Command
Prompt Tips
Bitmap as Icon
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Intermed.
Submitted by: Francis Gauthier
This is how to make individual icons
for bitmaps look like a miniature of the bitmap. To make the change: 1.Start
REGEDIT.EXE 2.Locate \ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ .BMP and find the value of the
default key (usually Paint.Picture) 3.Locate \ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \the value you
found, such as \ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \Paint.Picture 4.Open or create the key
DefaultIcon from this point; modify or create the string value Default from
this key to equal %1 (without quotes).
Check Out Where Your Memory is Going
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Beginner
Submitted by: March1
At Dos prompt (windows Dos or normal
Dos) type mem/p/c and it will tell you where your conventional and upper memory
is.
Checking your Memory
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
Type MEM from the command prompt to
see current memory usage of your machine.
Clear The Run Menu
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Advanced
Submitted by: Eddie Yantis
Open Regedit. Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU. Delete
everything in the right pane EXCEPT the value named Default. Restart Windows
and the run menu will be empty.
Customize the DIR command
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Intermed.
Submitted by: M Metcalf
Customize the DIR command by adding
SET DIRCMD= /P in your autoexec.bat, this will automatically use the page break
feature whenever you type DIR from the command prompt. Or, try SET DIRCMD= /P
/O:GNE to also arrange the files. G will list the directories first, N places
the files in alphabetical order and E will list files of the same in order by
the extension.
DosKey
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Intermed.
To use DosKey in your MS-DOS boxes
without loading it in AUTOEXEC.BAT or creating a startup batch script, go to
Program properties and enter DosKey as the startup batch file.
Dragging onto MS-DOS Apps
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
You can drag file and folder icons
from the desktop or a folder and drop them on an MS-DOS Command Prompt. The
filename will then be shoved into the keyboard buffer of the running
MS-DOS-based application.
Expanded Wildcards in DOS
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Beginner
Submitted by: Martin Richardson
MS-DOS in Windows 95 now allows for
expanded use of the * wildcard symbol in that you can specify the wildcard
BEFORE as well as AFTER text to search for. For example, DIR *5*.TXT will
display all .TXT files with a 5 in their name.
Fast Way to Exit DOS
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Beginner
Submitted by: Chris Anderson
When you restart the computer in
MS-DOS mode, when exiting back to Windows 95, there is a quicker way than
typing EXIT and having the whole computer restart. Type win, this will bring
you right to Windows without restarting the computer. If it says that Windows
is running a DOS program, type exit and it will not restart and bring you right
to Windows.
Find Out What Memory Blocks are in Free
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
Submitted by: March1
Go to your Dos prompt (Windows Dos
or normal Dos) and type mem/f and it will tell what conventional segments and
upper memory regions are free. You can use this to your gain and optimize your
memory for best performance.
Finding Files from the Command Prompt
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Beginner
Submitted by: Biff
Use "dir /s (filename)" to
locate a file from the command prompt.
Grabbing Data from MS-DOS Apps
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
To move information between a
Command Prompt or MS-DOS-based application, activate the toolbar in the
MS-DOS-based application window. This will enable point & click access to
copy, cut and paste operations from a Windows-based application to an
MS-DOS-based application.
MS-DOS App Parameters
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Intermed.
Add a "?" to the end of an
MS-DOS application's command line and you will be prompted to add parameters
when you start the application.
MS-DOS Properties
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
If you ever set the wrong properties
for an MS-DOS box and cannot start it, you can go into the MS-DOS box’s PIF
directory and edit command.pif, or find the command.com path and edit the
properties there.
MS-DOS Screen Toggle
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
To toggle between a windowed and
full MS-DOS screen, press Alt+Enter.
Opening Shared Folders
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
You can use the Run command on the
Start menu to open shared folders on other computers.
Playing with Prompts
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Advanced
Ok windows is great, but sometimes
you need to dive into the dinosar called DOS (Disk Operating System) you know
the thing windows was built off of... the bad thing is its black and white and
the prompt C:\> REALLY gets old! The default prompt is C>, but most
people have thier prompt look like C:\> well you can add MORE you can add:
=, $, time, Dates, Drive, Path, MS-DOS version, >, <, | , and three
technical ones that are no fun...unless you are a nerd! To begin goto dos
prompt in your start|programs menu. Once there you PROMPT, you get C> (WOW),
now type PROMPT $P$G and you get C:\> pretty cool huh? Well to add more
stuff just type PROMPT paramaters. The paramaters are: $Q = $$ $ $T Current
Time $D Current Date $P Current Drive and Path $V MS-Dos Version $N Current
Drive $G > $L < $B | ***** NERDS ONLY ******** $H Backspace (erases
previous char) $E Escape Code (ASCII code 27) $_ Carriage return and line feed
For a really cool one try: PROMPT THE TIME$Q$T$H$H$H$H$H$H$_$P$G (its cool)
Quick Command
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
To access the Command Prompt
quickly, simply press Start, Run, then type COMMAND and hit OK.
Quick Internet Site Access
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Beginner
Submitted by: Joe MacDonald
To go directly to a web site, click
on the start button and then run. Type in the web address (such as
www.windows95.com) and hit enter. Your default browser will load and open the
web site.
Run Extensions
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
An easy way to find out a file's DOS
extension is to drag the file into the Run dialog. The entire path, including
the file extension, will be visible.
Run MSDOS Applications in Background Mode
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Intermed.
Submitted by: Aaron C
You can run an application in the
background from a DOS prompt to save you time.To do this, create a batch file
in the c:\windows\command directory (or any other directory in the path) called
bg.bat with the following lines:@echo offstart /m %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8
%9:end. For example, to unzip a file in the background, you would run:bg
pkunzip foo.zip c:\temp. The DOS prompt will reappear, and the zip file will
extract in the background.
Running 3.1 Programs in Windows 95
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Beginner
Submitted by: Aaron Wilkinson
If you are having problems loading a
Windows 3.1 program in Windows 95, go to run and type Mkcompat and hit enter.
This brings up a dialog box that gives you a few choices, such as "lie
about windows version". Go to file, choose program, and choose the install
or setup.
Shut Down Prompt
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Beginner
Submitted by: William Wesson
At the screen, IT IS NOW SAFE TO
TURN OFF YOU COMPUTER, you can (on most installations of Windows) type
"MODE CO80" and it will give you a Command Prompt. You can then type
win to start windows again are run any of your DOS programs.
Starting Windows Apps from DOS
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
You can start Windows based
applications from a command prompt by simply typing the name of the application
you want to run, and specifying any parameters as needed.
Starting Windows95 without the StartupBitmap
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Beginner
Submitted by: Heiko Szendeleit
If you don't want to see the
Windows95 Startup Logo anymore, you can edit the "msdos.sys" and add
the following command-line: Logo=0
The Run Command
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
Click on the Start button and choose
the Run command. Any application or applet in the computer’s path statement
will be launched by typing its name.
The Start Command
Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
User Level: Beginner
If you are at a DOS command prompt,
and want a visual display of a directory, just type "start .", or
"start .." and an open folder pointing to that directory will start
on the desktop.
Using Run Command
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Intermed.
Submitted by: Jorge Valencia
García
You can use Run command on an
advanced way: choose Run from Start menu and then drag and drop
folders/applications/archives on the text dialog. In this way you can start
autoexecutables zips with switches (like -d, used to reconstruct directory
structure) without the long search at command prompt. Or you can drag an
application (like pkunzip) and then an archive for that application.
You're In Windows prompt
Platform: Windows 95
User Level: Intermed.
Submitted by: Fred Harris
Every forget you're in a window's
shell??? This little addition to your win.bat will make your prompt read like
this when you drop to DOS thru Windows: You're In Windows: C:\WINDOWS All you
do for this reminder is add the following line in your win.bat file: SET
WINPMT=You're in Windows!$_$P$G. This set's the first line of your DOS prompt
to You're in Windows.