20 Useful Windows Commands You Should Know

20 Useful Windows Commands You Should Know

The Windows Command Prompt, also called cmd.exe, contains more than 280 commands. Here are the 20 most important ones.

The Windows command prompt can be a very useful and, above all, powerful tool – if you know how to handle it. There are countless commands that you can not possibly remember. Therefore, we have put together for you the 20 most important commands in our tips article for you.

Also Read: how to restore deleted photos from sd card

The 20 most important CMD commands in Windows

To enter commands, you must first open the command prompt. Simply press the keys [Windows] + [R] simultaneously and enter ” cmd “. Then press [Enter] and you’re ready to go.

  • /? The help command contains a list of all commands. You can also enter it after a command to get more information about the command.
  • && This allows you to execute several commands at the same time. Enter && between two commands.
  • color Use this command to change the colors of the text and background in the command prompt window.
  • clip The clip command copies the output of any command to the clipboard.
  • doskey / history Once entered, you will see all the commands you used in the current command prompt session.
  • taskList tasklist displays a list of applications, services, and the process ID that is currently running on your computer.
  • taskkill This command terminates a running task. It’s the equivalent of stopping a process in Task Manager.
  • assoc The assoc command displays or modifies the file type associated with a particular file extension.
  • driver query The driverquery command displays a list of all installed drivers.
  • ipconfig The ipconfig command displays detailed IP information for each network adapter that uses TCP / IP. It can also be used to share and renew IP addresses on systems configured to receive through a DHCP server.
  • ping Upon input, an ICMMP Echo Request packet is sent to a specified remote desktop to verify IP-level connectivity.
  • netstat The netstat command is used to display all open network connections.
  • system info The systeminfo command displays basic Windows configuration information for the local computer or a remote desktop.
  • powercfg The powercfg command is used to manage Windows power settings from the command line.
  • sFC The sfc command checks and replaces important Windows system files. Depending on the operating system, the sfc command is also called a “System File Checker”.
  • chkdsk The chkdsk command , often referred to as a “check disk”, is used to detect and resolve specific hard disk errors.
  • regedit This command opens the registry, which you can then edit and change.
  • schtasks The schtasks command runs specified programs or commands at specific times. In addition, scheduled tasks can be created, deleted, queried, modified, executed, and stopped.
  • del / q / f / s% temp% \ * After entering all temporary files of the current user will be deleted.
  • exit This command exits the command prompt.

how to restore deleted photos from sd card

how to restore deleted photos from sd card

If you have prematurely deleted pictures from your SD card, or if they are gone because of a card error, you can restore them. We’ll show you how to get your files back with a simple tool.

Restore images from the SD card for free with Recuva

  • Thanks to the free tool “Recuva” you can restore your pictures from the camera or SD card without problems:
  • First, you need to download the Recuva tool and install it on your PC.
  • When the installation completes successfully, you can start Recuva directly.
  • You will be accompanied by the following process. Start with “Next” and then specify the file type, in this case “Pictures”.
  • After that you have to specify the file path of the lost pictures. Select the second item “On my memory card”.
  • Now you can start the verification process with “Start”.
  • After a short wait, you will see all the pictures you can restore. Simply mark the desired images and click on “Restore …”.
  • Finally, you must specify in which directory the images should be restored.

Also Read: Deleted Photos Recovery: How to Recover Deleted Photos in Windows

how to recover deleted pictures from sd card

Deleted Photos Recovery: How to Recover Deleted Photos in Windows

Deleted Photos Recovery: How to Recover Deleted Photos in Windows

Deleted files such as images can usually be easily recovered. There are also free programs that thoroughly scan your hard drive or storage device and retrieve the deleted files. In our practical tip, we will show you how to get your photos back.

How can I recover deleted pictures for free?

When you delete a file on your PC, it first ends up in the trash.

  • Double- click the recycle bin icon .
  • Search for the deleted files.
  • Right-click on the file and select “Restore”.
  • The file is then in the folder on your PC from which it was deleted.
  • To restore multiple pictures, hold down the Ctrl key and click on each picture.
  • Then follow the recovery steps above.

Also Read: I dropped my iPhone in water – how to prevent water damage?

Restore deleted images from the recycle bin

When you delete pictures from a usb drive, SD card, or external hard drive, they usually do not end up in the trash. Even if you have emptied the trash, you can restore the images in many cases.

  • Download the free program ” TestDisk & PhotoRec ” and run the file “exe” file in the directory.
  • First, select the volume in the list where the images were located.
  • Click on “Browse” and select a folder in which the program should save the recovered photos.
  • Click on “File Formats” and select the file types to save the program. Typical image files are JPEG, GIF, PNG and TIF.
  • Click on “Search” to start the recovery.
  • The deleted pictures appear in the selected folder during the process.

Alternatively you can also use “Recuva” to restore the deleted files .

Slow Internet with Windows 10? Here’s how to fix it

Slow Internet with Windows 10? Here's how to fix it

If Internet slows down through Windows 10 , this can get really annoying. In the following tip, we’ve put together a few settings that can help you get your Internet access back up.

Check if the internet arrives slowly

First, you should check if the transfer rate of your internet connection is according to your contract. So there are several websites where you can do a so-called speed test. For example, you can do this on the website of speedtest.net . Just click on the following link and press “GO”, After a few seconds, the download and upload rates will be displayed. Usually the upload rate is always lower than the download rate. Here you can now estimate whether your Windows 10 Internet is slow or if you have the full speed. If the value deviates from your contract, we have put together some tips below. You can then always check after your implementation if your speed has increased.

Disable the energy-saver mode

By default, Windows 10 puts the computer into standby after 15 or 30 minutes of inactivity. You can change this at any time:

  • To do this, open the Control Panel on your computer.
  • In the Hardware and Sound category, click Power Options. A new window is opening up.
  • In the left column, you decide for the entry “Change energy saving mode”.
  • Here you can see one or two columns for battery operation (for notebooks) and network operation (for notebooks and desktop PCs).
  • In “Energy-saving mode after:” in the respective columns, select the entry “Never”.
  • Finally, save your new settings with “Apply changes”. Windows 10 will not switch to standby mode.

Check if the Windows 10 update settings are correct

First open the settings. To do this, click on the Windows icon at the bottom left of the screen and click on the gear on the left edge. A new window opens with the settings.

Now click on “Update and Security” and then on “Advanced Options” in the menu ” Windows Update “. Now click on the text “Select delivery of updates”. It opens a window in which you now set the slider to “off”, so that Windows 10 no longer provides the update for other users to download. Close all windows again. With this option, you prevent updates from being transmitted to other users, thus reducing your Internet speed.

Here are the steps in the short overview: “Settings”> “Windows Update”> “Advanced Options”> “Submit Updates”> “Off”.

Also Read : 7 Ways To Unlock Your Android Device Screen If You Have Forgotten The Password

Check if there are background processes

Again, you only need to go into the settings and disable the apps. Open the settings again (as described above). Now click on “Privacy” and select “Background apps” on the left. Windows 10 now loads a list of your apps that are allowed to run in the background. Often, these apps also download information from the Internet or upload information in the background. Disable as many apps as possible to save your data transfer rate.

Now the whole steps again as an overview: “Settings”> “Privacy”> “Background apps”> all on “Off”.

Check if you really need the cloud services

OneDrive (Microsoft), Google Drive, iCloud (Apple), Dropbox and Co. can really be Internet eaters. The cloud services, which are online storage for your files, are very convenient, but also require a lot of upload and download speeds. Finally, all files in the corresponding folders are uploaded and downloaded. It can quickly come together, especially if you want to synchronize photos and videos between your smartphone and the PC. You should check if you have the cloud service installed and really need it. Otherwise you should uninstall it or stop OneDrive.

To stop OneDrive, right-click on the OneDrive icon in the notification area (bottom right corner of the screen) and select “Settings” from the menu. In the new window, remove the checkmark “Automatically start OneDrive when logging in to Windows” and then click on “OK”.

You should also check which files to sync. If you do not need this file in the cloud storage, just move it to a local folder from your Windows 10 PC.

The whole thing now at a glance: Uninstall cloud programs, disable OneDrive (OneDrive cloud> “Settings”> “OneDrive when logging on Windows automatically start” disable> “OK”), check files.

Check if your Windows 10 Internet is slow when you reinstall the driver

Click the Windows icon at the bottom left to open the Start menu. Enter the search “Device Manager” and select it. Select the network card via “Network Adapter”. Right click on the network card and click on “Uninstall”. For reinstalling you now only need to restart your PC.

How to Reset Windows 10 PC to Factory Settings

How to Reset Windows 10 PC to Factory Settings

If you want to reset Windows 10 to factory settings on your computer or laptop, there are two ways and a good alternative. We’ll show you how it’s done.

Reset Windows 10 completely to factory settings

The most comfortable way is to reset Windows 10 via the settings. This requires the installation of Windows to be on a separate partition. This is the case with most computers.

  • Open the Windows settings with the key combination [Windows] + [i].
  • Under the category “Update and Security” you will find the entry “Recovery” on the left side.
  • Click on “Get started” under “Reset this PC”.
  • In the next step, you can decide whether your personal documents should also be deleted. If not, select the “Keep My Files” option.
  • A list of all data will be displayed, which will be deleted on reset. Note that this also includes installed updates. Finally, click on “Reset”.
  • The process can take several minutes to hours. Be sure to wait until Windows has completed the reset.
Reset Windows 10 completely to factory settings

Reset via Media Creation Tool

Alternatively, you can reset Windows 10 using the free Media Creation tool.

  • Download and install the program .
  • Then start the tool and follow the instructions to create an installation medium.
  • Afterwards you can directly start the re-installation (reset) of Windows 10.
  • There you can choose whether you want to keep your personal data and apps during the re-installation.
  • Wait until the restore is complete. Windows will restart automatically.
Reset via Media Creation Tool

Also Read: how to fix windows 10 error 0x80070643

Reinstall Windows 10 via ISO

If the instructions in the first few paragraphs do not work, you can reinstall Windows 10 using an ISO file. However, all your data will be lost.

  • First, download the Windows 10 installation file . This is in ISO format.
  • If your system is still stable, simply start the installation by double-clicking on the ISO file.
  • Otherwise, the file can be installed via USB stick, external hard disk or DVD. How this works, we show you in this article .

In the next practical tip, we will show you how to repair a defective USB stick .

how to fix windows 10 error 0x80070643

how to fix windows 10 error 0x80070643

Error 0x80070643 occurred on many devices during a Windows update in spring 2019. The reason for this is usually the Windows Defender.

How to Fix error 0x80070643

There is now an update from Microsoft that fixes this problem. Update your computer as follows:

  • Open the Windows settings and select “Update and Security”.
  • Click “Check for Updates”.
  • As soon as a corresponding update has been found, it will be installed. You may need to restart your computer to complete the installation.
  • If there are no updates or the update does not fix the error, follow the steps in the next section.

Also Read: how to get windows 10 for free

How to fix errors during the update

If it is not possible to install a newer update, stop the update service manually.

  • Open the command prompt with administrator rights .
  • Enter the command “net stop wuauserv” (without quotation marks) and confirm with [Enter]. To stop the Windows Update service.
  • Navigate to the following folders and delete all content in C: \ Windows \ Temp and C: \ Windows \ SoftwareDistribution .
  • Start the ” Run ” dialog and open the path “% UserProfile% \ AppData \ Local \ Temp” (without quotation marks).
  • Delete also here all contents of the folder.
  • Go back to the command prompt and start the update service again with the command “net start wuauserv” (without quotation marks).
  • After a restart, you should be able to search for Windows updates.

how to get windows 10 for free

how to get windows 10 for free

Windows 10 was offered for free by Microsoft for one year for upgrade. However, you can still upgrade your software without having to buy anything. In the following we show you how to upgrade your PC to Windows 10 for free.

Get Windows 10 for free – how it works

As of January 14, 2020 Windows 7 will not provide any support and therefore no security patches for the normal users. In the following we will show you how you can still upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 for free.

  • Download the Media Creation Tool from the official Microsoft Windows 10 page.
  • Start the program after the download and wait until the preparations are completed.
  • Now you can choose whether you want to install the upgrade on the respective computer or transfer the data to a USB stick. This allows you to start the software on another computer and upgrade to Windows 10 there.
  • Then press “Next” to start the installation process.
  • In the next step you have to accept the terms of use.
  • After that you have to choose again whether the upgrade should be done on this or on another computer. Confirm it with a click on “Next”.
  • An upgrade on this computer will now check the compatibility of the system being used.
  • Now Windows 10 is ready for installation, which you confirm by clicking on “Install”.
  • In the last step, you then have to choose which data should remain and be transferred.
  • After successfully installing Windows 10, you may need to re-enter the product key from your previous system.
  • These can be found on the packaging of the operating system. Some laptops and PCs can also be found on the bottom or on the case.
  • After successful activation, Windows 10 is fully installed and ready for use.

Also Read: how to transfer photos from phone to computer

On some tablets, Windows 10 runs in so-called S-mode. What this is all about and where the difference between S-Mode and the regular Windows 10 is, we explain in the next article.