Questions tagged [windows]
Windows is the brand name for a series of operating systems from Microsoft. Current versions are Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2022. Instead of tagging a post "Windows", try to use a tag for a specific version.
17,491
questions
638
votes
18
answers
919k
views
How do you find what process is holding a file open in Windows?
One thing that annoys me no end about Windows is the old sharing violation error. Often you can't identify what's holding it open. Usually it's just an editor or explorer just pointing to a relevant ...
- 10k
555
votes
32
answers
1.1m
views
How do I tell Git for Windows where to find my private RSA key?
My Git setup runs fine on Linux, but when I try to set things up under Windows (using Git for Windows and TortoiseGit), I don't know where to put my private SSH key (or, better still, how to tell ssh ...
- 6,021
335
votes
5
answers
898k
views
How to send ctrl+alt+del using Remote Desktop?
How can I send ctrl+alt+del to a remote computer over Remote Desktop?
For example, if I wanted to change the local admin password on a remote PC using a Remote Desktop connection, it would be helpful ...
- 3,453
307
votes
14
answers
992k
views
What's the command-line utility in Windows to do a reverse DNS look-up?
Is there a built-in command line tool that will do reverse DNS look-ups in Windows? I.e., something like <toolname> w.x.y.z => mycomputername
I've tried:
nslookup: seems to be forward look-...
- 3,205
280
votes
160
answers
317k
views
Useful Command-line Commands on Windows
The aim for this Wiki is to promote using a command to open up commonly used applications without having to go through many mouse clicks - thus saving time on monitoring and troubleshooting Windows ...
228
votes
7
answers
475k
views
How do you add a Windows environment variable without rebooting?
I would like to add an Environment variable to a Windows machine (desktop or server) and be able to use it without rebooting that machine.
Say you have a production server which hosts a variety of ...
- 2,299
210
votes
13
answers
565k
views
hosts file ignored, how to troubleshoot?
The hosts file on Windows computers is used to bind certain name strings to specific IP addresses to override other name resolution methods.
Often, one decides to change the hosts file, and discovers ...
- 5,295
210
votes
10
answers
516k
views
How to refresh hosts file without rebooting
On Windows, how do you refresh the hosts file without rebooting?
kakridge
197
votes
5
answers
610k
views
How to sleep in a batch file?
How to pause execution for a while in a Windows batch file between a command and the next one?
- 70.7k
189
votes
9
answers
1.2m
views
Resolve host name from IP address
I'm looking for a command line tool which gets an IP address and returns the host name, for Windows.
- 2,013
171
votes
11
answers
347k
views
Run a .bat file in a scheduled task without a window
I have a scheduled task that starts a batch script that runs robocopy every hour. Every time it runs a window pops up on the desktop with robocopy's output, which I don't really want to see.
I ...
- 1,855
169
votes
10
answers
289k
views
How do I diff two text files in Windows Powershell?
I have two text files and want to find the differences between them using Windows Powershell. Is there something similar to the Unix diff tool available? Or is there another other way I haven't ...
- 3,729
168
votes
5
answers
277k
views
How to add dependency on a Windows Service AFTER the service is installed
I have a Windows Service that makes use of a SQL Server database. I don't have control over the installation of the service, but would like to add a dependency on the service to ensure that it starts ...
- 1,825
157
votes
9
answers
1.3m
views
Command line to list users in a Windows Active Directory group?
Is there a command line way to list all the users in a particular Active Directory group?
I can see who is in the group by going to Manage Computer --> Local User / Groups --> Groups and double ...
Flyer
157
votes
12
answers
322k
views
Is there a global, persistent CMD history?
Sometimes I forget how the exact syntax of a CMD command looks and then I would like to search my own CMD history. Clearly, within the same session, you can browse it with the up and down arrow keys ...
- 4,793
151
votes
2
answers
327k
views
What is Active Directory Domain Services and how does it work?
This is a Canonical Question about Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).
What is Active Directory? What does it do and how does it work?
How is Active Directory organized: Forest, Child Domain, ...
- 101k
148
votes
8
answers
928k
views
What port should I open to allow remote desktop?
What port(s) should I open/NAT to allow me to use Remote Desktop?
145
votes
8
answers
731k
views
In Windows, using the command line, how do you check if a remote port is open?
What is a simple way in Windows to test if traffic gets through to a specific port on a remote machine?
- 1,631
144
votes
4
answers
6k
views
Is my password compromised because I forgot to hit Enter after ssh username?
I've just tried logging into a Fedora (release 13 Goddard) server using SSH (PuTTY, Windows). For some reason the Enter after typing my username didn't go through and I typed in my password and hit ...
- 1,204
133
votes
7
answers
417k
views
Does Windows have a built-in ZIP command for the command line?
Since Windows Explorer (since at least Windows XP) has some basic support for ZIP files, it seems like there should be a command-line equivalent, but I can't seem to find any sign of one.
Does ...
- 1,831
129
votes
14
answers
1.2m
views
How do I force sync the time on Windows Workstation or Server?
What is the command to sync a Windows workstation or server to its configured time source?
- 84k
127
votes
10
answers
90k
views
Can you run Docker natively on the new Windows 10 (Ubuntu) bash userspace?
My understanding was that the primary limitation of running docker on other OSs was the Linux Network containers that made it possible. (Certainly for Macs).
Recently Microsoft announced a beta of a ...
- 2,709
126
votes
4
answers
1.0m
views
How to check if a port is blocked on a Windows machine?
On the Windows platform, what native options to I have to check if a port (3306, for example) on my local machine (as in localhost), is being blocked?
- 1,373
124
votes
7
answers
34k
views
How does CTRL-ALT-DEL to log in make Windows more secure?
When logging into Windows, it says on that page that CTRL-ALT-DEL somehow makes Windows more secure. I have never been able to figure a mechanism where having to press some specific key combination ...
- 11.5k
121
votes
15
answers
148k
views
What's the reverse DNS command line utility?
What's the command to find the name of a computer given its IP address?
I always forget what this command is, but I know it exists in Windows and I assume it exists on the *nix command-line.
- 2,208
120
votes
5
answers
215k
views
What is this IP address: 169.254.169.254?
I have always noticed an IP something "169.254.x.x" in my routing table even when I am not connected to any network in my Windows operating system.
In Linux, when I list my routing table.
$ ...
- 2,788
120
votes
8
answers
185k
views
How do I create a symbolic link in Windows?
Windows Vista added the ability to create symbolic links to files and directories. How do I create a symbolic link and what are the current consumer and server versions of Windows that support it?
- 3,520
114
votes
6
answers
117k
views
Where can I find data stored by a Windows Service running as "Local System Account"?
I'm using a service which stores data on disk.
The service is running as "local system account".
Where is the stored data for that system user?
I'm thinking about C:\Documents and Settings\Default ...
- 4,164
113
votes
8
answers
19k
views
Best practice: Should I always install a fresh OS for new employees?
I had an argument with a superior about this. Though at first glance the prior user of a laptop only did work in his own documents-folders, should I always install a new OS for the next user or is ...
- 1,143
112
votes
13
answers
363k
views
How can I tell what version of IIS is installed?
I've got a box running Win2k3 and some directions from Microsoft KB about SSL certificates, for IIS 5.0 and 6.0. How can I tell which version of IIS is currently installed?
- 14.4k
104
votes
2
answers
354k
views
How can I connect to a Windows server using a Command Line Interface? (CLI)
Especially with the option to install Server Core in Server 2008 and above, connecting to Windows servers over a CLI is increasingly useful ability, if not one that's very widespread amongst Windows ...
- 53.9k
101
votes
11
answers
525k
views
Windows server last reboot time
How can I find a Windows server's last reboot time, apart from 'net statistics server/workstation'?
Sakthi
98
votes
5
answers
119k
views
Windows Active Directory naming best practices?
This is a Canonical Question about Active Directory domain naming.
After experimenting with Windows domains and domain controllers in a virtual environment, I've realized that having an active ...
- 1,582
98
votes
6
answers
542k
views
How to delete cached temporarily credentials for a network share on a Windows machine without rebooting or logging off [duplicate]
This is more of a curiosity then a real problem, I am just to lazy to reboot or log off my laptop.
I have connected to a network share on a Windows server with domain credentials from a non-domain ...
- 2,761
97
votes
18
answers
155k
views
Why hasn't rsync caught on in the Windows world? [closed]
It seems that rsync is the de-facto standard for efficient file backup and sync in Unix/Linux.
Does anyone have any thoughts on why it wouldn't have caught on in the Windows world?
Why hasn't it ...
96
votes
6
answers
181k
views
Boot and Install Windows from a USB thumb drive
Installing Windows from a thumb drive is vastly superior to burning a copy to a DVD which will fill some landfill somewhere with toxic stuff. Not to mention it's about 50x faster to install Windows ...
- 3,747
95
votes
15
answers
221k
views
How to fix PuTTY showing garbled characters? [closed]
Connecting from a Windows 7 PC via SSH to an Ubuntu server using PuTTY, I get some screen errors:
I.e. it:
"Double-draws" the selection inside Midnight Commander (MC).
Other characters like line ...
- 2,430
94
votes
6
answers
102k
views
swap partition vs file for performance?
What is better for performance? A partition closer to the inside of the disk will have slower access times, and we must wait for the drive to switch between the OS and swap partitions.
On the other ...
- 1,345
91
votes
6
answers
763k
views
How to determine the hostname from an IP address in a Windows network?
My LAN has 50 Windows hosts. At the Windows command line I try
ping to get the IP address of a running Windows machine.
The question is how to get hostname of a specific IP address in the same ...
- 1,627
90
votes
6
answers
244k
views
How do you free up a port being held open by dead process?
A colleague of mine recently ran into a problem where a process that had supposedly died was still bound to a network port, preventing other processes from binding to that port. Specifically, netstat ...
- 1,000
82
votes
15
answers
695k
views
Get list of AD groups a user is a member of
Suppose I have the user id of a user in Active Directory. I'd like to get a list of all AD groups in which that user is currently a member of. How can I do this from the Windows command line?
I've ...
- 1,994
82
votes
7
answers
139k
views
What is the Windows equivalent of Unix "whoami" command?
Is there a Windows equivalent of Unix "whoami" command? If so, what is it?
- 3,490
82
votes
2
answers
171k
views
How to configure a Windows machine to allow file sharing with a DNS alias
What process is necessary to configure a Windows environment to allow me to use DNS CNAME to reference servers?
I want to do this so that I can name my servers something like SRV001, but still have \\...
- 1,641
78
votes
8
answers
195k
views
How does Windows decide which DNS Server to use when resolving names?
What algorithm does Windows use to decide which DNS Server it will query in order to resolve names?
Let's say I have several interfaces, all active, some with no dns server specified, some told to ...
- 1,065
76
votes
4
answers
287k
views
How to grant network access to LocalSystem account?
How do you grant access to network resources to the LocalSystem (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM) account?
Background
When accessing the network, the LocalSystem account acts as the computer on the network:
...
- 5,343
75
votes
16
answers
62k
views
Alternatives to Splunk?
I'm pretty impressed with Splunk, especially version 4. Pretty graphs, alerting (Enterprise only), and fast, accurate, searching. It's a great product.
However, the cost just way too high to consider ...
- 1,739
72
votes
16
answers
293k
views
How do I know if I'm working on a Virtual Machine or not?
Is there a way to know if the Windows machine I'm working on is virtual or physical?
(I'm connecting with RDP to the machine. If it's a virtual machine it is working and handled by VMWare).
user33705
70
votes
6
answers
273k
views
How can I query my system via command line to see if a KB patch is installed?
I'm looking to find out if a KB is installed via command line.
- 6,987
69
votes
9
answers
217k
views
How can I automatically restart a Windows service if it crashes?
I have a Windows service that exits unexpectedly every few days. Is there a simple way to monitor it to make sure it gets restarted quickly if it crashes?
- 1,401
67
votes
3
answers
14k
views
Is a VM with 2 CPUs really faster than one with 4 CPUs?
Our IT created a VM with 2 CPUs allocated rather than the 4 I requested. Their reason is that the VM performs better with 2 CPUs rather than 4 (according to them). The rationale is that the VM ...
- 2,887