Command Prompt Tricks & Codes



 
 



1-Watch ASCII version of the Star Wars Episode IV movie


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.

However, the command prompt is not useless. In fact, it can be pretty useful. This article provides some excellent tricks, secrets and hacks that will make you realize that the Windows Command Prompt is not only useful but also a tool that you should definitely give more respect to.

Every one of us has watched Star Wars on television, computer or in a theater. It is the same movie with aliens fighting each other for galaxies and such stuff. There is nothing new in it. But wait, have you watched an ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) version of Star Wars and that too in Windows using telnet? A network protocol known only to computer wizards. Well if you have not, then you must do it now!

There is a complete copy of Star Wars done entirely in ASCII characters that you can watch in the
Windows operating system (or any OS that supports telnet). The only thing required to watch it is an internet connection; speed does not matter.


 


To watch it on Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux
  1. Go to Start, Run. (Only for Windows users)
  2. 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 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:-

  1. Go to Start, Search in Windows Vista and Windows 7. On Windows 8, open the main Start page.
  2. Type telnet and press Enter.
  3. In the following command prompt window, type "o" without quotes and press Enter.
  4. 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. See the movie yourself. Did you enjoy watching this new version of Star Wars? Well, I did and know it for sure that you would have too.



2-Matrix Falling Code Effect - Notepad CMD (.BAT) Tricks
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%
goto tricks
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


3-Make Undeletable, Unrenamable Folders 

Have you ever wondered how you can make a folder which neither can be deleted nor be renamed. Well, if you have, then you have come to the right place. With this trick, you will be able to create folders in Windows which cannot be renamed or deleted.
A Test 
To test this concept, make a new folder in Windows and try to give it a name same as any keyword suggested above.
Result
Windows will not rename your folder to any of the keyword given above.
Trick
So the question arises, how can we make a folder with a keyword as its name? The solution to this problem is included in Windows itself. As we know that Windows has evolved from D.O.S.(Disk Operating System), its commands can be used in Windows. You can use D.O.S. Programming in Windows to create a folder with a keyword as its name using the steps given below:-
  1. Click on Start.
  2. Click on Run. Type in "cmd" without quotes.
  3. In the Command Prompt Window that opens, type the name of the drive you wish to create your folder in the format <drive-name>: 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).
  4. 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.

Deleting the Folder 
Although it is not possible to manually delete the folder, you can delete the folder by typing "rd con\" or "rd lpt1\" in Step 4 instead of "md con\" or "md lpt1\".



4-Shutdown Your Computer or a Remote PC via Command Prompt 


Most of us shutdown our computers using the power button given in the Start menu. Some of us use the physical power button on our machines. Very few people actually use other means of shutting down a computer and even less is the number of people who use the command prompt to shutdown a computer.

A reason for this is that most of us don't know that the command prompt can be used to not only shutdown, restart or log off our computer instantly but also to shutdown a remote computer provided you have administrative access. It can also be used to hibernate a computer and give a comment containing the reason for shutdown. This post will show you how to do all this.

 
Required
A computer running Windows (XP, Vista, 7 or 8) with the command prompt working perfectly, i.e. not disabled by a virus.Initial Steps 

1) Press Windows Key + R.
2) Enter CMD and press Enter.

This will start the command prompt. Follow the instructions below depending on what you want to do.
Shutdown Local Machine (Your Computer)
 
Type "shutdown -s" without the quotes in the command prompt and press Enter. Shutdown is the command being executed and the switch -s tells the computer to shutdown.

Restart your Local Computer 

Type "shutdown -r" in the command prompt and press Enter. In this case, the command switch -r is telling the computer to restart after shutdown.

Log Off the Current User

Type "shutdown -l" in the command prompt and press Enter. The -l command switch tells the computer to log off.

Shutdown a Remote Computer

Type "shutdown -s -m \\name of the computer" in the command prompt and press Enter. Replace \\name of the computer with the actual name of the remote computer you are trying to shutdown. As mentioned earlier, you must have administrative access to the computer you are trying to shutdown. To know if you have administrative access, press Windows key + R and then type the name of the computer and press Enter.

Note: If you don't remember the name of the remote computer, you can look for it by opening a list of all the computers you are connected to by executing "net view" in command prompt.


If you can connect to the computer, you will be asked to login with your username and password. Upon entering them, a window will display the list of all the directories available to you. This should help you know whether you can or cannot shutdown the remote computer.

Hibernate a Local Computer

Type in "Rundll32.exe Powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState" without the quotes and press Enter. Your computer should hibernate, if it does not, then you must enable hibernation to do this.Shutdown your or a remote computer after a specific time

Type "shutdown -s -t 60" to shutdown your computer after 60 seconds. Upon executing this, a countdown timer displaying a warning message will be shown. This command uses the -t command switch followed by a variable (which is 60 in this case) which represents the number of seconds after which the computer will shutdown.Display a Message containing the reason for shutdown

Type shutdown -s  -t 500 -c "I am tired. I don't 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. One example :-

Skynet has become self aware. John Connor did not stop me. You can not use your PC anymore.
Stop a System Shutdown

Type "shutdown -a" and press Enter. This will stop the system from shutting down if the countdown to shut down has not reached 0.


5-Know if your neighbours are stealing your Wifi connection



6-Make your Computer Talk 

Have you ever wondered how can you make your computer speak whatever you input to it like in the movies? Would it not be fun? If only it was possible! Rejoice, because now it is possible. Well, if you wish to know how to do this, then you have come to the right place. With this trick, you can create a script in Windows which will make your computer speak whatever you input to it.
To create one such talk script, follow the steps given below:-




Steps
  1. Open Notepad.
  2. Copy and paste the exact code given below.
          Dim Message, Speak
          Message=InputBox("Enter text","Speak")
          Set Speak=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
          Speak.Speak Message
    3. Click on File Menu, Save As, select All Types in Save as Type option, and save the file as Speak.vbs or "*.vbs".
    4.  Double click on the saved file, a window will open like the one in the image. Enter some text in enter text column and click OK.

Now your Computer will speak / talk what you typed in Step 4. Try it yourself.

Windows Compatibility: This VBS file can be executed on all versions of Windows including Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Personal Experience: I personally showed this trick to many of my friends and they were literally left awestruck. You too can impress your friends by making your PC talk and be the Computer Wiz.



 7-Create a Harmless Funny Virus with Notepad-Continuously eject CD/DVD drives

This VBS trick will create a code which will continuously eject all your connected Optical drives. If you put them back in, it will pop them out again. Copy this code and paste it in Notepad as Virus.vbs or *.vbs.

Set oWMP = CreateObject("WMPlayer.OCX.7")
Set colCDROMs = oWMP.cdromCollection
do
if colCDROMs.Count >= 1 then
For i = 0 to colCDROMs.Count - 1
colCDROMs.Item(i).Eject
Next
For i = 0 to colCDROMs.Count - 1
colCDROMs.Item(i).Eject
Next
End If
wscript.sleep 5000
loop

Double click to open this file and you will be impressed by this awesome trick.

8-Cool Keyboard Tricks (Windows) : Make a Disco

Keyboards usually have small LEDs which indicate whether different types of locks are activated or not. Here is a trick to use the lights of your keyboard in a more creative manner in Windows.

This trick uses a simple Visual Basic Script which when activated makes your Scroll lock, Caps lock and Num lock LEDs flash in a cool rhythmic way which gives the perception of a live disco on your keyboard.

 
To make your own live disco, follow the steps given below:-

1. Open Notepad.

2. Copy paste the exact code given below:-
Set wshShell =wscript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
do
wscript.sleep 100
wshshell.sendkeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
wshshell.sendkeys "{NUMLOCK}"
wshshell.sendkeys "{SCROLLLOCK}"
loop
3. Save the file as Disco.vbs or "*.vbs".

Double click on the Saved file to see the LED lights on your keyboard go crazy and make your own cool disco.

This trick has been tested on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 and found to be working perfectly.

You can disable the keyboard disco by starting Task Manager and ending the wscript.exe process.



  9-Lock a Folder With Password Using Free Folder Protector

All of us have some files and folders that we consider private. They can be anything from our business documents to pictures of friends and family. These are files that we don't want other people using our computer to know about. As Windows offers no way to protect our private information, most of us get in awkward situations when these files are discovered by unwanted people.

Surely, you can store this information in a hidden folder. The only problem is that anyone can easily search the contents of a hidden folder using Windows Search itself.

The only viable solution is storing this content in a password protected folder so that only those people knowing the password of the folder can access it. There are many folder locking programs available online but the problem is that most of the good ones are paid. Even if you do manage to get a good free one, you will be looked at suspiciously when people see a folder locker in the list of your installed programs.


If you too find yourself in a similar situation, you can try
Folder Protector, a password protector for Windows folders that is not only free but is also portable meaning that it does not need to be installed. Just click on the exe file and the program will start running. I have created this program based on suggestions and feature requests that I have received by email over the last two years.
Folder Protector
Folder Protector offers each user a protected folder that can only be opened by entering the password in FolderProtector. Unlike most security programs, Folder Protector is small in size (nearly 58KB) and does not show the folder that it is protecting. This gives an additional advantage that people who don't know the password do not have a target to try and hack their way into. As the software is portable, you can hide it or even delete it after protecting your folder and no one will have a clue that it was used. Then whenever you need to access protected files, you can re-download the program from this page, enter the password and access your protected files. 


Download Folder Protector



How to use Folder Protector?

When you run Folder Protector for the first time, the program will ask you for a password that you want to use. Enter a password that you can remember as this will be the password to your protected folder.


Lock Folder With Password

After entering the password, the program will open a folder named SecuredFILES. This is your protected folder. You can add all your private files in this folder. This folder is located at the Desktop. After adding all your files, you may close this folder.

Then, you can use the menu in the program to lock your folder. To lock the folder, type lock as your action. After successfully locking the folder, FolderProtector will display that the folder is locked.


Free Folder Lock

Unlocking the protected folder is easy. Just type unlock as your action. Then the program will ask you to enter your password. Upon successfully entering the password, the program will display the contents of your protected folder.

Changing the Password: Just type change as your action. The program will ask you for your current password. Upon successful entry of the current password, the program will ask for your new password and change it instantly.

Acknowledgment: This software has been made possible only through the suggestions of readers of this blog, especially Ernell Albert Galido for his idea of using a menu based interface.

Windows Compatibility: This program has been successfully tested on Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.








10-Change Facebook Theme, Color & Appearance 


Facebook is a social networking site which enables people to connect with friends and people around. That's how Facebook is usually introduced. However, Facebook is beyond the need of being introduced as almost everyone is on it. Despite its popularity, Facebook has one flaw; the default blue theme is really boring.

Some even consider it an annoyance while visiting Facebook. As Facebook does not allow users to change its theme like MySpace used to, users are left with no other option but to bear the theme Facebook wants them to use.

However, it is relatively easy to change the
Facebook theme to a stylish one using an addon and custom themes which are available free of cost on the internet.

An example of the final outcome would be something like in the image.
Change Facebook Theme
This is the Ferrari theme. More themes are available for you to choose.


 Requirement: The basic requirement for this to work is to have Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome as your browser.
Steps to achieve this
: If you use Google Chrome, click here. Mozilla Firefox users should carry out the following steps to successfully change Facebook theme.

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox and install 'Stylish' addon.
  2. Follow the basic steps to install the addon.
  3. Restart Firefox after successfully installing the Stylish addon.
  4. Login to your Facebook Account and click on the small 'S' button in your Firefox status bar.
  5. Click on "Find Styles for this Site" to open a new tab with free themes to use for Facebook.
  6. Click on any theme and a preview will be shown.
  7. If everything is fine in the previewed theme, click on "Install with Stylish" button at the top right corner of the page.
  8. A dialog box will open.
  9. Click on Install in the dialog box.

Steps for Google Chrome
  1. Install Stylish for Chrome from the Chrome Web Store.
  2. Navigate to Facebook.com and click on the S button.
  3. Click on "Find Styles for this Site" to open a new tab with free themes to use for Facebook.
  4. Click on any theme and a preview will be shown.
  5. If everything is fine in the previewed theme, click on "Install with Stylish" button at the top right corner of the page.
  6.  
  7.  
  8. Stylish Button

facebook theme change

Install with stylish

Installing Ferrari theme for Stylish Firefox

  1.  
  2. Now whenever you open Facebook, it will show the theme that you have installed with Stylish instead of the boring old blue theme.

11-Create a Shortcut to lock your Computer

Have you ever left your PC in a hurry? Have you ever felt that it is a pain to lock your system in the simple way of doing CTRL+ALT+DEL? I would imagine that you have and then, this trick is for you. This trick enables you to create a shortcut to lock your computer instead of doing the regular CTRL+ALT+DEL, thus providing you a way to quickly and easily get away from your PC whenever you are in a hurry.

To use this trick, follow the instructions given below:-
Steps
  1. Right Click on an empty slot on Desktop, point to New and click on Shortcut.
  2. In the dialog box that pops up, type the following code without quotes in the Type the location of the item.
rundll32 user32.dll,LockWorkStation
     3.  Click on Next and type a name for the shortcut in the Type a name for this
          Shortcut textbox.
     4.  Click on
Finish.
Create a Shrtcut to lock your System

Now you will be able to lock your computer by double clicking on the created shortcut. You can also add this shortcut to Quick Launch toolbar to lock your system with only a single click.




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