Useful DOS Commands For Computer Technicians

Microsoft Windows hasn't natively used DOS since the days of Windows98. However, for a computer technician DOS commands are still very useful.

#Networking:
ipconfig- Windows IP Configuration
what your current IP is and what subnet/gateway you are on.

ping : Check a connection or computer
To check the health of a connection. It will tell whether a network device is responding and how fast it is running.

tracert : Used to show several details about the path that a packet takes from the computer or device you're on to whatever destination you specify.
tracert 192.168.1.1

netstat -an: Display current ICP/IP connections
will display what connections are currently active on the system.Useful for spotting programs calling back to base such a spyware.

nslookup: Find the IP Address associated with a domain
nslookup balaram.com.np

#File Management

type: Open text files
eg. type c:\readme.txt

attrib : Make hidden files visible
attrib -H c:\boot.ini - to unhide
attrib -S c:\boot.ini - to remove its system file attribute

Find - Advanced file search
dir c:\ /s/b | find ".pdf"

move -  Move files
move file.txt c:\textfiles\
move *.pdf c:\workpdfs\

xcopy / e/c/h/y - copy all files in this and all subdirectories, create subs if they don't exist even if they're empty, dont's stop on errors, copy system and hidden files, and don't confirm file copy/replace. Useful when the GUI lets you down ( and impressive to watch - the computer looks really busy!)

tree - View the tree structure
tree > textfile.txt

#System
Systeminfo - Display Information about the system

tasklist/taskkill - Show what programs are running on the computer and can kill them
tasklist - will display all the processes running and their memory usage.
taskkill - will kill a process. eg. taskkill firefox.exe

sfc - lunches windows system file checker utility
sfc / scannow - This command will start scanning your computer ofr any damaged or missing windows system files.

chkdsk - Can check a disk and attempt to recover data in bad sectors.
chkdsk /f/r - this will check a disk for erors and try a fixes information for bad sectors
chkdsk /x - Forces the volume to dismount first.

shutdown  - Restart the computer
shutdown /s/t 0 : Performs a regular shutdown
shutdown /r/t 0 : Restart the computer
shutdown /r/o : Restarts the computer into advanced options.

How to Fix Application Unable to Start Correctly Error (0xc000007b)

If you see this error message: 'The application was unable to start correctly' it's probably because you're trying to run a game or program and there's something wrong. Below we have a variety of methods you can follow to fix it:

1. Restart your computer

2. Update .NET framework

3. Enable Administrator rights : Try running the game or application with admin rights. To do that, right click on the shortcut or the actual executable for the game, select Properties and open the Compatibility tab. Tick the 'Run this program as an administrator' box, and click on OK.

4. Reinstall the app or game : You can also try re-installing the game or program you're trying to run - simple but sometimes very effective.

5. Update Windows :Update Windows. In many cases Windows will automatically update, but to check, head to Control Panel and search for 'Windows Update'. 

6. Run ChkDsk 7 & sfc /scannow : In the CMD window type "chkdsk c: /f /r". If it is system drive, it will ask you to schedule it for next boot. When you restart, it will do a check before get to the login screen. Partitions.
"scf /scannow" scan for and restore corrupt windows system files.

7. Reinstall DirectX : Reinstall DirectX. The way to do this depends on your version of Windows and which version of DirectX you need.