, to view the online help for logtime:

C:\>logtime /?

To write a message to the text file "logtime.log" in the current directory, just issue this command:

C:\>logtime "MESSAGE"

For example, the following command will write the current day, time, and message "Command just completed" to the file logtime.log:

C:\>logtime "Command just completed"

Note that this will display the results of the command to the standard output as well. To hide this:

C:\>@logtime "Command just completed" > nul

XP: kill a Windows process from the command line with taskkill

The ability to perform tasks from a system’s command line allows those tasks to be used in batch files. This recipe describes several uses of taskkill to terminate Windows processes.

If you know the name of a process to kill, for example notepad.exe, use the following command from a command prompt to end it:

taskkill /IM notepad.exe

This will cause the program to terminate gracefully, asking for confirmation if there are unsaved changes. To forcefully kill the same process, add the /F option to the command line. Be careful with the /F option as it will terminate all matching processes without confirmation.To kill a single instance of a process, specify its process id (PID). For example, if the desired process has a PID of 827, use the following command to kill it:

taskkill /PID 827

Using filters, a variety of different patterns can be used to specify the processes to kill. For example, the following filter syntax will forcefully kill all processes owned by the user Quinn:

taskkill /F /FI “USERNAME eq Quinn”

The following table shows the available filters and their use.

Filter Name Valid Operators Valid Value(s)
———– ————— ————–
STATUS eq ne RUNNING | NOT RESPONDING
IMAGENAME eq ne Image name
PID eq ne gt lt ge le PID value
SESSION eq ne gt lt ge le Session number.
CPUTIME eq ne gt lt ge le CPU time in the format
of hh:mm:ss.
MEMUSAGE eq ne gt lt ge le Memory usage in KB
USERNAME eq ne User name in [domain\]user
format
MODULES eq ne DLL name
SERVICES eq ne Service name
WINDOWTITLE eq ne Window titleeq: equals ne: not equal
gt: greater than lt: less than
gt: greater than or equal le: less than or equal

WindowsXP: Using the Command prompt to see and kill processes

If you are a WindowsXP user then you must be already familiar with the life-saving graphical tool called “Task Manager” on Windows. Whenever the PC starts hanging and the processes start eating up a lot of memory (Sadly most of the time its Firefox for me), we press the alt+ctr+del key to bring up the the “Task Manager” and try to kill the memory eating processes and the ones which are “not responding”. Well, you should also know that this can be done efficiently from the command prompt as well.

As my project work requires writing and running codes, I generally have at least one Windows command prompt open. If this is the case with you then it is much faster to manage your windows processes from command prompt than to open up the Task Manager, just like we do on Linux using “ps” and “kill” command. Get to know the following commands and you can easily use the command prompt to see and kill processes.

1. Tasklist : This command is similar to “ps” command on Linux and is used to see the details of the programs and processes that are running in Windows. Tasklist can be applied to see how much memory and CPU time running processes are using, what DLL files they rely on, and other information. Thus it can be a very useful troubleshooting tool.

• Processes info: When you enter tasklist on the command prompt, you can see the following informations by default. Image Name, PID, Session Name, Session#, Mem Usage
• Processes detailed info: Additional info like, Status, User Name, CPU Time, Window Title can be displayed using tasklist /v
• Services and Processes info: Use tasklist /svc to get a table relating Image Name, PID, and Services, very useful to know the relationship between a process and the services that are running on a system.
• dlls and Processes info: Tasks and Use tasklist /m to find which DLLs are used by each process.
• Filtering processes: Processes can be filtered using ImageName, PID, MemUsage, Status, Username and WindowTitle. For Example,
  • Use the following command to to find processes that are not responding.
    • tasklist /fi "status eq not responding"
  • Use the folliwing to list the processes eating up more than 10MB.
    • tasklist /fi "memusage gt 10000"
• More Info: To get more info on advanced syntax of the command use tasklist /? or refer to Microsoft’s documentation.

(NOTE: Although Tasklist is a part of Windows XP Professional, it does not come with the Home edition. Those with the Home version of XP can download this file and can put it in the system path.)

2. Tskill : This command is used to end a process, using its name of its PID.

• Kill with name: Use tskill processname to kill a process with name processname. For example:
  • tskill winword (closes all the Microsoft documents that you have open)
• Kill with PID : Similarly use tskill processid to kill a process with PID processid. Tasklist can be used to find the PID of a process.
• More Info: To get more info on advanced syntax of the command use tskill /? or refer to Microsoft’s documentation.

(NOTE: Tskill is a part of both Windows XP Professional and the Home edition.)

3. Taskkill : Similar to Tskill, this command is also used to end a process but it provides us more options in doing so. Apart from specifying the PID or the image name of the process to kill, we can also use ceratin filters to kill the matching processes as explained below.

• Kill with name: Use taskill /IM imagename to kill a process with the given Image name. For example:
  • taskkill /im notepad.exe /f (forces notepad to be killed.)
• Kill with PID : Use taskill /PID processid to kill a process with the given processid.
• Filtering Taskkill: Processes to be killed can be filtered using ImageName, PID, MemUsage, CPUTime, Session, Status, Username, WindowTitle, Services or Modules (dll). For Example,
  • Use the following command to forcefully shut down all the processes that are not responding.
    • taskkill /f /fi "status eq not responding"
  • Use the folliwing to close down all programs using more than 10 MB..
    • taskkill /f /fi "memusage gt 10000"
• More Info: To get more info on advanced syntax of the command use taskkill /? or refer to Microsoft’s documentation.

(NOTE: Taskkill is only a part of Windows XP Professional.)

Assign Folder as a Drive

Had you heard about assigning a folder as a drive? Several user may need a daily used folder as a drive that appear in "my computer". Here it's the trick;

1. Open up "command prompt" by typing "cmd" at run box
2. At "command prompt", type; "subst [drive letter] [folder path address]". eg: "subst m: d:\userfolder"
3. Hit enter and you can see [as an example a new drive: m:\ drive appear in "my computer"
4. Simple and easy huh? This assigned drive will be deactivate when you reboot your comp.
5. So, you can make an auto startup program for this assigned drive.
6. Here come the trick; Simply open up notepad and type this codes : "subst [drive letter] [folder path address]". eg: "subst m: d:\userfolder" and save it as "urfilename".bat.
7. This is a batch file that runs the command when you double-click it. "urfilename" refer to any name that you want to put. But make sure you keep the file with *.bat extension in order to make it able to be executed.
8. Then, simply copy this file to the startup folder under "start>all programs>startup"
9. This means you have just set up that batch file to runs every time the comp rebooted