Getting Hands-On with Windows Command Line Basics
As part of my journey through the Command Line module, I dove headfirst into the Windows Command Prompt (cmd.exe), the built-in command-line interpreter in Microsoft Windows. This section of the course focused on learning essential commands used for system info, networking, file management, and task control—all through hands-on practice in a virtual machine environment.
Here’s what I learned:
🖥️ Basic System Information
The first stop was understanding how to gather key details about the operating system:
ver– Displays the Windows OS version.systeminfo– Lists detailed system specs, including OS, memory, and hardware info.
🌐 Network Troubleshooting Tools
Next, I explored commands used to diagnose and monitor network settings and connections:
ipconfig– Views IP configuration and network adapter settings.ping– Tests connectivity to another server or device.tracert– Traces the path packets take to a target.nslookup– Resolves domain names to IP addresses.netstat– Displays active network connections and listening ports.
📁 File and Disk Management
Then, I got hands-on with navigating and managing the file system:
cd,dir,tree– Navigate and visualize directory structures.mkdir,rmdir– Create and remove directories.type– Display the contents of text files.copy,move,del– Handle basic file operations like copying, moving, and deleting files.
🧠 Task and Process Management
To round things out, I explored how to monitor and control running processes:
tasklist– Displays all active processes.taskkill– Ends a process by its name or PID.
This was a solid and practical introduction to the Windows Command Line, focusing on core tasks that are especially useful when accessing or managing a networked system remotely.
Next up: diving into Windows PowerShell for even more advanced command-line capabilities!
