The command prompt is used to enter CMD commands and start text-based Windows programs. The commands used date back, in part, to the remote days of MS-DOS. Until Windows ME (included), Windows was a graphical interface that acted on an operating system based on command lines..
In later versions of Windows, the graphical interface has been permanently integrated into the system. The command prompt is an essential component of this system that is also known by the actual name of the file, cmd.exe . Like other applications, this program also starts in a window; text commands are entered here.
We show you the different options offered by the Microsoft system (focusing on the current version of Windows 10) to open the command prompt..
As is customary in all Windows programs, the most classic way to access the command prompt is from the Start menu . There, can you find the command prompt in the submenu? Windows system ?. Instead of manually scrolling all the way down, you can click one of the letters on the Start menu, for example directly A. Now all the letters will be displayed. Click on the? S? and the menu will go down automatically.
To avoid having to go down to the bottom of the menu every time you look for it, you can set the command prompt in the icon area of the Start menu like any other program. To do this, right-click on the command prompt in the "Windows System" submenu. In the context menu, select the option? Pin to Start ?. The command prompt appears as a new icon on the Start menu. Now you can access with a single click..
If you keep the mouse button pressed, you can drag the icon to the position you want. The icon area of the Start menu can be freely arranged.
Instead of using the context menu, you can also hold down the mouse button and use the drag and drop function to drag the icon from the? Windows System? Submenu. to the icon area of the Start menu. Obviously the icon in? Windows System? it is not removed and from now on you will have two icons to run the Windows command interpreter.
The command prompt and all the programs that are started from there have, by default, the same rights as the user who has started the current session. However, there are some critical system tasks that require special administrator rights for command line commands.
Right-click on the command prompt in the start menu and select the option? Run as administrator ? from the context menu? More ?. After confirming a query from the user account administration, a command console window appears, indicating in the title that you have administrator rights. Now, all programs that are opened in this instance of the command prompt will automatically have administrator rights.
Another difference from the conventional command prompt is that the administrator command line does not start from the user's home directory, but from the . \ WINDOWS \ system32 folder .
If you use it a lot, the command interpreter opens much faster if you have an icon in the taskbar than it does through the Start menu. Right-click on the command prompt in the Start menu and select the option? Pin to taskbar ? from the context menu? More ?.
Now you can run the console at any time, just by clicking on the new icon in the taskbar. If you also hold down the [Shift] and [Ctrl] keys when clicking on the icon , the command prompt opens with administrator rights.
The Windows 10 system menu, which you can open by right-clicking on the Windows start icon or by using the [Windows] + [X] key combination , includes, by default, the menu items? Windows PowerShell ? and? Windows PowerShell (Administrator) ?. Windows PowerShell is like an extended command prompt with more features, but many users find it more confusing and when running text-based programs it can behave unpredictably.
Windows PowerShell menu items can be replaced by the command prompt. To do this, access the Windows settings at? Personalization ? ->? Task bar ? and disable the following option:? Replace command prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu by right-clicking the Start button or pressing Windows key + X ?.
The dialog box? Run ? ( [Windows] + [R] ) allows you to open any Windows program by entering its name. Type? cmd ? in this box and press? OK? to open cmd.exe . If clicking the button? OK? also hold down the [Shift] and [Ctrl] keys , the command prompt opens with administrator rights. As before, you must confirm the message that appears.
The search field on the taskbar also allows you to start programs. If you type? cmd ? In this box, the command prompt will appear as the result of the best match. If you press the? Enter? Key, cmd.exe will run . To the right of the search results you will also find a button to open the command prompt as administrator.
If you already have a browser window open, you can type? cmd ? on the top line where the current directory name appears. As a result, the command prompt will open with the directory you were in as the exit point.
Another quick way to access the command prompt is from an icon on the desktop . To create a shortcut in Windows 10, right-click on the command prompt in the Start menu and select the option? Open file location ? from the context menu? More ?. An explorer window will open with important system programs. Right click on the command prompt and successively select the options? Send to ? Y ? Desktop (create shortcut) ?.
Double-clicking on the icon will run cmd.exe . By right-clicking, you can run this desktop shortcut, just like any other, as an administrator.
A particularly quick option for opening the command console is a key combination . It is important that the key combination has no other assigned use in Windows. Use, for example, [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [E] . To do this, right-click on the newly created desktop shortcut and select the option? Properties ? from the context menu.
Go to the? Shortcut? Tab, click on the field? Shortcut key ? and now type the desired key combination.
Confirm the changes with? Accept ? From now on you can open an instance of the command prompt each time you use that key combination, as long as the program active in the foreground does not use that same key combination for another function.
The command prompt can be closed, just like any other Windows program, by clicking the? Icon. X ? in the upper right corner of the window.