Windows 7 Portable Command Guide

Darril Gibson is the CEO of Security Consulting and Training, LLC. He regularly teaches, writes, and consults on a wide variety of security and technical topics. He’s been a Microsoft Certified Trainer for more than ten years and holds several certifications, including MCSE (NT 4.0, 2000, 2003), MCDBA (SQL Server), MCITP (Windows 7, Server 2008, SQL Server), ITIL v3, Security+, and CISSP. He has authored, coauthored, or contributed to more than a dozen books. You can view a listing of most of his current books on Amazon: http://amzn.to/bL0Obo.  

Introduction

Part I: Command Prompt Basics

Chapter 1 Launching and Using the Command Prompt 3

Launching the Command Prompt 3

Pinning the Command Prompt to the Start Menu and the Taskbar 4

Launching the Command Prompt with Elevated Privileges 4

Responding to the UAC Prompt 5

Using the Built-in Doskey Program 7

Creating Mini Macros in Doskey 9

    Copying from and Pasting into the Command Prompt 9

    Copy from the Command Prompt Window 10

Paste Text into the Command Prompt Window 10

Changing the Options and Display of the Command Prompt 11

Chapter 2 Basic Rules When Using the Command Prompt 15

Using Uppercase or Lowercase 15

Using Quotes to Enclose Spaces 16

Understanding Variables 17

Understanding Switches 18

Understanding Wildcards 18

Getting Help 19

Chapter 3 Using Basic Commands 27

Understanding Folders and Directories 27

Understanding Paths 28

Viewing Files and Folders with dir 30

Changing the Path with cd 31

Using Drag and Drop to the Command Prompt Window 32

Deleting Folders with rd 33

Creating Folders with md 33

Controlling Output with more 34

Redirecting Output 35

    Using the Redirect Symbol (>) 35

    Using clip 35

Using exit 35

Part II: Working with Files, Folders, and Disks

Chapter 4 Manipulating Files and Folders 37

Associating File Extensions with assoc and ftype 37

    assoc 39

    ftype 39

Viewing Attributes with attrib 41

Compressing Files with compact 43

Encrypting Files with cipher 44

Copying Files with copy, xcopy, and robocopy 46

    copy 46

    xcopy 47

    robocopy 48

Deleting or Removing Files with del50

Expanding Cabinet Files with expand 51

Taking Ownership of Files with takeown 51

Removing the Windows.old Folder 52

Mapping Drives with net use 53

Chapter 5 Manipulating Disks 55

Manipulating and Viewing Disks with diskpart 55

    Creating a VHD File with diskpart 56

    Modifying the BCD Store for the VHD File 57

Defragmenting Volumes with defrag 59

Converting to NTFS with convert 61

Managing the File System with fsutil 62

Part III: Scripting with Batch Files

Chapter 6 Creating Batch Files 63

Using Notepad 63

Giving Feedback with echo 64

Using Parameters 65

Calling Another Batch File with call 68

Clearing the Screen with cls 69

Changing the Order of Processing with goto 69

Checking Conditions with if 70

Logging Events with eventcreate 73

Looping Through Tasks with for 75

Creating a Menu File 76

    Documenting the Script with rem 76

    Pausing for the User 77

    Giving Users a Choice 77

    Creating the Batch File 78

Chapter 7 Scheduling Batch Files 81

Scheduling Batch Files with Task Scheduler 81

Scheduling Tasks from the Command Line 82

    Creating a Scheduled Task with schtasks 83

    Creating a Scheduled Task from an XML File with schtasks 83

    Deleting a Scheduled Task with schtasks 85

    Viewing Scheduled Tasks with schtasks 85

    Changing Scheduled Tasks with schtasks 86

    Running and Ending Scheduled Tasks with schtasks 87

Part IV: Managing and Maintaining Windows 7

Chapter 8 Using Windows 7 Maintenance Tools 89

Controlling Power Settings with powercfg 89

    Query the Power Settings with powercfg 89

    Modify the Power Settings with powercfg 91

    Analyze the Power Settings with powercfg 93

Checking Memory with mdsched 93

Manipulating Services with sc 95

Collecting Events with wecutil 97

Restarting Systems with shutdown 97

Launching Control Panel Applets from the Command Line 99

Chapter 9 Retrieving Information About Windows 7 103

Viewing System Information with systeminfo 103

Viewing User Information with whoami 106

Launching System Configuration with msconfig 107

Chapter 10 Managing Security in Windows 7 111

Manipulating Credentials with cmdkey 111

Installing Updates with wusa 112

Installing Applications with msiexec 115

Auditing Systems with mbsacli 116

Chapter 11 Configuring Windows 7 with netsh 121

Understanding netsh 121

Understanding Contexts 122

Configuring a Proxy Server 126

Configuring the Network Interface with netsh 126

Part V: Troubleshooting Windows 7

Chapter 12 Configuring Windows 7 Using Basic Troubleshooting Tools 135

Identifying the System Name with hostname 135

Verifying Core System Files with sfc 135

Checking Digital Signatures with sigverif 137

Viewing Active Tasks with tasklist 138

Terminating Processes with taskkill 142

Viewing Installed Drivers with driverquery 144

Chapter 13 Troubleshooting Network Issues 145

Viewing and Manipulating TCP/IP Configuration with ipconfig 145

Viewing the Physical Address with getmac 151

Checking Connectivity with ping 152

Viewing the Router Path with tracert 155

Checking for Data Loss with pathping 155

Checking for Records in DNS with nslookup 156

Chapter 14 Using Recovery Tools 161

Manipulating the Boot Process with bcdedit 161

    Commands That Operate on a Store 165

    Commands That Control Output 166

    Commands That Control the Boot Manager 167

    Commands That Operate on Entries in the Store 169

    Commands That Operate on Entry Options 170

    Disable Driver Signing 170

Creating a System Repair Disc with recdisc 171

Checking and Repairing Disks with chkdsk 172

Repairing BitLocker Drives with repair-bde 175

Part VI: Remote Administration

Chapter 15 Managing Remote Windows 7 Systems 177

Configuring Windows 7 for Remote Administration 177

Configuring System for Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 177

    Configuring System for Remote Access Using an MMC 180

    Connecting to Remote Systems with mstsc 181

Configuring Windows Remote Management with winrm 184

Executing Commands Remotely with winrs 185

Chapter 16 Windows Management Instrumentation Command Line 187

Understanding wmic 187

Configuring the Firewall to Allow wmic 188

Running wmic 189

Modifying the Format with the /format Switch 191

Retrieving Help from wmic 194

Understanding Aliases 194

    Operating System Aliases 196

    Disk Drive Aliases 197

    System Hardware Aliases 198

    User, Group, and Domain Aliases 200

Using Verbs 200

Part VII: Creating and Managing Images

Chapter 17 Understanding Images 203

Understanding WIM Files 203

Using Windows Deployment Services and Images 205

Comparing Boot and Install Images 207

Comparing Thick and Thin Images 213

Chapter 18 Preparing a System to Be Imaged with Sysprep 215

Understanding Sysprep 215

Running the Sysprep GUI 216

Running sysprep from the Command Line 217

Chapter 19 Installing the Windows Automated Installation Kit 221

Downloading the WAIK 221

Installing the WAIK 221

Viewing the WAIK Tools 224

Chapter 20 Using imagex 227

Creating WinPE on a Bootable USB 227

Capturing Images with imagex 231

Appending Images with imagex 233

Deleting Images with imagex 235

Deploying Images with imagex 235

Chapter 21 Using the Deployment Image Service and Management (DISM) Tool 237

Online Servicing Versus Offline Servicing 237

Mounting Images 238

Getting Information About Mounted Images 240

Modifying Images 240

    Working with Drivers 241

    Working with Packages and Features 242

    Miscellaneous Image Modifications 244

Saving Images 245

Part VIII: Working with WinPE and Setup

Chapter 22 WinPE Commands 247

Add Drivers to WinPE with drvload 247

Run Commands Within WinPE with wpeutil 248

Chapter 23 Installing Windows 7 with setup 251

Installing Windows 7 with setup 251

Using the Autounattend.xml File 252

Using slmgr 253

    Basic slmgr Commands 254

    slmgr Activation Commands 255

    slmgr Commands Used for KMS Clients 256

    slmgr Commands Used for Token-Based Activation 257

Part IX: Migrating User Data with USMT

Chapter 24 Capturing User Data with scanstate 259

Understanding Migration Stores 259

Reviewing Migration Paths 259

Understanding Hard-Link Migration Stores 263

Capturing Migration Data with scanstate 265

    Specifying XML Files 266

    Modifying XML Files 266

    Identifying Users to Migrate with scanstate 268

    Encrypting the Migration Store with scanstate 269

    Simple Error Handling with scanstate 270

    Handling EFS Files 270

    Migrating Data from the Windows.old Folder 271

Chapter 25 Restoring User Data with loadstate 273

Running loadstate 273

Specifying XML Files 274

Specifying Hard-Link Options 275

Deleting the Hard-Link Store 275

Identifying Users to Migrate 276

Decrypting an Encrypted Migration Store 277

Handling Errors 278

Part X: Using PowerShell

Chapter 26 Understanding PowerShell Commands 279

Launching PowerShell 279

Understanding PowerShell Verbs and Nouns 280

Tabbing Through PowerShell Commands 284

Understanding the Different Types of PowerShell Commands 285

Creating Aliases 286

Discovering Windows PowerShell Commands 286

Exploring get-member 288

Redirecting Output with Windows PowerShell 291

Understanding PowerShell Errors 291

Understanding PowerShell Variables 293

Using Comparison Operators 295

Understanding Pipelining 296

Chapter 27 Using the Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) 299

Launching the ISE 299

Exploring the ISE 300

Executing Commands in the ISE 302

Creating and Saving a Script in the ISE 303

Chapter 28 Creating and Running PowerShell Scripts 309

Setting the Security Context 309

Creating a PowerShell Profile 310

Creating and Modifying the Global PowerShell Profile 312

Running PowerShell Scripts 313

Flushing the DNS Cache 314

Creating a List of Domain Computers 315

Logging Processes with a get-process Script 316

Testing for the Existence of a File 318

Creating Output as HTML 318

Running a Script Against Multiple Computers 320

Creating a PowerShell Message Box 322

Scheduling PowerShell Scripts 326

Part XI: Group Policy and the Command Line

Chapter 29 Group Policy Overview 329

Understanding Group Policy Settings 329

Blocking Inheritance 333

Enforcing GPOs 334

Using Loopback Processing 335

Running Scripts with Group Policy 336

Running PowerShell Scripts via Group Policy 339

Chapter 30 Group Policy Command-Line Tools 341

Viewing Group Policy Settings with gpresult 341

Refreshing Group Policy Settings with gpupdate 343

Appendix A Create Your Own Journal Here 347

 

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