6 best uses of command prompt (CMD)

1. Create Undelete-able Folders

You can create undeletable folders using specific set of keywords. In the Command Prompt, type the name of the drive where you want to create the folder (it must not have Windows installed in it).
After that, type any of these keywords “md con\” or “md lpt1\” and press Enter. So it should look something like this “D: md con\”.

This will create a folder with the same name that could not be deleted or renamed. To delete the folder replace “md con\” with “rd con\” or “md lpt1\” with “rd lpt1\”.

2. Get Network Details

You can get quick network details, like IP address and subnet mask or Default Gateway with a single command. Type “ipconfig” and press Enter, you will see all the details of your network.

3. Hide Files and Folders using Command Prompt

You can hide folder with the help of Command Prompt that cannot be accessed using the traditional hide feature of Windows. To do this, type the drive name where the folder is located and then enter this command “Attrib +h +s +r” and afterwards, enter the name of the file/folder you want to hide. So it should look something like this “D: Attrib +h +s +r haider”.

If the folder is inside another folder, then the command must come before the folder/file you want to hide not just after the Drive name. To again see the folder, use the same process above but change the command to “Attrib -h -s -r” from “Attrib +h +s +r”.

4. Compare Two Files

You can also compare two text files in command prompt and see the difference. The results won’t be as good as third-party available file comparison tools, but it is worth a shot and fun do!

All you need to do is type “FC” command and then enter directories of both text files (the files must be in .txt format for proper working). For example, you can type “fc C:\haider\sample1.txt C:\haider\sample2.txt” and hit enter to get comparison of both files with answer such as, files are different or both files are identical.

In the above example, “C:” is the drive where text file is located, “haider” is the name of the folder in which the text file in located and “Sample1.txt” is name of the text file. Both files can be located anywhere in your PC, you just need to provide the right directory.

If both the files have different content then running this command will show the different content and if both the files have exact same content, the command will return this message ‘no difference encountered’.

5. Watch Star Wars Episode IV

This is a really cool trick, although not productive, but fun to do. You can actually watch the famous Star Wars Episode IV right inside your Command prompt. It will be an ASCII version so don’t hope for a HD movie.

The process is simple, open Command Prompt and enter this command “telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl” and hit Enter. The movie will start automatically without any delay.

Note: Make sure Telnet is enabled in your PC, you can get information to install and enable Telnet from Microsoft website.

6. Create Wi-Fi Hotspot using Command Prompt

You don’t need any third-party apps to create a Wi-Fi hotspot to share your PCs internet, you can easily do so from the Command Prompt.

In the Command Prompt, enter the following command to enable Wi-Fi Hotspot.

“netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Hotspotname key=password”

Once enabled, you can start the Wi-Fi  hotspot by entering the command “netsh wlan start hostednetwork” or stop it by entering the command “netsh wlan stop hostednetwork“.

You will also need to share your internet connection to this hotspot for everyone to use. Go to “Network and Sharing” option from the “Control Panel” and then click on “Change adaptor settings” in the left panel.

Here, right click on the internet connection you are using and click on “Properties“. In the properties, go to sharing tab and check the option “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection” to share your internet connection.

Note: Using Administrator privileges for CMD is must to run this command otherwise it will show an error.

SEE ALSO: How To Create a Bootable USB For Windows 7, 8 or 10

These CMD tricks will definitely help you understand Command Prompt in a better way. If you happen to know some other trick which is worthy of a mention in the post, let us know in comments section.

THE END