A batch file (batch script) in Windows is a text file that typically has a .bat extension and includes one or more command prompt commands.
It is a good practice to comment a source code in a batch file by leaving the remarks that explain functionality of some lines or blocks of code.
Also any line or a block of code in a batch file can be disabled by turning it into a comment (comment out) and enabled back (uncomment).
This note shows how to comment batch files in Windows. (more…)
The process identifier (a.k.a. process ID or PID) is a number used to uniquely identify an active process.
In this short note i will show how to display information about the Windows process (incl. the process name and path to an executable file) by PID from the command-line prompt (CMD) or a Windows PowerShell. (more…)
The touch command in Linux is used to change a file’s “Access“, “Modify” and “Change” timestamps to the current time and date, but if the file doesn’t exist, the touch command creates it.
If you simply want to create an empty file from the command-line prompt (CMD) or a Windows PowerShell – the type and copy commands can be considered as a Windows touch command equivalent.
The file timestamps in Windows can be changed using the built-in PowerShell commands. (more…)
Even though there is still no built-in Windows uptime command, the actual uptime of the server/workstation or the system boot time can be checked from the command-line.
In this note i will show several methods of how to check Windows uptime from the command-line prompt and PowerShell. (more…)
While troubleshooting an issue that causes an unexpected reboot or shutdown of a Windows machine, it is important to know which event IDs are related to system reboot/shutdown and how to find the appropriate logs.
In this note i am publishing all the event IDs related to reboots/shutdowns.
I am also showing how to display the shutdown events with date and time, using a Windows Event Viewer or from the command-line using a PowerShell. (more…)
Some scripts or commands executed in Windows PowerShell or CMD may ask interactive questions that have to be responded with “Yes” or “No” answers.
To know how to answer these interactive questions automatically is very handy for different automations.
In this note i will show how to respond “Yes” or “No” to prompts in Windows PowerShell & CMD automatically. (more…)
For better readability it is convenient to split long commands over multiple lines.
In Windows PowerShell a multi-line command can be created from a long command by splitting it using the backquote character.
In this note i will show an example of how to split a long command over multiple lines in PowerShell. (more…)
The Get-History command in PowerShell lists only the commands entered during the current session, unlike the history command in Linux or MacOS, that returns the full commands history across all sessions.
To get the history of all the previously executed commands in PowerShell it is required to locate the file where these commands are stored.
In this note I’ll show how to locate the history file and get the history of all the previously executed commands in PowerShell. (more…)
Sometimes it is required to run an application as a different user.
For example, you may want to run an elevated command prompt to execute some commands with administrative privileges.
In Windows, an executable file can be run as a different user from the File Explorer or using the command line. (more…)
During troubleshooting of different issues it is often required to check if some TCP port on a remote host is opened and ensure that it is not blocked by a firewall.
The most common tool for this is telnet, but it may not be installed or you may want to be able to copy the output to paste it into a ticket or to send it someone, that is not always possible with telnet.
Also the telnet command is not very handy if you need to check connectivity to multiple hosts/ports, but you can do this easily with a PowerShell.
In Windows, you can test connection to TCP port from the command line using PowerShell and in this note i will show how to do this. (more…)