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Command Prompt Tricks

Command Prompt is one of the most powerful tools in Windows; but sadly, it is also the most ignored one. Things
were not always like this; but with the advent of GUI based operating systems, people started feeling that
computing through command based tools was boring. This ultimately lead the command prompt into obscurity.

Here are some cool tricks that can be done using command prompt.
1.Watch ASCII version of the Star Wars
You can watch an ASCII version of the full Star Wars Movie right in your command prompt window. Just open
command prompt, type a small code and the movie will start playing immediately.

To watch it on Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux

Go to Start, Run. (Only for Windows users)

Now type telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl without the quotes and press Enter. Users of Mac OS X and Linux can
directly execute this code in the terminal window.
On Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Vista
Telnet is turned off by default in the latest versions of Windows. So, in order to watch star wars, you must first
enable telnet by going to Control Panel Programs Turn Windows Feature On or Off and ticking both the telnet
check boxes. After doing that, follow the steps given below:Go to Start, Search in Windows Vista and Windows 7. On Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, open the main Start
page.
Type telnet and press Enter.
In the following command prompt window, type o without quotes and press Enter.
Now type towel.blinkenlights.nl without the quotes and press Enter.
If you do not need telnet anymore, you can turn it off.
A command prompt window like the one in the image will open with the movie being played in it.
2.Create Matrix falling code effect

Inspired by the movie Matrix, this falling code trick is

extremely popular on social networking websites. Copy
and paste the code given below in Notepad and save the
file as Matrix.bat or *.bat.
@echo off
color 02
:tricks
echo
%random%%random%%random%%random%%random%%random%%random%%random%
3.Make Undeletable, Unrenamable Folders
The basic concept behind this trick is the use of Keywords. Keywords are reserved words in any programming
language that cannot be used as names of variables. Windows also uses certain keywords in its programming.
Some of them are con, aux, lpt1, lpt2, lpt3, lpt4, lpt5, lpt6, lpt7, lpt8 and lpt9.
Programming in Windows to create a folder with a
keyword as its name using the steps given below:Click on Start.
Click on Run. Type in cmd without quotes.
In the Command Prompt Window that opens, type
the name of the drive you wish to create your folder in
the format : and press Enter. e.g. If you wish to create
the undeletable folder in D drive, type D: without the
quotes. Note that the folder cannot be created in the
root of C: drive (if C: is your system drive).
Type this command- md con\ or md lpt1\ without the quotes and press Enter. You can choose any of the
keywords given above as the name of your folder.
Now Windows will create an undeletable, unrenamable folder in the drive you entered in Step 3. However, the
folder can be renamed to another keyword using Windows Explorer

4.Shutdown your computer giving a funny reason

Type shutdown -s -t 500 -c I am tired. I dont want to work anymore. (with the quotes) in the Command Prompt
and press Enter. The -c switch is used in the code to give the reason for shutting down and what is followed in
quotes will be displayed in the dialog box as the reason. This can be used to display all sorts of funny messages.
5.Know your IP address, DNS Servers address and a lot more about your Internet Connection
Command Prompt can even let you know your IP address. Just type ipconfig/ all in the command prompt and
press Enter. Along with your IP address and DNS servers, command prompt will also return a ton of information
like your host name, primary DNS suffix, node type, whether IP Routing ,Wins Proxy, and DHCP are enabled,
your network adapters description, your physical (MAC) address etc .
6.Know if your neighbours are stealing your WiFi connection
Command Prompt can let you know if someone is connected to your Local Area Connection and using it. Just
follow the steps:1) Open your browser and visit http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1 depending on your router.
2) Find the tab that mentions Attached Devices or something similar.
3) Find the computer name, IP address and MAC Address (sometimes called Physical Address or Hardware
Address) of your computer using the previous trick.
4 )Compare it with those displayed by your router in Step 2. If you notice some strange devices, then your
neighbour has been sneaking in on your internet connection and it is best to add a password.
7.Know if someone is hacking your computer/ Trace a Hacker
Want to know if someone is hacking your computer? Command Prompt can help you find if someone you dont
know is connected to your computer stealing private data. Just execute netstat -a and the command prompt will
return a list of computers that your computer is connected to. In the results returned, Proto column gives the type
of data transmission taking place (TCP or UDP) , Local address column gives the port with which your computer
is connected to an external computer and the Foreign Address column gives the external computer you are
connected to along with the port being used for the connection. State gives the state of the connection (whether a
connection is actually established, or waiting for transmission or is Timed Out).