How to Open the CMD Prompt and the Commands Worth Knowing

You type a command
        ↓
cmd.exe parses it (built-in command, .exe, .bat or .cmd file)
        ↓
Windows runs it with your account's permissions
        ↓
Output appears as text in the window

:: 1. Do I have an IP address and a default gateway?
ipconfig

:: 2. Can I reach my router? (use your own gateway address)
ping 192.168.1.1

:: 3. Can I reach the internet by IP?
ping 8.8.8.8

:: 4. Does DNS work?
ping google.com

:: 5. Where along the path does it stop?
tracert google.com

netstat -ano | findstr :5000
  TCP    127.0.0.1:5000    0.0.0.0:0    LISTENING    18244

tasklist /fi "pid eq 18244"
taskkill /pid 18244 /f

where deserves more attention than it gets. When two versions of a tool are installed, it lists every match in PATH order, and the first one wins. It is also the first thing to run when CMD says a command "is not recognized as an internal or external command": either the name is misspelled or its executable is not in a folder on PATH. If you have just installed the tool, restart the terminal so it picks up the updated PATH.

System information and processes

Command	What it does	Example
systeminfo	OS version, install date, uptime, RAM, hotfixes	systeminfo | findstr /b /c:"OS Name" /c:"OS Version"
ver	Show the Windows version number	ver
hostname	Show the computer name	hostname
whoami	Current user. /groups shows group membership.	whoami /groups
tasklist	List running processes	tasklist /fi "imagename eq dotnet.exe"
taskkill	End processes by name or PID	taskkill /im node.exe /f /t
shutdown	Shut down, restart, or schedule either	shutdown /r /t 0
set	Show or set environment variables for this session	set ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
setx	Set a permanent user or system environment variable	setx DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT 1
powercfg	Battery and power diagnostics	powercfg /batteryreport
driverquery	List installed drivers	driverquery /fo table
gpupdate	Re-apply Group Policy now	gpupdate /force
gpresult	Show which policies apply to you	gpresult /r
winget	Install, update and remove apps	winget upgrade --all

Environment variables trip people up in two ways. A variable set with set disappears when the window closes, while one set with setx only shows up in new windows. And never use setx to edit PATH: it truncates values longer than 1,024 characters. Edit PATH under Settings > System > About > Advanced system settings > Environment Variables instead.

For a closer look at processes, our Task Manager guide pairs each Task Manager page with its tasklist and taskkill equivalent.

You will still find wmic in old tutorials for hardware and process queries. Microsoft deprecated it years ago and has now removed it from all supported Windows 11 versions. Call PowerShell's CIM cmdlets from CMD instead:

powershell -c "Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS | Select-Object SerialNumber"
powershell -c "Get-CimInstance Win32_Process | Select-Object Name, ProcessId"

Disks and drives

Command	What it does	Example
chkdsk	Check and repair file system errors	chkdsk D: /f
chkdsk /scan	Online scan of an NTFS volume without taking it offline	chkdsk C: /scan
defrag	Optimize a drive (TRIM for SSDs, defragment for HDDs)	defrag C: /O
vol	Show volume label and serial number	vol C:
label	Change a drive's label	label E: BACKUP
diskpart	Partition and disk management (interactive)	diskpart, then list disk
format	Format a volume. Erases everything on it.	format E: /fs:ntfs /q

chkdsk's switches are worth getting right. With no switches, chkdsk C: only reports problems. /f fixes file system errors; on the system drive it cannot lock the volume, so it offers to run at the next restart, and you answer Y and reboot. /r also locates bad sectors and recovers readable data. It includes /f and can take hours on a large drive.

If chkdsk keeps finding new bad sectors, stop and back up the drive. Repeated sector errors usually mean the disk is failing.

Repairing Windows: DISM, then SFC

System File Checker verifies protected Windows files and replaces corrupted ones with good copies from the component store. DISM repairs that component store. If the store itself is damaged, SFC has nothing good to copy from, which is why Microsoft's System File Checker guidance says to run DISM first. Both need an elevated prompt.

:: Quick check, no repair
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

:: Deeper scan, no repair
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

:: Repair the component store (uses Windows Update as the source)
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

:: Then repair system files
sfc /scannow

RestoreHealth can sit at the same percentage for many minutes. That is normal; leave it running. SFC ends with one of three messages: it found no integrity violations, it found corrupt files and repaired them, or it found corrupt files but could not fix some of them. The details go to %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log.

Other repair commands worth knowing:

Command	What it does	Example
netsh winsock reset	Reset the network socket catalog (fixes some "connected, no internet" issues). Restart afterwards.	netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset	Reset TCP/IP settings to defaults	netsh int ip reset
shutdown /r /o	Restart into the Advanced startup options menu	shutdown /r /o /t 0
powercfg /energy	60-second power efficiency report (HTML)	powercfg /energy
net user	List local accounts or show one account's details	net user %USERNAME%
reagentc	Check whether Windows Recovery Environment is enabled	reagentc /info

Batch file basics

A batch file is a text file with a .bat or .cmd extension that runs CMD commands in sequence. This one backs up your Documents folder and fails loudly if the copy fails:

@echo off
setlocal

:: Folders to copy (quotes handle spaces)
set "SRC=%USERPROFILE%\Documents"
set "DEST=D:\Backup\Documents"

if not exist "%DEST%" mkdir "%DEST%"

robocopy "%SRC%" "%DEST%" /E /R:1 /W:1 /NP /LOG+:"%DEST%\backup.log"

:: robocopy exit codes 8 and above mean failure
if %ERRORLEVEL% GEQ 8 (
    echo Backup failed with code %ERRORLEVEL%
    exit /b 1
)

echo Backup finished.
endlocal

Most of batch scripting is visible in that example. @echo off hides each command as it runs, and :: or rem starts a comment. set "NAME=value" defines a variable, %NAME% reads it, and setlocal stops variables leaking into the caller. if exist and if %ERRORLEVEL% GEQ n handle conditions, and exit /b 1 returns an error code.

A few pieces are not in the script. %1, %2 and so on are arguments, and %~dp0 is the folder the script lives in. for %%f in (*.log) do echo %%f loops over files; note the doubled %%f inside a script versus %f at the prompt. pause waits for a key press, which helps when someone double-clicks the script.

Schedule a script with Task Scheduler or call it from a CI pipeline. Once it grows past a page, rewrite it in PowerShell; it will be easier to read and to test.

Calling CMD from C#

Build tools and admin utilities often shell out to CMD. Run it with /c and capture the output:

using System.Diagnostics;

var psi = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe", "/c ipconfig /all")
{
    RedirectStandardOutput = true,
    UseShellExecute = false,
    CreateNoWindow = true
};

using var process = Process.Start(psi)!;
string output = await process.StandardOutput.ReadToEndAsync();
await process.WaitForExitAsync();

Console.WriteLine($"Exit code: {process.ExitCode}");
Console.WriteLine(output);

Never build that argument string from user input; it is a command injection hole. When input is involved, call the target executable directly and pass arguments through ArgumentList.

Habits that keep CMD safe

Command-line deletes skip the Recycle Bin, so the most important habit is checking where you are before del /s or rd /s /q. Run cd with no arguments, or just read the prompt. Quote any path with spaces, such as "C:\Program Files", because unquoted paths are a classic source of wrong-folder accidents.

Treat these commands with real caution:

• format and diskpart, especially its clean command.
• rd /s /q and del /s /q.
• robocopy /MIR, which deletes destination files that are not in the source.
• bcdedit.

Elevate only when a command needs it, since a normal prompt cannot damage system files by accident. When testing a script, put echo in front of the destructive lines, check what it would have done, then remove the echo.

And never paste a command because a web page told you to. Fake "verify you are human" pages that ask you to press Win+R and paste something are a common way to install malware.

Is Command Prompt going away?

No. As of October 2026, cmd.exe still ships with Windows 11, and Windows Terminal includes a Command Prompt profile by default. Individual tools get retired, as WMIC was, but the shell itself remains. Learn the network and repair commands above and you will use them for years; when your scripts start needing real logic, that is the point to move them to PowerShell.