25 Useful Windows Command Prompt Tricks You Might Not Know

25 Useful Windows Command Prompt Tricks You Might Not Know

Very often we discuss the Command Prompt in our Windows 10 tutorial posts. There exist tons of Windows Command Prompt tricks that you can learn, use, and impress your friends. Few of you might not be knowing how to abort a command or how to watch Star Wars in Command Prompt. Here, we are going to tell you about such interesting Command Prompt tricks.

To some of you, Windows Command Prompt might look like a black and white world. But, the experienced users know the power of Command Prompt and use its different tweaks and tricks. So, to make your Windows Command Prompt experience better, in this article, we are going to tell you about some useful Command Prompt tricks that’ll save some extra clicks.

Useful Windows Command Prompt Tricks

1. Command History

Using this command, you can track down your command history. This will turn out to be useful when you are trying to look for some command that you’ve used in the past, but can’t remember.

doskey /history

2. Run multiple commands

If you are feeling the need to run two commands after another, you can do so easily. You just need to put “&&” between each command and save some time. For example, here’s how to run ipconfig and paint

ipconfig && dir

3. Use Function keys and become a pro user

Few people know about the killer usage of the function keys in Windows Command Prompt. Here’s the list:

4. See PC driver list

Using a simple command, you can see all the drives installed on your computer. All you need to do is run driverquery command and you’ll be seeing a list of all the drivers along with their name, type, and other information.

driverquery

5. Send an output to clipboard

Very often you might have felt the need to save the output of a command? Usually, people use copy and paste. However, using a simple command, you can send the command’s output to the clipboard. Here’s how to send the ipconfig information:

ipconfig | clip

6. Abort a command

What if you have press enter and you need to stop a command in its tracks? To do it, you need to do a Ctrl+C. However, it isn’t a magic trick that can undo an undoable thing.

7. Make your Command Prompt colorful

You can change the color of your Command Prompt to make it look colorful. Use can perform this easy change by right-clicking at the top corners of the Command Prompt and select Properties. There, find the Colors tab and look for the options to change the background and text color.

8. Create Wi-Fi hotspot right from the command prompt

Before opening the Command Prompt to execute the commands needed for this, you need to open Control Panel and find Change adapter settings in the Network and Sharing option. There, click on the connection you are using and click on Properties. Now find the sharing tab and check the option “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection.”

Now open the Command Prompt with administrative privileges and enter the following command:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Youthotspotname key=yourpassword

After it’s enabled, enter the following command to start the Wi-Fi hotspot

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

To stop it, simply enter this command:

netsh wlan stop hostednetwork“.

9. Scan system files for problems

The sfc /scannow command runs a system file checker tool that scans Windows system files and looks for problems. If some files are missing or corrupted, this command fixes them.

sfc /scannow

We have already covered many useful Command Prompt tricks and tweaks in our previous articles. You can read about them and learn how to execute by clicking on the links below:

10. Speed Up Internet Using CMD Trick

11. Find Wi-Fi Password Using CMD Of All Connected Networks

12. Create Bootable USB In Windows 10 Using Command Prompt

13. Remove Virus From USB Or Any Drive On Windows 10 Using CMD

14. Hide Any Drive in Windows: Command Prompt Trick

15. Enable Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V For Copy-Pasting In Command Prompt

16. Check DNS Records Using Basic Nslookup Command Examples

17. Watch Star Wars: Command Prompt Trick

18. Check Battery Capacity And Battery Health Report In Windows Using CMD

19. Find And Kill A Remote Connecting Malware On Windows 10

20. Fix “Do you want to scan and fix Removable Disk” Error In Windows

21. Use Netstat Commands To Monitor Network On Windows Using CMD

22.Use Netstat Commands To Monitor Network

23. Perform Ping of Death Attack: CMD Trick

24. Find License Windows Key Using CMD

25. New Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcuts in Command Prompt

Bonus: A to Z list of Windows CMD commands

Did you find this article helpful? Don’t forget to share more Windows Command Prompt in the comments section below.

Speed Up Internet Using CMD (Command Prompt)

Short Bytes: To speed up the internet using cmd, we have come up with some Windows tweaks. Some of these tweaks and tricks include playing with DNS cache, pinging to the default gateway and using ‘netsh int tcp’ command along with different attributes to increase the internet speed. 

We often encounter problems with the slow internet connection and we really do not know what to do next. In most of the cases, at most we do is to restart our device or the router and then wait for the increased internet speed.

If that does not work, we complain to our service provider and even if the slow internet speed problem persists, we, eventually, change our internet provider for a better speedy connection. So, here are some of the tips and tricks on speeding up the internet using cmd.

How to speed up internet using cmd:

Check internet speed using cmd pings to default gateway

You can check your internet connection speed by sending ping packets to your default gateway.

To know your default gateway, you can use ipconfig /all command. Once you get the IP address of your default gateway, start running a continuous ping by typing ping -t <your default gateway address>. The time field value will show you the time taken to get an acknowledgment from the gateway.

Lower time value is an indication that your network is faster. However, running a lot of pings consume network bandwidth as well as your default gateway resources. Though the data packets for ping are very negligible in size and you might not observe any change in internet speed but it does consume bandwidth.

IP release and renew

Well, If you are using a WiFi connection, in the case of IP release and renew, you may experience a temporary speed boost, depending on the strength of the WiFi signal. However, in the case of LAN, it won’t affect speed.

Flushdns to Speed up internet using cmd

Our computer maintains a list of the websites and their corresponding IP addresses that we access the most in the DNS resolver cache. Sometimes, these data become obsolete after months or weeks. So when we flush our DNS resolver cache, we actually flush out the obsolete data and make new entries in the DNS resolver cache table.

Using this command, you might initially experience a slower connection because of the requirement of the new DNS lookups for every resource. However, you will soon experience faster loading of the websites in your browser.

Speed up internet using cmd ‘Netsh int tcp’ command:

Type this command in your command prompt window and observe carefully:

If you do not see Receive Window Autotuning level as ‘Normal’ as shown above then run the following command:

• netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

This command will set your TCP receive window to Normal from the disabled or restricted state. TCP receive window is one of the key factors in the internet download speed. Thus making the TCP receive window to ‘Normal’ will surely help you in increasing your internet speed.

After this command, let’s check for another parameter of Windows in terms of the slow internet connection called ‘Windows scaling heuristics’. To check for this parameter, type

• netsh interface tcp show heuristics

Well, in my case, it’s disabled. However, in some case, you might it enabled. That means Microsoft in some ways, is trying to limit your internet connection. So avoid it and to get faster internet, type the below command and press enter:

• netsh interface tcp set heuristics disabled

Once pressed enter, you will receive an ‘ok’ message and now your internet speed has surely got boosted up.

Once you are done with the above steps, you can follow step one again to measure the time value in getting a ping acknowledgment from the default gateway, just to check if your internet speed has gone up or not.

If you are also aware of the other Windows tweaks which can help us to speed up internet using CMD or some other way, let us know in the comments below.

Another Facebook Hacking Tool Is Here To Hack Your Accounts, But Here’s A Catch

Short Bytes: Your desire to master the art of Facebook hacking can harm you in a big way. Recently, a variant of Remtasu malware has been spotted in the wild that can hack your Facebook, instead of your friend’s account. Surprisingly, this malware always finds a way to remain on the system even after the victim reboots the system or tries to locate the threat in the list of active processes.

Anew Facebook hacking tool has been spotted in the wild that can actually hack Facebook accounts. However, if you try to use this tool to hack someone’s Facebook account, you might end up becoming the victim of this tool.

This hacking tool is a disguised version of a Windows-based trojan whose reach has witnessed an accelerated growth over the last year. Ostensibly, the malware is now busy using social engineering tactics to target the people who are looking for ways to hack other’s Facebook accounts. This finding was recently unveiled by the security firm ESET in a blog post.

How is Remtasu Facebook hacking tool spreading?

This Win32/Remtasu.Y malware reaches your machine when you search queries like “how to hack Facebook account?” etc. As a result, you may end up downloading this Facebook hacking tool that can hack your own account.

Talking about different ways by which this trojan spreads, ESET writes, “we are no longer seeing propagation through e-mail. They are instead coming from direct download sites. Once a user downloads and executes the file, their data is compromised.”

This Facebook hacking variant of Remtasu is most common in Latin America, Thailand, Turkey and other countries.

How Remtasu hacks your Facebook account?

Once a user visits a direct download website, the malware enters in your system and disguises itself among other files. It was observed that the malware makes use of UPX compression. After the file is uncompressed, various functions are executed that include opening and capturing clipboard information, recording keystrokes and sending it to an FTP server.

Surprisingly, this malware always finds a way to remain on the system even after the victim reboots the PC or tries to locate the threat in the list of active processes. “In this case, the malware replicates itself, saving the copy in a folder that it also creates within thesystem32 folder. The new InstallDir folder remains hidden inside the system files, making it difficult for users to access,” ESET explains the process.

The security firm has recorded 24 different versions of the malware. Out of those, Win32/Remtasu.Y represents more than a quarter, followed by the variant Win32/Remtasu.O at 23%.

fossBytes advises the readers to stay away from Facebook hacking tools as they can harm your digital life. Also, it’s unethical.

Next-Gen Algorithms Make Tor Browser More Secure And Private, Download The Alpha Now

Next-Gen Algorithms Make Tor Browser More Secure And Private, Download The Alpha Now

Tor, the anonymity network was in need of an upgrade, as the world started raising concerns about its reliability. It was this year only when a hacker managed to take down almost 1/5th of the onion network.

The possible applications of Tor have reached far ahead than calling it a grey market for drugs and other illegal things. It’s already actively used for the exchange of confidential information, file transfer, and cryptocurrency transactions with an expectation that nobody can track it.

The Tor project has now announced a significant set of changes to their anonymity network which involves next-generation crypto algorithms, improved authentication schemes, and redesigned directory. It’ll help them better combat against leaks and cyber attacks.

In their blog post, Tor team says it took them four years to build an improved version of Tor. It will replace the legacy onion system which has started to show its age. However, they won’t be pulling off the existing onion system which fuels the network for the users right now. The transition will take place eventually over time.

They have blown the size of the onion addresses and also made them completely private. Earlier, it was possible for the network to know ones onion address.

Once the code stabilizes, the Tor Project has further planned to slowly add more features including offline key services, advanced client authentication, improved guard algorithms, control port interface, etc.

The latest changes are a part of Tor Browser’s alpha release (0.3.2.1-alpha) which is now available for download.

What are your views on Tor and its anonymity? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

Malware Programmer Pays College Fee By Creating Massive Spam Botnet, Gets No Prison Time

The American federal court has sentenced a resident of Santa Clara, California, to 24 months probation for playing a major role in the creation and spreading of a computer malware. However, he wasn’t awarded any prison time.

As per the US Department of Justice website, Sean Tiernan, 29, was presented before the court and United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the probation sentence.

As per the information presented in the court, Tiernan was involved in the development of a malicious computer program, using his PC in California. The malware being talked about here was programmed by him to spread at a fast rate via social networking websites.

Once a machine was infected, Tiernan’s malware communicated and received directions from the servers over the internet. The servers itself were previously hacked computers. This mesh of infected computer and servers formed a botnet that was controlled by Tiernan. He used this botnet to send tons of commercial email messages.

Tiernan sold the access to his botnet to those who wished to use this spamming email service.

As per a search warrant in October 2012, more than 77,000 infected computers were found in his botnet. Most of the infected machines were located in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

According to Bleeping Computer, Tiernan’s lawyers argued that via spam he only send advertisements, not some malware. They added that the earned money, which was small, was used to pay for collected and associated educational and living expenses.

When FBI caught Tiernan, he was a student at Cal Poly. After that, he has decided to make a career in cybersecurity. He is now enrolled in a cybersecurity graduate program.

Also Read: Bad Rabbit Ransomware Uses NSA’s “EternalRomance” Exploit, Petya Connection Also Found

What Is Power Throttling In Windows 10? How To Enable It And Improve Battery Life?

Among the various new features added to Windows 10 1709 Fall Creators Update, battery saving improvements are widely talked about.

Other than new power slider in the battery flyout, Windows 10 has also got under-the-hood power to prevent apps from putting an extra burden on its shoulders and improve overall battery life of your Windows 10 PC.

The feature is known as Power Throttling

Not every app on your computer requires the CPU at service all the time. Other than the ones people actively use, most of them run in the background where they consume CPU resources.

Windows 10 can reduce the load of such apps and give room to the apps you’re currently using, a feature called Power Throttling. This saves the precious battery of your system from being wasted on unimportant things.

Microsoft has deployed a sophisticated detection system to automatically identify important stuff such as media player, apps running in the foreground, and other demanding apps.

Power Throttling was first introduced to Windows Insiders in April with the release of the Build 16176. Now, Power Throttling is a part of the Fall Creators Update.

Also Read: 12 Easy Ways To Maximize Battery Life On Windows 10

How to enable or disable Power Throttling in Windows 10?

Turning Power Throttling on or off on your Windows 10 PC is as simple as moving the battery flyout’s Power Slider. Setting the power mode to “Battery Saver” or “Better Battery” puts the Power Throttling to work system-wide. You can move the power slider to “Best Performance” and disable Power Throttling.

Check out if it’s working

In the Task Manager, you can see what apps are being optimized in Windows 10. Open the Task Manager, and go to the Details tab.

Right-click the headings, click Select Columns, and tick the checkbox that says “Power Throttling” to a new column of the same name. It’ll tell you whether Power Throttling is enabled or not for an app or process.

To see it in action, try to minimize and maximize an app and then take a look at the Power Throttling column.

When can you use Power Throttling?

There is a twist, not every Windows 10 user can take the advantage of Power Throttling. As the feature is developed to improve the battery life of your Windows 10 PC, a physical battery needs to present on the machine.

Power Throttling is disabled by default if you’re running Windows 10 on a desktop or if your laptop is connected to a power supply.

Manage Power Throttling for Individual apps

You can set whether Windows 10 should throttle a particular app or not. This helps in case some apps aren’t that important to you. The other way round, you can enable Power Throttling for an app for which you disabled it earlier.

1. Go to Settings > System > Battery.
2. Under the heading called Overview, click Battery usage by app.
   
3. Now, a list of apps will appear on the screen. Click the one for which you want to enable or disable power throttling.
4. Here, untick the checkbox that says “Let Windows decide when this app can run in the background” to display further setting.
   
5. Untick the checkbox “Reduce the work the app can do when it’s in the background” to turn off power throttling for that app.

You can tick the boxes anytime to enable power throttling for that particular app.

Using power throttling on regular basis can have its advantages. Like, you might be able to improve Windows 10 battery and get extra minutes without slowing down your system.

What are your views on Windows 10’s battery performance? Tell us in the comments.

8 Best iPhone X Alternatives That Provide Better Value And Don’t Cost $1,000

Afew days ago, Apple started offering iPhone X pre-orders. As it turns out, within few minutes, people started getting delivery dates of late November or December. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which are now available, are also in good demand. This brings us to iPhone X alternatives one can look for, which prompted me to prepare this list of some amazing smartphones.

This list is also helpful for those who are not interested in spending $1,000 on a smartphone and are looking to grab devices that offer great value for money. Take a look:

Android alternatives to iPhone X

1. Samsung Galaxy S8+

After the Note 7 fiasco, we knew that Samsung was going to make a remarkable comeback. Fulfilling the expectations of the fans, Samsung launched Galaxy S8 and S8+ which turned out to be pretty impressive. The 6.2-inch AMOLED Infinity Display of Galaxy S8+, 11+ hours battery life, Snapdragon 835 processor, 12-MP dual camera, etc., are more than enough to make you a fan of this beautiful device.

 Buy Galaxy S8+

2. OnePlus 5

In a short period, OnePlus has developed its position in the smartphone market as “flagship killer.” This position is well justified, thanks to the amazing value for money offered by this affordable piece of technology. Compared to iPhone X’s $999 price tag, OnePlus 5 starts at $479 and comes loaded with 6GB RAM, 64GB storage, 5.5-inch AMOLED screen, and more than 13 hours battery life.

 Buy OnePlus 5

3. LG V30

LG has been one of my favorite smartphone manufactures when it comes to designing appealing devices in recent times. The latest LG V30’s HDR, 18:9 ratio, near bezel-less display makes it a device to die for. The phone can capture 4K videos at 30 fps and offers a fresh look that’ll surely feel distinctive when you’ll hold the device.

 Buy LG V30

4. Essential Phone

If you’re a fan of iPhone X’s completely bezel-less design, you can go for the device created by Android founder Andy Rubin. When it was initially launched, Essential Phone was priced at $699. Recently, it got a price cut of $200, which makes it an awesome deal. It’s one of the best-looking devices that also offers an optional module in the form of a 360-degree camera.

 Buy Essential

5. HTC U11

HTC is another company that catches my attention when it comes to innovative designs. Their latest release, HTC U11, comes with a new gimmick of squeezing. But that’s not all; it has got all the premium features that you’d expect. This iPhone X alternative comes with a 5.5-inch screen, Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB RAM, IP67 dust and water resistance, 128GB storage, and a lot more.

 Buy HTC U11

6. Moto G5S Plus

Moto G5S Plus has been hailed as one of the best low-budget smartphones in the market. You can own this attractive smartphone just for around $300 and get to enjoy a premium design and dual cameras. In various reviews, the performance has been found on-par with costlier, mid-range devices.

 Buy Moto G5S Plus

iOS alternatives to iPhone X

7. iPhone 7 Plus

iPhone 7 starts at $549 and provides a great value for money with good ol’ Touch ID at about half price. In case you’re willing to add $100 more, you can buy iPhone 7 Plus that brings along a bigger screen and a dual camera. Except for some camera improvements, the device is very much similar to iPhone 8. It’s a solid device that costs way less than iPhone X and sets itself apart from previous generation smartphones.

 Buy iPhone 7 Plus

8. iPhone SE

iPhone SE is an amazing device even today. It reminds of the iconic iPhone 5’s design and size, which made it easy to use with one hand. It just costs $350 and runs solid iOS 11 operating system. If you aren’t a fan of devices with a large screen, go for this iPhone X alternative.