Professional Documents
Culture Documents
similar to that for Windows XP but with some additions. The commands and a brief
explanation of their functions are given. Some tips for their use are given on
another page.
Originally, Microsoft intended to incorporate a new command shell in Vista but then decided to make the
new shell a stand-alone application. The new application is called Powershell and is described on
another page. Thus, the old command interpreter cmd.exe has been continued although in a slightly
newer version. (The Vista version is 6.0 whereas the XP version is 5.1.) Several commands are now in
the standard list that were formerly available only in Support Tools or the Server 2003 Tools. For
example, Robocopy from Server 2003 is now included. There are also some new commands and they
are indicated with an asterisk in the list below. Note that some commands may require administrator
privileges. Running a command prompt as administrator is described on this page. Some commands
*CHOICE Batch file command that allows users to select from a set of options.
*CMDKEY Creates, lists and deletes stored user names and passwords or credentials.
CONVERT Converts FAT volumes to NTFS. You cannot convert the current drive.
DOSKEY Edits command lines, recalls Windows commands, and creates macros.
FC Compares two files or sets of files, and displays the differences between them.
GOTO Directs the Windows command interpreter to a labeled line in a batch program.
*ICACLS Display, modify, backup, or restore ACLs for files and directories (more here).
MD Creates a directory.
MOVE Moves one or more files from one directory to another directory.
OPENFILES Queries, displays, or disconnects open files or files opened by network users.
RD Removes a directory.
*TIMEOUT Pauses the command processor for the specified number of seconds.More here.
VERIFY Tells Windows whether to verify that your files are written correctly to a disk.