Windows console: why use it and basic commands

While a lot of people have been using Windows for years, many of them don't realize that it hides a lot of commands that can provide some new opportunities.

To begin with, let's look at the concept of a console.

What is Windows console?

A console is software for entering commands and displaying system messages, also known as a command line. It is a special program that allows the user to communicate directly with the operating system. The console is a text-based interface where all control of applications and programs of the operating system is performed by executing text commands.

The main command line file – the cmd.exe console, that converts user commands into a clear form for the system, is located in the folder with the installed OS at the following path: {system_drive_letter}:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe

So, let's learn how to run the command line. You can do this in several ways:

1. Start -> All Programs -> Standard -> Command Line
2. Start -> Enter the name of the program and run - cmd.exe
3. Keys Win + R - enter cmd
4. Run from the system folder:
5. {system_drive_letter}:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe 

After using any of these login examples and pressing Enter, the following window will appear:

The command line must be run under administrator rights, otherwise, some commands will not be executed. To run the command line as administrator, you can use methods 1 and 4: right-click on the shortcut and select «Run as administrator» from the menu.

The command line starts in its black-and-white window and is intended for more advanced users since it helps in such difficult situations when other commands no longer work. For example, you can use the command line to enter commands in case of virus infection or damaged system files or to restore Windows.

Next, let's learn how to edit text in the Windows command line. Unfortunately, the standard methods, using the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V in the command line, do not work. Instead, you need to use the right mouse button.

Text copying from the command line is disabled by default. To enable it, do the following:

1. Right-click on the title bar of the command line window and select «Properties»;
2. Check the «Mouse selection» and «Quick paste» options. 

Thus, to copy text from the command line, just select the text and click the PCM, the selected text is copied to the buffer. Right-clicking is also used to paste text into the command line.

Use the Tab key on your keyboard to avoid typing the entire path to files manually. It automatically completes folder and file names. For example, to enter the name of the folder «dir», it is enough to enter the first letter and press the Tab key, then the corresponding value will be inserted.

If several folders or files begin with the letter «d», then each time that you press the Tab key, you will scroll through the names. If you use Tab with the Shift key at the same time, the list will be reversed.

For folder names that include several words separated by a space or using Cyrillic characters, the entire path should be enclosed in quotation marks, for example, cd «C:\Documents and Settings».

Basic commands in the Windows console

Now let's review the basic commands in the Windows command prompt.

ipconfig: quick work with network connections.

«Ipconfig» is a utility on the Windows command line for managing PC network interfaces. It is the fastest way to find out the following information: IP addresses, main gateway address, information about the network connection used by the computer, etc.

shutdown: creating Windows shutdown shortcuts.

The shutdown command can be used to shut down or restart Windows from the command line. You can use this command to create customized shortcuts: «Shutdown», «Restart», «Hibernate», etc. After that, you can place them in a convenient place: in the Start menu, on the desktop, or on the taskbar.

help: opens the Windows command line help.

The «help» command opens help information about the most common commands in Windows operating systems.

It is also necessary to learn the commands that can be used to copy and move files and directories, change directories, delete one or more files, and run any program from the command line.

The command line can be used as a file manager, which means to find, copy, rename, create, delete files or folders, etc. It can be useful in case of a crash, operating system failure, or any other reason.

Examples of using basic commands in the Windows console

We have already discussed how to start the command line above. The next command line commands can be used to perform the following actions.

Use the «cd» command to navigate to the desired folder or change the directory on the computer's hard/removable disk.

Use the «dir» command to see a list of files and folders on the desktop.

To create a copy of a file or folder, use the «copy» command. This requires entering the path to the copied file and the folder to which you want to copy it. To create a folder for further copying files into it, use the «md» command, and then specify the path to the folder and its name.

Use the «del» command to delete a file or folder, and specify the path and name of the file (or folder) to be deleted.

To close the command line, enter the «exit» command, or if you need to end the Windows session, enter the «logoff» command to shut down the computer with the «/s» parameter.

Of course, this is not the whole list of command line commands, but it is enough to perform basic actions with your PC, files, and folders.

In this article, we have learned about the Windows command line, the purpose of using it, and the basic commands that can be executed on the command line. We hope that this article was informative and useful to you.