Windows Command Reference

Windows and command line go together like ice-cream and pickles, but there are actually some neat commands you can lean on to get things done. Here are some that I've discovered.

• tasklist /svc: List all services
• netstat -o -b: Show all processes/files with open net connections
• netsh: Allows all kids of cool stuff. I especially like netsh firewall which can be used to examine or even configure the Windows Firewall settings.
• getmac: Show device MAC addresses
• pathping ''[host]'': Ping/traceroute combo
• openfiles: Show/disconnect open file shares
• fsutil: Show/modify disk settings (dirty flag, etc)
• comp: diff
• recover: Disk/file recovery
• shutdown: no surirpises
• wmic: Windows Management Instrumentation Command line (read lots of system settings not available elsewhere)
• iexpress: Create a self extracting archive (turn .bat or .vbs into .exe)

Registry Hacks

• Set HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters\MaxNegativeCacheTtl to 0 to disable negative DNS caching.