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Last Updated: 5/8/2008
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Tired of accidentally bumping the CAPS LOCK key? Want a way to disable it?
You can cause Windows to ignore the CAPS LOCK key, or map it to another key, by making a simple registry change and then rebooting.
To disable it: DisableCapsLock.reg
To map it to the Shift key: MapCapsLockToShift.reg
To re-enable it: EnableCapsLock.reg
Don't forget to re-boot afterwards.
If clicking the above links opens the registry file in the browser window, instead of running it directly, you may have to do the following instead: right click on the link, choose the Save As option to save the file to your hard drive, double-click on the file there, and then delete the file if you like.
Unfortunately, Windows stores the entire set of disabled and re-mapped keys in one long hex value in the registry, and each of these registry files overwrites the entire value in the registry, so if you have previously used a similar technique to disable or re-map any other keys, this will undo that previous effect.
For more info, see:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/w2kscan-map.mspx
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum107/153.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=Keyboard+Layout+Scancode+Map
Unfortunately, you have to reboot each time you make such a change. Also, unfortunately, the change applies to all users of all keyboards (laptop and external, for example) of the entire computer, not just you, and not just one of your keyboards.
If you want something more flexible, you might consider configuring the CAPS LOCK (and Num Lock and Scroll Lock) to beep whenever you bump them via:
Control Panel | Accessibility Options | Keyboard | Use Toggle Keys
Then at least you'll be aware of bumping it sooner, and can bump it again.
Credit where credit is due: I've been using the
Toggle Keys approach for over a decade. Before that, I used to pry
off the Caps Lock key with a screwdriver, or wedge something under it so
I couldn't press it. But recently I came across this technique in
an article by Woody Leonhard in the paid version of the Windows Secrets
newsletter (formerly Woody's Windows Watch, Woody's Office Watch, and
Fred Langa's LangaList). I definitely recommend you subscribe to
the free and/or paid versions of the newsletter at:
http://windowssecrets.com
Woody was suggesting various freeware programs to do this, but I'm
always leery of downloading and running any program where I can't see
the source code. Since he did mention the name of the registry
key, I was able to research it a little, and wrote my own simple
registry files.
Apparently, this technique has been possible since at least the year 2000. I could easily have Googled it any time in the past few years. Isn't it amazing the annoyances we put up with forever, never even thinking to look for a solution?
--Fred
Original Version: 1999 or so
Last Updated: 1/2/2012
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP, Vista,
Win7
Here is a list of some of the more useful shortcut keys that apply to the Windows desktop:
| Key | Desktop Function |
|---|---|
| Alt-Tab | Move to entry for most recently active application in Task List (very useful for toggling between 2 apps). If you continue to hold down Alt and keep hitting Tab, it cycles forward through the entries. Releasing Alt activates the selected app. |
| Alt-Shift-Tab | Same as Alt-Tab, but cycles backward through the apps. |
| Alt-Esc | Move directly to next active application |
| Alt-Shift-Esc | Move directly to previous active application |
| Ctrl-Esc | Open the Start Menu |
| Ctrl-Shift-Esc | Open the Task Manager |
| Delete | Delete to the Recycle Bin |
| Shift-Delete | Delete, bypassing the Recycle Bin |
| Backspace | Move to parent folder in Explorer |
| Alt-Enter | Open Properties window for current icon |
| PrintScreen | Copy the entire screen image to the Windows clipboard. |
| Alt-PrintScreen | Copy the currently active window to the Windows clipboard. |
| Windows-D | Clear the desktop, minimizing all windows, or restore it, if already cleared. |
| Windows-E | Launch Windows Explorer |
| Windows-F | Launch Windows Search tool |
The following modifier keys apply the following changes to the behavior of various other keys:
| Modifier Key | Function |
|---|---|
| Ctrl- | Same thing, but more so (move by one word instead of one char, move to end of document, instead of to next page, etc.) |
| Shift- | Same thing, but reverse (search in the opposite direction, etc.) |
| Shift- | Extend the selection while moving |
Here is a list of some of the more useful shortcut keys that apply across most Windows applications, including the desktop itself:
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
| Arrow | Move the smallest logical unit (one character, line, menu item, icon, etc.) in the specified direction. |
| Ctrl-Arrow | Move a larger logical unit (word, slide, cell, etc.), in the specified direction. |
| Shift-Arrow | Extend selection one smallest logical unit in the specified direction. |
| Ctrl-Shift-Arrow | Extend selection one larger logical unit in the specified direction. |
| RightArrow | Expand branch of a tree view |
| LeftArrow | Collapse branch of a tree view |
| Alt-DownArrow | Drop down a dropdown combobox |
| Tab / Shift-Tab | Move to the next/previous logical entity (table cell, form field, etc.), wrapping around as necessary. |
| Ctrl-Tab / Ctrl-Shift-Tab | Move to the next/previous tab of a tabbed dialog |
| Delete | Delete one char to the left, or selected item/region |
| Ctrl-Delete | Delete one word to the left |
| Shift-Delete | Cut |
| Backspace | Delete one char to the right |
| Ctrl-Backspace | Delete one word to the right |
| Insert | Toggle Insert/Overstrike mode |
| Shift-Insert | Paste |
| Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn | Move between notebook tabs (Excel sheets/charts, FrontPage views, pages of a Properties dialog, etc.) |
| Home/End | Move to beginning/end of line |
| Ctrl-Home/End | Move to beginning/end of file |
| Shift-Home/End | Extend selection to beginning/end of line |
| Ctrl-Shift-Home/End | Extend selection to beginning/end of file |
| Esc | Cancel the current operation (abort a drag operation, close a dialog box, etc.) |
| Space | Click the current command button, option button, checkbox, etc. |
| Alt-Space | Open the system menu of the current application (restore, move, size, minimize, maximize, close, etc., plus copy/paste features in Command Prompt windows) |
| Alt-Minus | Open the system menu of the current window in an MDI application |
| F1 | Help |
| Shift-F1 | Extended Help ("What's This?" help, Language help within a language sensitive editor, etc.) |
| F2 | Rename |
| F3 | Find Next (except in MS Office apps) |
| Ctrl-F4 | Close window |
| Alt-F4 | Close application |
| F5 | Refresh |
| Ctrl-F6/Ctrl-Shift-F6 | Switch to the next/previous window in an MDI app |
| F7 | Spell Checker |
| F10 | Move to menu bar |
| Shift-F10 | Pop up right mouse menu |
| Ctrl-A | Select All |
| Ctrl-B | Bold |
| Ctrl-C | Copy |
| Ctrl-F | Find |
| Ctrl-G | Goto |
| Ctrl-H | Find and Replace |
| Ctrl-K | Create Hyperlink |
| Ctrl-N | New (new Browser window, new Word document, etc.) |
| Ctrl-O | Open File |
| Ctrl-P | |
| Ctrl-R | Refresh |
| Ctrl-S | Save |
| Ctrl-U | Underline |
| Ctrl-V | Paste |
| Ctrl-X | Cut |
| Ctrl-Z | Undo |
| Numeric Keypad * | Expand branch of a tree view completely |
| Numeric Keypad + | Expand branch of a tree view (one level) |
| Numeric Keypad - | Collapse branch of a tree view |
Believe it or not,
this list is far from complete. Please feel free to mail me your favorite
shortcuts. I'll add them as time permits.
Contributors so far include:
Michael Stluka
--Fred
Last Updated: 11/3/2001
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Ever wonder how Windows knows what program to open when you double-click on a filename that ends with ".doc"?
Windows manages a set of "file associations" that associate filename extensions like ".doc" and ".txt" with programs like Word and Notepad. One way to review and change the file associations on your computer is via Windows Explorer. Explorer's menu tree is different in each version of Windows, but the capability is there in all versions. In Win2K, go to:
Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options... | File Types
This opens a dialog box that shows the current "File Type" (for example, "Microsoft Word Document") associated with each extension (for example, "doc"). The buttons in the dialog box allow you to add, delete, and change file associations.
You can't associate more than one file type with the double-click of a filename. For example, double-clicking on a ".doc" file will always open Word or whatever other program you choose to associate with ".doc", but you can only have one such program associated with ".doc" at any time. However, you can use the "Advanced" button to add additional action names and associate separate programs with each action. For example, you could have Netscape Navigator as the default action for files ending in ".jpg", but create a separate "edit" action that invokes an image editor. The default action is triggered by double-clicking on a file, but you can see it and all of the other available actions by right-clicking.
See the tip "Open With" for an easier way to add associations.
See the tip "FTYPE and ASSOC"
for a command-line way to view and manage associations.
--Fred
Last Updated: 11/3/2001
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
In addition to "file associations" (programs associated with filename extensions -- like Word being associated with ".doc"), Windows manages "URL associations". It associates a program with each URL protocol (each type of URL). For example:
Just as the file associations determine which program is invoked when you double-click on a file, the URL associations determine which program is invoked when you type a URL into your Web Browser, click on a link in your Web Browser, click on an "Internet Shortcut" on your Windows desktop, or in any other way "invoke" a URL.
You can view and change the URL associations on your computer (just like the file associations) via Windows Explorer. Explorer's menu tree is different in each version of Windows, but the capability is there in all versions. In Win2K, go to:
Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options... | File Types
This opens a dialog box that shows the current file type associated with each extension. Scroll down alphabetically to the letter N in the list of extensions. There you'll find a bunch of entries with the extension "N/A" (not applicable) and file types like:
Edit these entries to control which program is invoked for each of these URL protocols.
Thanks to Tom Stluka for helping me discover this!
--Fred
Last Updated: 8/13/2000
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Hold down Shift while right-clicking in Explorer and the menu gains an Open With entry that allows you to open a file with a different program from the one it is associated with. Useful for things like opening a BAT file in Notepad instead of running it, opening a .C or .H file without firing up VC++, or opening a file that has no association.
Note: The Open With dialog box also offers a "Always use this program to
open this type of file" checkbox which is the easiest way to change the Windows
"file association" for a specific type of file. Thanks to Terry Walsh for
reminding me of this!
--Fred
Last Updated: 11/9/2001
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
The SendTo menu of the right mouse menu in Windows Explorer is an alternative to "file associations" and "Open With". File associations allow you to specify which program to run when you double-click a file, and additional programs to be shown in the right mouse click menu. However, you have to tediously associate the programs with each individual file extension (".doc", ".txt", ".lis", etc.). Too much work! "Open With" is useful for a one-time exception, where you want to open a file with a different program than you usually use. However, the list offered by "Open With" is long, full of programs you never use, and often missing the program you are looking for. SendTo offers a useful alternative. There is only one SendTo menu for each user on each computer -- not one per file extension. Therefore, if you add your favorite programs (Notepad, WordPad, etc.) to the SendTo menu, they are available for all types of files.
You can add to the SendTo menu by simply creating a shortcut to the desired program in the SendTo directory. On Win95/Win98/WinMe with no user profiles, add the shortcut to:
C:\Windows\SendTo
On Win95/Win98/WinMe with user profiles, it is:
C:\Windows\Profiles\<username>\SendTo
On WinNT 4.0, it is:
C:\WinNT\Profiles\<username>\SendTo
On Win2K, it is:
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\SendTo
To add Notepad to the SendTo menu, right click on the Start menu, go to Programs, then Accessories, and right-drag the Notepad icon to the SendTo directory. When prompted, answer "Create shortcut".
Similarly, you can delete or rename items in the SendTo menu by deleting or renaming them in this directory.
To put the most useful items at the top of the SendTo menu, rename the shortcuts to names that come early in the alphabet. Since the underline character comes before the letter A, I give my SendTo shortcuts names like "_Notepad", "_Wordpad", etc.
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/11/1999
Applies to: Win95, WinNT 4.0
Here is a REG file that associates all file types with Notepad if they aren't explicitly associated with another program. Then you can double click on such files to see them in Notepad. Seems useful enough that I would have expected Microsoft to make it the default.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown\shell\Open\command] @="notepad.exe %1"
To apply this REG file, copy the four lines above (including the blank line) into a file like JUNK.REG, and type the command:
REGEDIT JUNK.REG
Variations:
START file.ext
for any filename file.ext with an obscure extension to open that file in NotePad.
--Fred
Last Updated: 6/20/1999
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Tired of deleting things into the Recycle Bin and then having to delete them again, from the Recycle Bin, to free up disk space? Here's how to bypass the Recycle Bin so that delete really deletes.
For one deletion: Hold down Shift while deleting the file. Notice the different prompt. It asks if you really want to delete the file, not if you really want to move it to the Recycle Bin.
For all deletions: Right-click on the Recycle Bin icon and choose Properties. Select the "Do Not Move Files To The Recycle Bin. Remove Files Immediately Upon Delete" checkbox.
--Fred
Last Updated: 10/5/1999
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
You probably know that you can get Windows to run a program automatically each time you login by adding it to your Startup folder, but what if you don't always want it to run? I usually, but not always, want Lotus Notes to be launched when I login at my current client site. Furthermore, their standard desktop setup has other things automatically running at startup that complain if Lotus Notes is already running.
My solution is to add a new folder to the Startup folder, and put the Notes shortcut in that folder, not directly in the Startup folder. At startup, Notes is not launched, but the nested folder is -- that is, it is opened as an Explorer window. This window acts as a reminder to me to double-click on the Notes icon it contains in order to run Notes. Thus, Notes is launched after all the other startup items, and is easy to bypass (simply don't double-click it).
--Fred
Last Updated: 10/5/1999
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
The Windows Task Manager is a useful way to monitor, navigate to, and kill processes on your PC. Run it by hitting Ctrl-Shift-Esc or by hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del and clicking Task Manager. It has 3 tabs:
The Applications tab shows all "applications" running on the PC. This is roughly the same as the set of buttons in the Task Bar. For each application, you can see its high level status: "running", "not responding" (probably in a tight CPU loop where it is too busy to respond to Windows messages), etc. (If you don't see the Status column, choose Details from the View menu.)
If you need to close an application, and it won't close normally, try the End Task button here. It tries to politely close the application, then waits a couple seconds, and if the application is not gone, it prompts you for whether to kill it more abruptly.
The Processes tab shows much more detail. It lists all processes on the PC, regardless of whether they have a user interface or whether they appear in the Task Bar. This includes the "idle" process that runs continuously when the PC has nothing else to do. By default this tab shows only the following columns:
| Image Name | Name of the EXE file |
| PID | Process ID |
| CPU | Current percent of CPU usage |
| CPU Time | Total CPU time hh:mm:ss used by the process so far |
| Mem Usage | Amount of memory being used |
However, you can select the Processes tab, then choose Select Columns from the View menu, to select the following additional columns:
| Mem Delta | Change in memory usage since previous refresh |
| Page Faults | Total page faults of the process so far |
| PF Delta | Change in number of page faults since previous refresh |
| VM Size | Virtual Memory size |
| Paged Pool | Size of memory in the Paged Pool |
| NP Pool | Size of memory in the Non-Paged Pool |
| Base Pri | Base Priority (I wonder why not Dynamic Priority also?) |
| Handles | Number of Handles |
| Threads | Number of Threads |
Click on any of the column headers to sort by that column. Click again to sort in reverse order. This is a handy way to see which process has the highest current CPU usage, or the highest current rate of page faults, etc.
Click on the End Process button to abruptly kill a process. If the process is one of the applications, this is the same as the abrupt kill described above.
The Performance tab gives a good overview of the entire system: histograms of total CPU usage and total memory usage; total number of handles, threads and processes; amount of physical and available memory, etc.
Also, whenever it is running, the Task Manager maintains in icon in the System Tray (right hand end of the Task Bar) that shows the current CPU usage. For a continuously updated CPU meter that consumes very little screen space, choose Hide When Minimized from the Options menu, and then minimize the Task Manager. It shows the icon in the system tray, but doesn't show a button in the Task Bar. In addition to the dynamic icon showing CPU usage, you can see the exact percent of CPU usage by hovering the mouse over that icon.
OK, this was a longer tip than usual. Did I miss anything?
--Fred
Original Version: 5/7/1998
Last Updated: 2/17/2008
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinNT 4.0, WinMe, Win2K, WinXP
Ever wonder why a certain program starts every time you boot your PC? Or why an icon shows up in your system tray? You look in the Startup folder but nothing is there. Here's a list of places to check:
In some versions of Windows, there is a tool to help you check and
edit all of these locations. In Windows 95, 98, ME, and XP, it is
called:
msconfig.exe
If it is not found automatically when you type:
msconfig
at the Windows command line, search for it via the command:
dir /s /a msconfig.*
and run it by typing its full name and location at the command
line. Alternatively, search for it via the Windows Explorer search
capability and double click on it when found.
Be careful about deleting startup items from any of these locations. Some items that you may not be aware of are required or very useful. For example, you probably don't want to delete the registry entries that start your Virus Scan software, or stop the NT services that are needed by your Zip drive.
Here is a link to a list of Web sites to learn about a specific item before deleting it:
http://bristle.com/~fred/#windows_startup
Thanks to Jeff Stluka for telling me about some of these Web sites.
--Fred
Original Version: 12/16/1998
Last Updated: 1/10/2007
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
By default, when you drag a window on the Windows NT desktop, only the outline of the window is dragged. When you release, the contents of the window are redrawn in the new location. To change this behavior, so that the contents of the window are continuously redrawn as you drag, open Control Panel, select the Display applet, then the Plus! tab, and the Show window contents while dragging option.
In Windows 2000, the default has been changed to show the contents when dragging. To see the outline only, open Control Panel, select the Display applet, then the Effects tab, and turn off the Show window contents while dragging option. This is sometimes useful for fine-tuning the position of a window since you can see new and old positions at the same time.
--Fred
Last Updated: 12/1/1998
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
To add more items to the top level of the Start Menu, simply drag them there from Explorer or from the desktop, dropping them on the Start button that is used to pop up the Start Menu.
--Fred
Original Version: 11/25/2001
Last Updated: 6/6/2008
Applies to: Win95, WinNT 4.0, not Win2K, not WinXP
One very useful item to add to the Start menu is the desktop itself. Then when you have a very cluttered screen, you don't have to close, move, or minimize a bunch of windows to find that incredibly useful shortcut icon that you keep on your desktop. Instead, pop up the Start Menu, select the Desktop icon, and use your shortcut icon, without disturbing your real desktop.
To add the desktop to your Start Menu, create a shortcut (right click on the desktop and select New | Shortcut) with the properties:
Command Line: Explorer /root, Name: Desktop
Be sure to leave the trailing comma on the command line. This creates a shortcut to the desktop. Then drag that shortcut to the Start Menu as shown in Add to Start Menu.
Note: You can also use the right mouse button to Open the Start menu (as described in Delete from Start Menu) and then use the right mouse button to drag the desktop icon from \WinNT\Profiles\<user>\ (or \Windows\Profiles\<user>\ for Win95) to the window showing the Start menu icons). If you create a shortcut, you get exactly the effect described above. If you create a copy, the menu entry you create pops out a submenu of the desktop instead of showing the desktop as an Explorer window. The downside to creating a copy is that it is a copy of the desktop at that point in time. Any future changes to the desktop are not reflected in the popout submenu, unless you redo the copy operation.
Note: This does not work on Win2K or WinXP. Anyone know how to fix that?
--Fred
Last Updated: 12/5/1998
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K
To delete items from the Start Menu, or edit the Start Menu in general, right click the Start button and select Open from the popup menu. This opens the Start Menu as a folder in Windows Explorer. Then you can add or delete icons, right click them to change their properties, and even define new folders that become submenus of the Start Menu.
--Fred
Last Updated: 12/16/1998
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
If your Start Menu is getting too crowded, you can save some space by selecting the small icons option. Right click the task bar and select Properties. Choose Show small icons in Start menu.
Note: This has the side effect of removing the banner up the side of the Start Menu that says "Windows 95", "Windows NT", etc.
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/17/1999
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Want a way to open a new command line window in a specific directory after navigating to that directory in Windows Explorer? The MS DOS Here Power Toy offers a way to do this, but I prefer a simpler, more controlled and flexible approach.
You can add a CMD Here entry to the right mouse menu for folders in Explorer. Start from the View menu of Explorer:
Explorer | View | Options | File Types | Folder | Edit | New... - Action = CMD Here - Application = cmd.exe (On WinNT) - Application = command.com (On Win95)
If you want the command line window to run a batch file as it opens (to set environment variables, set the prompt, run DOSKEY, etc.), use the /k option, as:
Explorer | View | Options | File Types | Folder | Edit | New... - Action = CMD Here - Application = cmd.exe /k c:\myfile.bat (On WinNT) - Application = command.com /k c:\myfile.bat (On Win95)
--Fred
Last Updated: 5/9/1999
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
To copy text from a command line window to the Windows clipboard, use the system menu of the Command Prompt window.
With the mouse:
With the keyboard (Hey, we are at a command line after all, right?):
Paste is similar, except choose Paste instead of Mark and Copy. From the keyboard, it's Alt+Space,E,P
--Fred
Original Version: 5/9/1999
Last Updated: 10/30/2008
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Tired of typing out long paths for filenames? Want a quick way to get the full path of a file as a string? Drag the file from Explorer to a Command Line window. The full path of the file is typed out on the command line waiting for you to copy/paste into some other application, or to edit into a command and hit return.
Note: According to the 10/9/2008 edition of the Windows Secrets newsletter, this feature was deliberately removed by Microsoft in Vista, for security reasons. You can still drag to the Windows Run box of the Start menu. Or you can Shift-Right-Click a folder and choose "Copy as Path" to copy the full path to Windows clipboard, so you can then paste it elsewhere.
--Fred
Original Version: 10/3/1999
Last Updated: 1/10/2007
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
At the Windows command line, you can use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the list of previously entered commands and select one for re-execution. Once you've selected one, you can use the left and right arrow keys to move around in the command making changes before re-executing it. You can also use the Insert key to toggle between insert and overstrike modes. After typing part of a recently entered command, hit F8 to automatically fill in the rest of the command. Keep hitting F8 to see additional recent matches. Use F7 to see a popup menu of recent commands to choose from. Use the command:
DOSKEY /INSERT
to change the default mode from overstrike to insert.
Here is a summary, along with some other less useful keys, probably included primarily for compatibility with earlier versions of DOS, Windows, DOSKEYS, etc:
F1 Show one more char of the previous
command
F2 Prompt for char of previous command to
show to
F3 Show the rest of the chars of the
previous command
F4 Prompt for char of previous command to
delete to
F7 Popup menu of recent
commands
F8 Cycle through recent
commands with specified prefix
F9 Prompt for number of previous command
to recall
For more info, type:
HELP DOSKEY
Most of the above is also true for the command line of Win95, Win98, and WinMe.
--Fred
Original Version: 5/9/1999
Last Updated: 1/10/2007
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
You can configure WinNT, Win2K, and WinXP (sorry, not Win95, Win98, WinMe) so that when you press the TAB key it completes the file name you are typing at a command prompt. Unix and Emacs users will recognize this feature from many years ago. Use REGEDIT to edit:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Command Processor
Double Click on CompletionChar or add a value of
type REG_DWORD, and set it to value 9.
Any command windows opened from then on support the use of Tab as a completion
char. Tab cycles through all filenames that match what you've typed so
far, and Shift-Tab cycles backwards through the filenames.
--Fred
Original Version: 1/25/2002
Last Updated: 6/6/2008
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Want an easy way to return to a directory that you just left? NT-based versions of Windows (WinNT 4.0, Win2K, etc) add some Unix-like capabilities for navigating directories. The PUSHD and POPD commands manage a stack of directories. PUSHD moves to a new directory like CD does, but also pushes the current directory on a stack. POPD pops the current directory off of the stack and returns to it. PUSHD with no parameters shows the stack, like the Unix dirs command.
Aside from being handy when you need to move to a directory temporarily during an interactive session, this can be very useful in a batch file. Some commands require that a specific directory be the working directory when they are executed. To run them from a batch file, you have to change the current working directory to the required one. However, this has a persistent effect on the user of the batch file. If you change with PUSHD instead of CD, you can return with POPD at the end of the batch file, leaving the user's working directory unchanged.
Also, like the Unix versions, CD, PUSHD, and POPD now take wildcards, so you can type CD abc* to move to a directory name that starts with "abc".
Also, PUSHD and POPD both act like CD /D not just plain CD -- that is, they will change to a new drive letter as well as a new directory, if you specify one.
If only they'd add the Unix concept of "cdpath"... But that's pretty easy to do yourself with a batch file. I call mine c.bat. Let me know if you want details.
--Fred
Original Version: 12/8/2002
Last Updated: 1/29/2021
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K,WinXP
Want a way to use Windows "File Associations" from the command line or a batch file?
Use the start command to launch the associated program for a file. For example, the command:
start Document1.doc
launches LibreOffice or Microsoft Word, whichever one is the program associated with ".doc" files on your computer.
On WinNT4, Win2K and WinXP, the word "start" is even optional. You can simply type:
Document1.doc
For more info on the start command, type:
help start
You can do the same thing in Mac and Unix/Linux. See:
--Fred
Original Version: 12/8/2002
Last Updated: 1/29/2021
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinMe, WinNT 4.0, Win2K,WinXP
Want a way to use Windows "URL Associations" from the command line or a batch file?
Use the start command to launch the associated program for a URL. For example, the command:
start mailto:tips@bristle.com
launches your mail program (Thunderbird, Eudora, Microsoft Outlook, etc.) and fills in my e-mail address in a blank message. All you have to do is type in the rest of the message and hit Send. Similarly, you can open your default Web browser (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge, etc.) at a specific Web page via:
start http://bristle.com
Unlike "File Associations", for "URL Associations", even on WinNT4 and Win2K, the word "start" is not optional. You cannot simply type:
mailto:tips@bristle.com (Doesn't work) http://bristle.com (Doesn't work)
For more info on the start command, type:
help start
You can do the same thing in Mac and Unix/Linux. See:
--Fred
Last Updated: 11/3/2001
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Want a way to define Windows "file associations" from the command line or in a batch file?
The Problem:
I find the Windows Explorer interface for file associations very tedious. You typically start out either knowing that you want to associate a program with a specific filename extension (like .jpg, for example), or wondering what program is associated with such an extension. Perhaps you remember that tip somebody sent you once about Shift-RightClick. So you find a .jpg file in Explorer, hold down Shift, right-click the file, and choose Open With. This displays the Open With dialog box that allows you to scroll through a long but incomplete list of application names, failing to find the one you are looking for. Wonderful! Now what?
Next, you click Explorer | View | Options... | File Types to see a list of "registered file types" that have no discernible relationship to the filename extension you have in mind. You browse through this list, watching the "File type details" frame to find the one, if any, that lists .jpg, along with a whole bunch of other extensions (.jpe, .jpeg, etc.). If you want to change the association, you then click the Edit... button and spend several minutes coming to the conclusion that there is no easy way to change the association for .jpg without also changing it for .jpe and .jpeg. You find yourself thinking fondly of the "good old days" of Windows 3.1...
The Solution:
Use the assoc command to see what "file type" (a string almost but not quite entirely unrelated to the "registered file types" shown by Explorer") is associated with the extension .jpg:
assoc .jpg
The output is a line like:
.jpg=ImageComposer.jpg
Next, use the ftype command to see what application is associated with the file type "ImageComposer.jpg":
ftype ImageComposer.jpg
The output is a line like:
imagecomposer.jpg=E:\ImagComp.15\imgcomp.exe "%1"
If you want to change or create the file association for .jpg use commands like:
assoc .jpg=jpgfile
ftype jpgfile=E:\Netscape\Commcatr.472\Program\netscape.exe "%1"
where "jpgfile" is any descriptive string you choose to use as a "file type".
For more info, type:
help assoc
help ftype
There is also a tool in the Windows resource kit called associate that combines assoc and ftype.
--Fred
Last Updated: 3/15/2002
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinNT 4.0, WinMe, Win2K, WinXP
The command lines in various versions of Windows support some of the Unix-style forms of file redirection and command substitution. For details, see:
Unix.htm#general_command_line_redirection
--Fred
Last Updated: 11/12/2008
Applies to: Win3.x, Win95, Win98, WinNT 3.51, WinNT 4.0, WinMe, Win2K, WinXP
Warning: The Windows commands XCOPY /M and XCOPY /A burn out USB flash drives.
I've used XCOPY with the /M or /A option from the Windows command line for years, as a very
convenient way to do incremental backups. However, it is extraordinarily
inefficient and was regularly burning out USB flash drives until I made a change.
Details:
XCOPY /S /M walks the directory tree, finding modified files, and copying them to the target tree.
Unfortunately, it uses a very inefficient algorithm that can lead to a huge number of writes to
the target tree, which seems to burn out USB flash drives very quickly.
I assumed it would first find a modified file, then create the nested target directories if necessary, then copy the file.
Instead, it walks the entire source tree, creating each target directory, then checking to see whether there are any modified
files in that directory, then deleting the target directory if it was not needed.
Since I use XCOPY /S /M at least once per day to do an incremental backup of my
entire massive directory tree onto an empty directory tree on the target device, this involves
thousands of directory creations and deletions on the target device in order to back up a handful of modified files.
I first noticed the problem years ago, when it took FOREVER to backup a couple of modified files to floppy disk. While it churned, I browsed the directory structure of the floppy, where directories were coming and going like crazy. Very inefficient, but eventually it produced the right result, so I couldn't really say it was a bug. It put the modified files on a floppy, and from there, I could copy them to another computer for backup purposes.
Then I moved to Iomega Zip drives and it got so much faster that it was OK for a couple years.
Also, since the Zip drives could hold so much more than a floppy, I started doing my incremental
backups into a fully populated target tree instead of an empty tree.
Most of the directories already existed there, so XCOPY /M did few creations and
no deletions.
I no longer needed to copy the files from the Zip drive to another computer for backup, since
the Zip drive could hold a complete set of files itself.
Then I moved to USB flash drives, which held even more than Zip drives.
Since they had so much space, I continued keeping a full copy of all my files there, but also resumed my practice of
doing daily incremental backups into empty directory trees so that I could have each day's version of a file, not just the
latest version. Since the flash drive was so fast, the massive number of directory creations and deletions was not a big issue.
After a couple months, my USB flash drive suddenly failed. I could no
longer read or write any files or even see the directory tree. I bought a new USB
flash drive. It failed a few months later. I bought another.
It failed soon also. No one else was reporting that USB flash drives were so
bad, so I got curious.
I discovered that XCOPY /M was the culprit. So, I re-wrote my backup batch file to do an
XCOPY /S /M to a staging
area on the hard drive, immediately followed by an XCOPY /S (no /M) from there to the USB drive, followed by deleting the staged tree.
No more USB flash drive problems! However, I'm now doing an awful lot of writes
to my regular hard drive, so I hope it can handle it!
I still recommend XCOPY /S /M as an easy way to do incremental backups, just not to an empty directory tree. If you do it to a fully populated backup tree, it works fine. The exact command I use is:
XCOPY /M /S /E /Y /I /F /H /K /R /V
See XCOPY /? or HELP XCOPY for details of these options.
If you start using XCOPY /M for backups, or even if you use any other incremental backup mechanism, you may want to know more about the "archive" bit that is used by all such mechanisms. Whenever you modify a file, Windows automatically sets the archive bit to indicate that the file should be archived (backed up). Incremental backup techniques typically backup all files that have the archive bit set, clearing the archive bit on each file as it is backed up.
Therefore, you should know the following:
--Fred
Last Updated: 12/22/2000
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
The following are good sources of info about the WinNT command line:
--Fred
Last Updated: 12/27/1998
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
The "Command Extensions" of WinNT 4.0 add lots of additional functionality to the commands used in a batch file. Unix users will find much of the functionality familiar -- things available in Unix via the find command, backtick operators, etc. WinNT Command Extensions are enabled by default, and can be explicitly enabled by the /X option of CMD.EXE. The following commands are added or enhanced:
DEL/ERASE COLOR CD/CHDIR MD/MKDIR PROMPT PUSHD POPD SET SETLOCAL ENDLOCAL IF FOR CALL SHIFT GOTO START ASSOC FTYPE
For more info, type:
HELP CMD
at the command line.
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/3/2005
Applies to: Win2K, WinXP
With Command Extensions enabled, there are several pre-defined environment variables
:| Variable | Meaning |
| %CD% | Current directory |
| %DATE% | Current date |
| %TIME% | Current time |
| %RANDOM% | Random number 0-32767 |
| %ERRORLEVEL% | Current ERRORLEVEL value |
| %CMDEXTVERSION% | Command Extensions version number |
| %CMDCMDLINE% | Original command line that invoked the Command Processor. |
For more info, type:
HELP SET
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/3/2005
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
With Command Extensions enabled, the syntax for the evaluation of variables is significantly extended. In addition to the familiar syntax:
%variable%
you can use the following forms:
| Syntax | Examples | ||
| %var1:str1=str2% | Returns a value with each occurrence of str1
in var1 replaced with str2. str1 can start with an asterisk. str2 can be empty. |
%var1:abc=def% | Returns a value with each occurrence of "abc" in var1 replaced with "def" |
| %var1:*abc=def% | Returns a value with the first occurrence of "abc" in var1, and everything that precedes it in var1, replaced with "def" | ||
| %var1:abc=% | Returns a value with each occurrence of "abc" in var1 deleted (replaced with the empty string) | ||
| %var1:~n,m% | Extracts a substring from var1
starting at position n (0-based) for length m. Length m can be omitted. Negative n or m counts from the end. |
%var1:~3,5% | Extracts the 4th through 8th characters from var1 |
| %var1:~3% | Extracts the 4th through last characters of var1 | ||
| %var1:~-9,5% | Extracts the 5 chars starting with the 9th from the end of var1 | ||
| %var1:~0,-5% | Extracts all except the last 5 chars of var1 | ||
For more info, type:
HELP SET
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 12/27/1998
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
With Command Extensions enabled, the SET command has a much more useful syntax. In addition to the familiar syntax:
SET X=Y
you can use the /A option to do arithmetic, logical operations, bitwise shifts, etc., like the following:
SET /A X = "(7 * (Y + Z) / 2 << A) & 0x0FFF + 077"
The complete list of operators, in order of precedence, is:
| () | grouping |
| * / % | multiplicative operators |
| + - | additive operators |
| << >> | logical shift |
| & | bitwise and |
| ^ | bitwise exclusive or |
| | | bitwise or |
| = *= /= %= += -= &= ^= |= <<= >>= | assignment |
| , | expression separator |
For more info, type:
HELP SET
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/3/2005
Applies to: Win2K, WinXP
With Command Extensions enabled, the SET command supports a /P option which prompts the user for input. For example:
SET /P X=Enter a value:
prompts the user with the specified string and stores the user's line of text as the value of X.
For more info, type:
HELP SET
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/10/1999
Applies to: DOS, Win 3.1, Win95, WinNT 3.51, WinNT 4.0, Win2K,
WinXP
Even without WinNT Command Extensions enabled, the FOR command can be used to expand wildcards. For example, Notepad does not take a wildcarded parameter, so you cannot load all *.TXT files into Notepad with the command:
notepad *.txt
However, you can expand the wildcard with the FOR command, and accomplish the same thing, as:
for %i in (*.txt) do start notepad %i
This is too long and clunky to be useful, so I created a batch file called N.BAT containing the single line:
for %%i in (%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9) do start notepad %%i
Now I can just type:
n *.txt
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/10/1999
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
With Command Extensions enabled, the syntax of the FOR command is significantly extended. In addition to the familiar syntax:
FOR %i IN (*.*) DO command [params]
you can use the /D (directory) option to cause wildcards to match directory names instead of filenames. Thus, a command like:
FOR /D %i IN (*.*) DO ECHO %i
echoes the names of all subdirectories of the current directory. For more info, type:
HELP FOR
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/10/1999
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Another extension to the FOR command when Command Extensions are enabled is the /R (recursive) option which causes the FOR command to match files (or directories if /D is also used) in subdirectories, not only the current directory. Thus, the N.BAT file in tip Expanding wildcards can be enhanced to have its own /R option as:
rem Check for /R option. if "%1" == "/R" goto RECURSIVE if "%1" == "/r" goto RECURSIVE rem Normal processing for %%i in (%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9) do start notepad %%i goto EXIT :RECURSIVE if not "%OS%" == "Windows_NT" goto NOT_NT shift for /r %%i in (%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9) do start notepad %%i goto EXIT :NOT_NT echo Error: /r option is only valid on Windows NT. goto EXIT :USAGE echo Usage: %0 [/r] filename... goto EXIT :EXIT
Now the command:
n /r *.txt
opens all *.txt files in the current directory and in all subdirectories. For more info, type:
HELP FOR
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/10/1999
Applies to: DOS, Win 3.1, Win95, WinNT 3.51+, WinNT 4.0,
Win2K, WinXP
Even without WinNT Command Extensions enabled, the FOR command can be used to loop a specific number of times, but it is kind of clunky. The line:
FOR %i IN (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15) DO command
executes the specified command 15 times.
--Fred
Last Updated: 9/26/2001
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
With WinNT Command Extensions enabled, the FOR command takes a new /L (loop) option. The syntax is:
FOR /L %i IN (start,step,end) DO command [params]
Using this syntax, the loop shown in Looping a specified number of times can be re-written as:
FOR /L %i IN (1,1,15) DO command
to execute the specified command 15 times. For more info, type:
HELP FOR
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/10/1999
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
With WinNT Command Extensions enabled, the FOR command takes a new /F (file) option which can be used to read from a file. The syntax is:
FOR /F ["options"] %i IN (filenames) DO command [params]
With no options specified, this reads each line from each of the specified files, and uses the first space-delimited token as the value of %i. Thus, the command:
FOR /F %i IN (file1.txt file2.txt) DO echo %i
echoes the first space-delimited token from each of the lines of each of the files file1.txt and file2.txt. The following options can be specified to control how the lines of the files are parsed, overriding the default behavior of extracting the first space-delimited token:
| Option | Example | ||
| eol=c | Specifies an end of line comment character | eol=; | A semicolon (;) in any line causes the rest of that line to be ignored. |
| skip=n | Specifies the number of lines to skip at the beginning of the file. | skip=5 | Skip the first 5 lines of each file. |
| delims=xxx | Specifies a delimiter set. | delims=,.: | The comma (,), period (.), and colon (:) chars serve as token delimiters instead of blank and tab. |
| tokens=x,y,m-n | Specifies which tokens from each line are to be
passed to the for body for each iteration. This will cause additional variable names to be
allocated. The m-n form is a range, specifying the mth through the nth tokens. If the last
character in the tokens= string is an asterisk, then an additional variable is allocated
and receives the remaining text on the line after the last token parsed. Default is tokens=1. |
tokens=2,4,6-9,11* | If the loop counter was called %i, the 2nd token is assigned to %i, the 4th token to %j, the 6th token to %k, the 7th token to %l, the 8th token to %m, the 9th token to %n, the 11th token to %o, and the remainder of the line to %p. |
For more info, type:
HELP FOR
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/10/1999
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
With WinNT Command Extensions enabled, the /F option of the FOR command can also be used to read from a literal string. The syntax is:
FOR /F ["options"] %i IN ("string") DO command [params]
Note the use of double quote chars to delimit the literal string. This behaves exactly like the FOR /F command described in Reading from a file, except that the specified string is processed instead of lines from the specified files. For more info, type:
HELP FOR
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/24/1999
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
With WinNT Command Extensions enabled, the /F option of the FOR command can also be used to invoke another command, and trap and parse its output. The syntax is:
FOR /F ["options"] %i IN ('command1') DO command2 [params]
Note the use of single quote chars to delimit the nested command. This behaves exactly like the FOR /F command described in Reading from a file, except that the specified command is executed by a child CMD.EXE, and its output is captured and used as the file to be parsed. (Unix users will recognize this as exactly the behavior of the backtick operator in the Unix command line, except that here the regular single quote is used instead of the backtick, and it only works in the context of a FOR loop.) For more info, type:
HELP FOR
at the command line, or see the references in the See Also tip.
--Fred
Last Updated: 1/1/2007
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
With WinNT Command Extensions enabled, the /F option of the FOR command can be used to write a batch file that behaves like the find -exec command of Unix -- it executes the specified command against each of the files found by the specified DIR command. See the EXEC.BAT file below:
@echo off
rem -------------------------------------------------------------------------
rem Batch file to execute a command on a set of files.
rem -------------------------------------------------------------------------
rem Revision History:
rem 6/5/1982 Fred Stluka
rem - Initial version for IBM VMS/CMS (FILELIST EXEC)
rem 10/12/1985 Fred Stluka
rem - Initial version for DEC VAX/VMS
rem 10/4/1988 Fred Stluka
rem - Initial version for Unix (find -exec, find -ok)
rem 12/2/1998 Fred Stluka
rem - Initial version for Windows NT
rem 2/3/2005 Fred Stluka
rem - Execute command via "call" in case it's a BAT file.
rem - Expand filenames to fully qualified paths via ~f.
rem - Notes explaining FOR command syntax.
rem $Log$
rem -------------------------------------------------------------------------
rem Turn echo back on if ECHO environment variable equals ON.
if not "%ECHO%"=="" echo %ECHO%
if "%1" == "" goto USAGE
if "%1" == "-?" goto USAGE
if "%1" == "/?" goto USAGE
if not "%OS%" == "Windows_NT" goto NOT_NT
rem Accumulate the DIR options and file specs (everything until "DO").
set DIR_PARAMS=
:GET_DIR_PARAMS
for %%i in (do DO dO Do) do if "%1"=="%%i" goto DO_FOUND
if "%1"=="" goto NO_DO_FOUND
set DIR_PARAMS=%DIR_PARAMS% %1
shift
goto GET_DIR_PARAMS
:DO_FOUND
shift
rem Run the command on the files.
rem
rem Notes:
rem - The /f switch causes FOR to parse each line in a file.
rem - The "tokens=*" option causes an entire line of the file to be handled
rem at once. (Required, since default is first token only.)
rem - Percent signs must be doubled on FOR loop variables inside BAT files.
rem - The apostrophes cause the DIR command to be evaluated to produce the
rem "file" to be parsed by /f.
rem - The ~f modifier expands the filename in %i to a fully qualified path.
rem - For more info, type: HELP FOR
rem
echo DIR parameters: %DIR_PARAMS%
echo Files to be processed:
for /f "tokens=*" %%i in ('dir %DIR_PARAMS% /a-d /b') do echo "%%~fi"
rem Note: "echo." echoes a blank line. "echo ." would echo a dot.
echo.
echo Hit Ctrl-C to stop or any other key to continue:
pause > nul
for /f "tokens=*" %%i in ('dir %DIR_PARAMS% /a-d /b') do call :EXECUTE %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 "%%~fi"
goto EXIT
:EXECUTE
echo %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
rem
rem Note: The keyword "call" is needed here. Otherwise, if the first parameter
rem is the name of a BAT file, things get confused. The BAT file is not
rem executed, and the following error is reported:
rem The system cannot find the batch label specified - EXECUTE
rem
call %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
goto EXIT
:NOT_NT
echo Sorry. %0 only runs under Windows NT, 2000, XP, etc. Not 95, 98, ME.
goto EXIT
:NO_DO_FOUND
echo Invalid syntax. Must specify DO.
goto USAGE
:USAGE
echo %0 is a BAT file that executes the specified command on the specified
echo set of files. The files are specified as a set of parameters that would
echo cause the DIR command to select the right set of files.
echo Usage: %0 [dir_params...] DO command
echo Examples: %0 *.* DO type
echo Types all files in the current directory.
echo %0 DO type
echo Types all files in the current directory.
echo %0 /s DO type
echo Types all files in the current directory tree.
echo %0 *.exe DO start /wait /max
echo Runs all EXE files in the current directory, one at a
echo time, waiting for each to finish, in maximized windows.
echo %0 /s /aa c:\*.* DO xcopy /s /m /f
echo Incremental backup. Run with A:\ as the current
echo working directory. Copies all files with archive bit
echo set from the C drive to the current directory tree,
echo clearing the archive bits and echoing the names as
echo the files are copied.
echo %0 /s /a-r DO edit
echo Edit all files that are not readonly in the current
echo directory tree.
goto EXIT
:EXIT
--Fred
Original Version: 4/21/1999
Last Updated: 6/6/2008
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
Under WinNT, the IF command has an undocumented IF THEN ELSE form:
IF condition (then-part) ELSE (else-part)
The parentheses are required. For example:
if "%1"=="-?" (goto USAGE) else (goto NORMAL)
Also, you can spread it over multiple lines and include multiple commands, but the open parenthesis must always be on the same line as the IF or ELSE. For example:
if "%1"=="-?" ( echo Usage: To use this command, you should... echo Example: An example of typical usage is... ) else ( echo Starting to do something... call do_something echo Starting to do something else... call do_something_else echo Done. )
--Fred
Last Updated: 11/25/2001
Applies to: Win95?, Win98?, WinMe?, WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
How to write a blank line to a file from a Windows batch file?
Since you can echo the word "hello" with a line like:
echo hello > file1.out
you might think you could echo a blank line with a line like:
echo > file1.out
However, this form of the echo command reports the current status of the echo flag, as:
C:\>echo
ECHO is on.
Another reasonable guess would be the form that works in Unix:
echo "" > file1.out
However, this echoes the quotes themselves, as:
C:\>echo ""
""
For some reason the following works:
echo. > file1.out
The dot following the word echo doesn't get echoed, but prevents the annoying "ECHO is on." message. Anyone know why?
--Fred
Last Updated: 10/9/2004
Applies to: WinNT 4.0, Win2K, WinXP
The following are good sources of info about batch files in WinNT:
--Fred
Last Updated: 11/25/2001
Applies to: Win2K
Here are some of the differences I noticed in some of the standard applications when I moved from WinNT 4.0 to Win2K last year:
--Fred
Last Updated: 5/15/2016
Be aware that Microsoft seems to be forcing upgrades to Windows 10.
You may only get a couple days warning, and you may not even notice the warning among the steady stream of Windows Updates popups that you're probably used to dismissing without reading.
If you're still on an older version, you may not want to move on short notice because:
If so, you may want to block the upgrade.
Here's an article warning about it:
And people complaining, saying it happened to them, some saying that that they got permanently locked out of the comnputer by the upgrade, some saying that it happened w/o warning while they were actively using the computer, etc:
And a tip on how to prevent it:
And an app from a world-famous security guy that I trust (Steve Gibson of Gibson Research -- maker of "Shields Up!"), to make sure it never happens, since some people are claiming that Microsoft overrides the above preventative tip:
Good luck! Fortunately, I moved to Mac several years ago.
BTW, the Linux Users Group that meets in Malvern tomorrow has a great talk (I've seen it before, and will attend again this time) for Linux beginners: "Bash 101: Intro to Shell Scripting". The speaker is JP Vossen, co-author of the O'Reilly "Bash Cookbook". Details:
See ya there?
--Fred
Last Updated: 3/14/2007
Applies to: Win2K, WinXP
Want a quick and easy way to update your computer to use the new Daylight Savings Time start and end dates that went into effect in the United States in 2007? For Win2K, and WinXP, click here:
FixWindowsDaylightSavingsTime2007.reg
and then reboot your computer. That's it! You're done. Windows is now patched and will switch into and out of Daylight Savings Time correctly each spring and fall.
Note: Be sure to reboot before you ever double-click on the clock icon at the bottom right of your screen and bring up the Date/Time Properties window because clicking OK in that window resets the registry back to the old wrong values. After you reboot once, it is no longer a problem.
And just think... You didn't have to walk through a "wizard" at the Microsoft Web site, answering questions about your computer, yourself, your non-Microsoft applications, and your firstborn child... You didn't have to download and run an EXE file that would make this same small change, plus also "fix" a few other things that Microsoft would like "fixed" on your computer, like "fixes" to cause competitors products to stop working on your computer or to install spyware that reports your usage patterns to Microsoft. You didn't even have to pay the $4000 fee that Microsoft is charging to upgrade servers for some of its corporate clients... And it's all perfectly legal! Not bad, eh?
Details:
This fix is a Windows registry file. I dumped it from my Windows registry in a text format, and edited it. If you want to look at it, you can right click and choose "Save Link As" (Firefox users) , "Save Link Target As" (Netscape users), or "Save Target As" (poor unfortunate Microsoft Internet Explorer users) to download the file. Then you can open it in Notepad, Word, or any other text editor. Or just click on it to apply the change to your Windows registry, as recommended above. If you look at it, you'll see:
REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation] "StandardStart"=hex:00,00,0b,00,01,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "DaylightStart"=hex:00,00,03,00,02,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 |
The last line tells Windows to start Daylight Savings Time at 2am on
the 2nd Sunday of the 3rd month (March).
The preceding line tells Windows to start Standard Time at 2am on the
1st Sunday of the 11th ("b" in base 16) month (November).
When you run this file by clicking on it, it overwrites the old settings in your Windows registry, which were:
REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation] "StandardStart"=hex:00,00,0a,00,05,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 "DaylightStart"=hex:00,00,04,00,01,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 |
In these old settings, the last line told Windows to start Daylight
Savings Time at 2am on the 1st Sunday of the 4th month (April).
The preceding line told Windows to start Standard Time at 2am on the
last (5 means last) Sunday of the 10th ("a" in base 16) month
(October).
Anybody have any idea why people have made such a big deal of this? On Unix and Windows both, it is a pretty simple patch.
Why not just change your clock manually?
That was my original thought too. I'm generally a believer in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Rather than risk applying a Microsoft patch to a system that is currently working reliably, and on which I depend, I figured I'd just change the clock manually 4 times a year: twice to change the clocks at the new dates in the fall and spring, and twice to undo the automatic changes at the old wrong dates in the fall and spring. However, when I did so, it caused problems with my e-mail. It would cause similar problems for you with any program that uses dates and times and communicates among multiple computers.
Here's what happened to me:
Monday, I changed my clock from 4:27pm to 5:27pm. However, I didn't
change the time zone so I was still using EST (Eastern Standard Time), not EDT (Eastern Daylight Time).
That worked fine for local things like creating files and checking to see what time they were
created, etc.
However, my outgoing mail was being incorrectly stamped as:
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 17:27:07 -0500
Many people receiving my e-mail were already set to EDT, which uses an offset of -0400, not -0500, from UTC (Coordinated Universal Time,
previously known as GMT, Greenwich Mean Time). Therefore, their mail
programs were converting this from:
17:27:00 -0500 (EST)
to:
22:27:00 -0000 (UTC/GMT)
and then to:
18:27:00 -0400 (EDT)
showing them the time 6:27pm, instead of 5:27pm. Despite the fact that they might have been very impressed by my time-traveling ability
to send them mail from the future, I decided to fix this.
Similarly, for my incoming mail, they would send as:
17:27:00 -0400 (EDT)
which my computer would incorrectly interpret as:
21:27:00 -0000 (UTC/GMT)
and:
16:27:00 -0500 (EST)
and show me 4:27pm, instead of 5:27pm. Despite the superior sensation
this gave me, of being an hour ahead of everyone else, I decided to fix this too.
The registry change turned out to be the answer. Thanks to David
Tao for his patience in being a guinea pig as I tested this!
--Fred
Original version: 10/14/1996
Last Updated: 3/23/2021
Mac, Linux, and all other versions of Unix, have fully supported the SSH protocol for decades (over a quarter of a century, since 1995). They include both a built-in SSH client and a built-in SSH server. So you can login to any server securely with an encrypted SSH connection, from any computer, tablet or phone. They also include tools like sftp, scp, and rsync that securely copy files across an encrypted SSH connection.
Microsoft Windows, on the other hand, doesn't yet support the SSH protocol at all. See details below.
--Fred
Original version: 10/14/1996
Last Updated: 3/23/2021
Windows has no SSH client, no ssh, sftp, scp, rsync, etc. So unless you manually download and install a 3rd party SSH client like PuTTY, you can't open an outgoing encrypted SSH connection to a remote server. Not to a remote Windows PC, and not even to a remote Mac, Linux, or Unix server that DOES have an SSH server.
Windows DOES include old-fashioned telnet (1969) and ftp (1971) commands. So, you're forced to use telnet instead of ssh. And ftp instead of sftp, scp, rsync, etc. Forced to send all of your info across the public Internet in plain text: usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, sensitive files containing private medical and financial info, and everything else.
And since any competent system admin refuses to run servers that accept those archaic protocols, you may be out of luck entirely.
--Fred
Original version: 10/14/1996
Last Updated: 3/23/2021
Furthermore, Windows also doesn't include an SSH server. So unless you manually download and install a 3rd party SSH server like OpenSSH, you can't accept an incoming encrypted SSH connection to your Windows PC. Not from a remote Windows PC, and not even from a remote Mac, Linux, or Unix computer that DOES have an SSH client.
So anyone connecting to your Windows PC also has to use old-fashioned unencrypted telnet instead of ssh. And old-fashioned unencrypted ftp instead of sftp, scp, rsync, etc. You're forcing them to expose their plain text usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, sensitive files containing private medical and financial info, and everything else.
And you look like an incompetent system admin, who doesn't care about the security of their data.
--Fred
Original version: 10/14/1996
Last Updated: 3/23/2021
Windows does allow you to make encrypted connections, but only from one Windows PC to another. And only via the Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), not via the industry standard SSH protocol.
RDP allows you to connect only to the desktop of a remote Windows PC. So you can see and click on the desktop icons and other elements of the Windows GUI (Graphical User Interface). It's similar to connecting to a Unix server via the X Window System of 1984.
RDP does NOT allow you to connect to a command line like ssh does. So, you can't write Windows BAT files to automate things like you would with a Unix shell script calling ssh.
RDP also does NOT allow you to use it as an SSH-like transport to copy files with commands like sftp, scp, rsync, etc. Not from the command line, and not from a Windows BAT file.
RDP also does NOT allow you access the Windows API at the remote PC. So, you can't automate anything. All you can do is point and click, X Windows style, but without the underlying Unix that X Windows always had.
--Fred
Original version: 10/14/1996
Last Updated: 3/23/2021
Why has Microsoft never added SSH support, even after all these years. And even with a rising public demand for computer security? Good question!
See my explanation below.
--Fred
Original version: 10/14/1996
Last Updated: 3/23/2021
I attribute many of the weaknesses of Windows to Microsoft's ignorance and arrogance. They don't look around much, so they genuinely have no idea what the rest of the world is doing. So they miss the boat on lots of things.
And when they DO finally notice something outside of their own little bubble, they're generally too arrogant to follow its lead. Instead of carefully copying a mature, well-considered feature that Unix has had for decades, they quickly whip up their own toy version of it. With very few features, very many bugs, and often in the wrong architectural layer.
For example, in 1995, Windows added the concept of a desktop "shortcut" -- a file that was effectively a pointer to another file. Shortcuts are somewhat similar to the concept of "symbolic links" added to Unix two decades earlier, in 1978 -- also files that point to other files.
But shortcuts got the link concept entirely wrong. Unix links exist in the filesystem, so you can use them from the GUI, or the command line, or a shell script, or even a computer program written in C, Java, Python, or any other programmng language.
Windows shortcuts exist in the GUI only. Can't be used from the command line, or a BAT file, or a computer program. So they can never be automated. Only useful for pointing and clicking.
Doh!
--Fred
Original version: 10/14/1996
Last Updated: 3/23/2021
But in the case of SSH, I don't think it's ignorance or arrogance. It's part of an intentional marketing campaign.
Microsoft dominates the PC desktop market. About 75% of laptops and desktops run Windows. Sounds impressive, right?
But Linux dominates the MUCH, MUCH, MUCH larger market of ALL computers world-wide. If you count not only laptops and desktops, but also tablets, phones, servers, routers, cable modems, cars, appliances, IoT devices, etc., that's over 20 TIMES as many computers as the number of laptops and desktops. And over 96% of them run Linux!
Microsoft has no interest in making Windows PCs connect better and more securely with Mac, Linux or any form of Unix. It wants desperately to hang on to its less than 4% market share. Will do anything to keep from dropping even lower.
By arranging for Windows PCs to communicate securely only via RDP, Microsoft forces any access from a Windows PC to a non-Microsoft server to be grossly insecure. And the same for any access to a Windows PC from a non-Microsoft computer, tablet or phone. If Windows is involved at all, which it is for about 75% of laptops and desktops, only Windows to Windows connections are secure.
But the relatively minuscule market of desktop and laptop PCs, so much smaller than the total market for all computers, looms REALLY large in the minds of the users. Most desktop and laptop users think of them as computers, and don't think about all the other computers at all.
So Microsoft manages to create the false impression that "most" computers run Windows. And that communication between them is encrypted securely. And that the "relatively few" non-Windows computers have a security problem and should be avoided.
And people fall for it!
--Fred
Original Version: 2/20/2012
Last Updated: 3/8/2012
Applies to: WinXP, Vista, Win7
PuTTY is a Windows implementation of the Unix ssh command.
The ssh command is similar to telnet. They both allow you to login to a remote system. However, ssh can also be used to execute a single command on a remote system. Furthermore, ssh can be used as a transport for other commands, such as scp and rsync, to copy files from one system to another like ftp. The advantage of ssh (and commands like scp, rsync, etc., that use it) over telnet and ftp is that ssh encrypts all transmissions for security, including the initial username and password. Finally, ssh can be used to set up encrypted "tunnels" for other protocols like HTTP.
There is no built-in support for ssh on Windows, so without PuTTY, you'd have to login to remote systems via telnet, sending your password in plain text across the Internet, if any Unix or Linux system administrator were foolish enough to even run a telnet server for you to connect to.
You can download PuTTY for free from:
Here are the instructions for how I typically install and configure it:
For more info on ssh and the PuTTY tool to use it from an MS Windows client, see the excellent blog post:
For more info on ssh in general, see:
--Fred
Original Version: 2/20/2012
Last Updated: 3/8/2012
Applies to: WinXP, Vista, Win7
WinSCP is a Windows implementation of the Unix scp command.
The scp command is similar to ftp. They both allow you to copy files to/from a remote system. The advantage of scp is that it uses ssh as a transport, so it encrypts all transmissions for security, including the initial username and password.
There is no built-in support for scp on Windows, so without WinSCP, you'd have to copy files to/from remote systems via ftp, sending your password in plain text across the Internet, if any Unix or Linux system administrator were foolish enough to even run an ftp server for you to connect to.
You can download WinSCP for free from:
Here are the instructions for how I typically install and configure it:
Here is a Windows batch file I use to invoke it in various useful ways:
Feedback from Dave Tutelman:
I use WinSCP to maintain one of my web sites. In addition to file transfer, it allows editing files on the server, without explicitly transferring them to my Windows PC. (Of course, "under the covers" the file is on my PC, but I did nothing to save it and it goes away after I quit the editor.) So I can have 4 or 5 files from the server open in separate windows on my screen, editing them with a notepad-like text editor. As soon as I hit "save", I can test my changes on the server.
Feedback from Vadim Storozhuk:
If you have not tried it yet, please check out the "Remote System Explorer" (RSE) perspective in Eclipse.
This is one and only ssh client I've been using for over a year. It can do ssh terminals, sftp to and from ssh servers, copying files between windows and ssh servers, etc. Looks dry at first sight, but quite powerful and pretty neat after you play with it a bit.
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/20/2012
Applies to: WinXP, Vista, Win7
You can run many Unix or Linux applications inside the Windows operating system via the cygwin emulator. This does not require you to buy a Unix license. See:
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/20/2012
Applies to: WinXP, Vista, Win7
You can run a full copy of the Unix or Linux operating system inside the Windows operating system via the VMWare virtualization product. For Unix, this may require you to buy a Unix license, in addition to your Windows license. See:
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/20/2012
Applies to: WinXP, Vista, Win7
You can run a full copy of the Unix or Linux operating system inside the Windows operating system via the Oracle VirtualBox virtualization product. For Unix, this may require you to buy a Unix license, in addition to your Windows license. See:
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/20/2012
Applies to: WinXP, Vista, Win7
You can run many Windows applications inside the Unix, Linux or Mac OS X operating system via the CodeWeavers CrossOver virtualization product. This does not require you to buy a Windows license. See:
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/20/2012
Applies to: WinXP, Vista, Win7
You can run a full copy of the Windows operating system inside the Mac OS X operating system via the Parallels virtualization product. This requires you to buy a Windows license, in addition to your Mac OS X license. See:
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/20/2012
Applies to: WinXP, Vista, Win7
You can run a full copy of the Windows operating system inside the Unix, Linux or Mac OS X operating system via the VMWare virtualization product. This requires you to buy a Windows license, in addition to your Unix or Mac OS X license. See:
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/20/2012
Applies to: WinXP, Vista, Win7
You can run a full copy of the Windows operating system inside the Unix, Linux, or Mac OS X operating system via the Oracle VirtualBox virtualization product. This requires you to buy a Windows license, in addition to your Unix or Mac OS X license. See:
--Fred
Last Updated: 6/26/1999
Applies to: Win95, Win98, WinNT 4.0
To run an EXE file from an AUTORUN.INF file, you use the lines:
[Autorun] OPEN=file1.exe ICON=file1.ico
So how to run other types of files? Use the START command, as:
[Autorun] OPEN="start file1.pps" ICON=file1.ico
Thanks to Steve Weitzman for this tip!
--Fred
Last Updated: 2/5/2010
Applies to: All versions of Windows
People often ask me why Windows has such security problems. Why
is it so much less secure than Mac, Linux, Unix, VM, VMS, and every
other operating system in existence? The answer lies in its history.
Decades ago, there were mainframes and Unix computers that were big
expensive machines shared by hundreds of users, and it was very
important to enforce security so one user couldn't see or change
the files of another user. Then PCs came along for home users. They
had to be cheap enough to buy for your home. They didn't
need security since there was only one user at a time, and no
Internet, and you could just lock them in your office to keep your
kids from doing any harm. To make them cheap enough, Microsoft
dumbed them down a lot and took out all the security.
For the next 20 years, Microsoft made operating systems with no security.
Recently, they are trying to add it, after the fact, without
breaking all sorts of sloppy programs that assume they can
do anything they want to the computer. It's very hard
to add security without
breaking things. Ever add a new lock on a door at work, or institute
a new policy requiring higher level management approval?
It interferes with all sorts of shortcuts that people previously took,
and forces them to follow the new rules. Same for computer programs. Add
security after they were written in a security-free
world and they all break. Therefore, Microsoft keeps poking at
security in a half-hearted way, but cannot afford to really lock things
down.
Also, Microsoft has no experience with secure systems. They've
specialized in what I call "toy computers" for decades and don't know
any better. The best they typically manage is to effectively
lock the front door and leave the back door wide open, hoping no one
will notice.
Or to lock the front and back doors, but leave a key under a
rock near the back door, hoping that no one will find it, except those
programs they left it there for.
This concept of "security through
obscurity" works fine in lots of non-computer situations. Admit
it -- you have a key to your house or car hidden somewhere, don't you?
You can get away with it because very few people are actively searching
under rocks to find your key. Also, finding a neighbor's key doesn't
help them to find your key, because you choose different hiding places.
However, in the modern world of computer hackers, "security through
obscurity" is
a disaster.
To continue the analogy, there are huge numbers of hackers searching
under all of the rocks in your yard and the yards of everyone else in
the world. Once
they find a key, they write a computer program that automates the process
of walking up to a house, getting the key from under the known rock, opening
the door, and putting the key back under the rock. This same program
works for any house. That is, any version of Windows on
any computer in the world.
I've done this myself hundreds of time. Someone comes to me complaining
that their computer is locked down to prevent them from doing something
that they reasonably need to be able to do. I show them how to change
the setting in the Windows "registry" that says they are not allowed.
If
they are not allowed to change the setting, I show them how to change
another setting that says they are not allowed to change
the first setting. If it gets to be too complicated, I write them
a little program that automatically changes the settings for them.
In
the Windows world, there is no real security. There is only obscurity.
But these days, it is very hard to keep a secret. Anyone can
learn anything with a simple Web search. Unfortunately, people
are starting to use Windows in non-"toy" situations, where security really
matters. That's why security experts and even common
newspapers
like the Washington Post are warning people to not use Windows for
on-line banking or any other tasks where security is important.
On the other hand, the Mac OS X operating system and Linux are both based on Unix, which already has very good security. Has had it for 40 years or more. Most of the holes were found long ago. There's never been a need to leave back doors open or keys under rocks to accommodate old programs. No programs were ever written that assumed a security-free world. Such programs would have failed right from the start.
--Fred
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