For users with little knowledge, the Windows Command Prompt is arguably one of the scariest tools in Microsoft’s operating system. However, some commands, easy to use, can be very useful. Here are 6 commands you need to know about Windows 10.
Windows’ black Command Prompt window, in its ominous appearance, often scares users. This is undoubtedly the fault of poor television staging which presents this tool as an application exclusively reserved for hackers.
However, the command prompt, without being a crack of Windows, can provide many services in everyday life. With the help of a few very easy-to-learn commands, anyone can easily obtain the IP address of their Internet connection, check the stability of the network, or even get detailed information about the devices connected to the machine.
To access the Windows command prompt, you can either search directly in the dedicated search box within the Start menu, or open the Run command using the Windows + R keyboard shortcut, then type “cmd” and validate to open the command prompt. Here are six Windows commands you need to know to use Command Prompt without being a pro.
1. Find your IP address and deal with connection issues
If for some reason you need to find your machine’s IP address on the local network, Command Prompt will let you get it in less time than it takes to tell.
Just type ipconfig and validate. You will then see the IP address of your wireless network card or your Ethernet network card, depending on your connection type.
You can also use the commands ipconfig / release (releases your problematic local IP address), and ipconfig / renew (asks for a new local IP address) when you have connection problems.
2. Display your Wi-Fi password
Lost your Wi-Fi connection password? You can find it easily using a command line.
In the Windows command prompt, type netsh wlan show profile SSID key = clear replacing SSID with the name of the network to which you are connected on your network.
The password for your Wi-Fi network should be displayed in plain text in Security settings, under the heading Key content.
3. Schedule the shutdown of your PC
The command prompt allows you to program the shutdown of your machine. Great for letting a download complete, just enter the command shutdown -s -f -t xxx.
The s orders the shutdown of the PC, the f forces the closure of jobs that you have not saved (and therefore overrides the dialog boxes), the t adds a duration after which the machine will shut down.
Simply replace xxx with the time in seconds after which you want your PC to shut down.
If you want to shut down your PC in an hour, you would use for example the command shutdown -s -f -t 3600.
4. Monitor your PC’s battery health
It is possible to generate a comprehensive report on the health of your laptop’s battery with a single command. Type powercfg / batteryreport and validate.
The terminal will then create an autonomy report and save it in the directory C: Users YourPCName under the name battery-report.html.
5. Obtain information on the configuration of your machine
The Command Prompt can be very useful for quickly finding information about the configuration of your machine.
Enter systeminfo in the command prompt and validate. You should get a detailed report of your machine configuration.
6. Display your Windows license key
It is quite easy to find the Windows license key using a command line. Open the prompt, type wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey and validate.
The command prompt should instantly display the license key for the version of Windows installed on your machine.