CMD Commands Overview: BATch Commands Windows Command Prompt

An introduction to Windows-BATch or the Windows-Command-Line can be found here: Windows Batch

After Windows-Powershell gradually replaces Windows-BATch, see also: Windows PowerShell 

DOS commands

The command help displays an overview of all integrated commands (depending on the DOS or Windows version).
To get more detailed information about the commands: start the command with /?
so e.g. xcopy /? will generate a short description or the command line parameters of the respective command.

Here are some commands and a short description:

Command Description Operating systems Windows
assoc Displays or changes file extension associations XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
at

AT can be used to start commands or programs at a specific time. These are then entered in "Scheduled Tasks

(in Windows 8 schtasks should be used instead of AT)

 XP/Vista/7
attrib Displays or changes file attributes XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
break Turns extended checking for CTRL+C on or off 8/10/11
bcdedit Sets properties in the boot database to control booting. 11
cacls changes file ACLs (Access Control List) or displays them XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
call calls a batch file from another XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cd change to another directory; cd \ changes to the root directory XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
chcp changes the current code page or displays its number XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
chdir changes the directory or displays its name XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
chkdsk check disk XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
chkntfs Show disk check at startup, change XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
choice Users can select items from a drop-down list 7/8/10/11
cipher Show or enable encryption of directories (NTFS partition) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cls Clear screen content XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cmd starts the command prompt XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cmstp profile installation for the connection manager XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
color Change console colors XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
comp compares the contents of files XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
compact view or change the compression of files (ntfs) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
convert convert fat drives to NTFS XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
copy copy files. more suitable for copy operations is the command:xcopy XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cscript starts the scripting host: e.g. to display the output of a .vbs file in the console (not in individual windows) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
date shows the current date and asks for a new XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
defrag defragment drives XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
del delete files (no folders!) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
dir shows the directory contents XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
diskcomp compares the content of 2 floppy disks XP/Vista/7/8
diskcopy copies one floppy disk to another XP/Vista/7/8
diskpart disk management from the console XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
dism DISM is used for enumerating, installing, uninstalling, configuring
and updating features and packages in Windows images.
The commands available depend on which image is being maintained and whether the image is
and whether the image is an offline image or an online image.
online image.		 7/8/10/11
doskey is responsible for remembering commands already entered in the console, these can be recalled with the up arrow key XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
driverquery can display installed devices and their properties XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
echo Display messages in the console or switches the command display on or off XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
endlocal ends a session started with setlocal (changes in a batch file are applied with setlocal only in the batch file) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
erase Deletes one or more files XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
errorlevel Return value of a command (whether it was successful: 0 or not: 1) XP/Vista/7/8
eventcreate can write messages to the event log XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
eventquery lists event or event properties from eventlog (must be executed with cscript) XP
eventtriggers display and configure event triggers (eventlog) XP
exist checks if a file exists XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
exit exits cmd.exe or a batch file XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
expand unpack compressed files XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
fc Compare files and shows the differences XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
find searches for a string in one or more files XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
findstr searches for strings in files XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
finger shows which user is logged in; rather old service usually doesn't work anymore for security reasons XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
for for loop, execute commands multiple times based on records (lists) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
format formats a disk XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
fsutil tune filesystem XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ftp File transfer protocol via command line files up and download XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ftype shows file types and their assignment XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
getmac shows the Mac addresses of the computer XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
goto jumps to a marker in a batch file XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
gpresult displays currently applied group policies XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
gpupdate updates group policies XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
graftabl enables Windows to display special characters in graphics mode XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
help shows an overview of Windows CMD commands XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
hostname shows the computer name XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
icacls view, modify, backup, or restore ACLs for files and directories 7/8/10/11
If Conditions in batch files XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ipconfig Displays IP network settings XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ipxroute NWLink IPX routing and source routing control program XP
irftp sends files to the infrared interface XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
label change volume label XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
lodctr Updated names and explanations for extensible performance indicators XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
logman manages the "performance logs and alerts" service XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
lpq displays the status of a remote LPQ queue XP
lpr sends a print job to a network printer XP
mkdir (md) create directory XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
mmc starts the Management Console XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
mklink creates symbolic and fixed links 8/10/11
mode configures interfaces/devices (speed, parity, ..) in the system XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
more displays data page by page on the screen XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
mountvol assign or delete drive letters / mount points XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
move move and rename files and folders XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
openfiles shows files opened by remote users for file sharing 7/8/10/11
msiexec Install msi packages XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
nbtstat Displays TCP/IP connections using NBT (NetBIOS over TCP/IP) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
net Manage network services, show e.g. net use shows currently connected drives XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
netsh configure network components via cmd control, show XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
netstat shows TCP IP connections and their status XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
nslookup query DNS server XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ntbackup Start NTBackup via CommandLine / Silent XP
ntsd Application Debugger XP
pagefileconfig Configure pagefile (run with cscript) XP
path sets the search path for cmd commands or displays them XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
Pathping tests the connection to a given IP address and shows the hops to the destination address (similar to tracert) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
pause stops the execution of a batch file and writes: Press any key ... XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
pentnt shows if the computer has the Intel(tm) Pentium Floating Point Devision error or disables floating point hardware and enables floating point emulation XP
perfmon starts the Performence Monitor (Program: Performance) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ping tests a connection to another computer / device XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
popd changes to the directory that was saved with Phusd XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
print prints a text file XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
prncnfg configures or displays configuration information about a printer. (start with cscript) XP
prndrvr Add, delete, display printer driver (start with cscript) XP
prnjobs Stop, display, repeat PrintJobs (start with cscript) XP
prnmngr Add printers or printer connections, set default printer (start with cscript) XP
prnport Create, delete or list print jobs (start with cscript) XP
prnqctl prints a test page pauses or resumes a print job deletes the print queue XP
prompt changes the prompt XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
pushd saves the current directory for use with popd XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rasdial establish dial-up connections via command line XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rcp copies files to computers or from computers running the RCP service XP
rd Removes a directory 8/10/11
recover recovers readable data from a damaged disk XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
reg add registry entries read import eXPort XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
regsvr32 register dlls XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
relog Rebuild performance indicator logs XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rem commands after rem in a batch file are considered comments and are not processed XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rename (ren) renames files XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
replace replaces files XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
reset disconnect open terminal sessions XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rexec executes commands on remote computers where the RESEC service is active XP
rmdir deletes a directory XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rd deletes a directory XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
route show network routing table, add static routes XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
robocopy Advanced copying of files and directories 7/8/10/11
rsh Executes commands on remote hosts where RSH service is active XP
rsm manage and control removable media XP
runas run programs as another user XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
sc Command line program that communicates with NT Service Controller and Services XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
schtasks scheduled tasks on a local or remote computer create, modify, delete, execute, terminate replaces at.exe XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
secedit MS own security editor: allows to check permissions by comparing templates or applying the templates XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
set sets or deletes environment variables for CMD.exe XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
setlocal Changes of the environment are only related to the batch file after the "setlocal" command. To reset the original settings the command endlocal is used or the batch file is terminated. XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
shift changes the position of replaceable parameters in a batch program XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
shutdown log off, restart, turn off computer XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
sort sort screen output XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
start starts a separate window to execute a specific program or command XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
subst assigns a drive name to a path XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
systeminfo get general information about the system configuration: e.g. logon server, installed hotfixes network settings XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
sfc checks all protected system files and replaces wrong versions with Microsoft original versions XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
taskkill can kill processes XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
tasklist shows applications and associated tasks or processes (PID) XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
tcmsetup Sets up the telephony client XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
telnet Establish telnet connections XP
tftp transfer files to a TFTP server using TFTP XP
time sets or displays the system time XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
timeout waits an arbitrary time Vista/7/10/11
title sets the window title for the prompt window XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
tracerpt generate a readable report file from a binary trace file (etl). The etl file can be generated using Windows Performance Monitor tracing logs. XP/Vista/7/8
tracert Route tracing similar to pathping XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
tree displays the folder structure graphically XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
type displays the contents of text files XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
typeperf writes performance indicator data to command line or log file XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
unlodctr deletes names and explanations for extensible performance indicators XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ver displays the operating system version XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
verify sets the monitoring whether files are written correctly to the disk XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
vol shows the name and serial number of a volume XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
vssadmin Volume Shadow Copy Service command line utility XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
w32tm Time synchronization, time server, set time zone XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
wmic (Windows Management Instrumentation Commandline). Tool with which the classes of the WMI library can be easily exploited in the command line without programming knowledge. XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
xcopy improved copy XP/Vista/7/8/10/11

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