A List of Vista & Windows 7 Run Commands

Today I thought I would post a “cheat sheet” list for you guys.

“Run” is a “keyboard shortcut” way of quickly launching programs and utilities, and also accessing “Settings” menus and tools that otherwise are hidden.
To get to “Run“, press the Windows logo key + “R”, together.

This list is not a complete listing, but looking at it, and exploring a bit, may help you on the road to becoming a “power user”. Some of these I use a lot. Others, I never have.
(Though this is a Vista/Win7 list.. most of these work on the older XP as well.)

Open Run and type the (bold text) command, then press Enter. It fast, and simple (as keyboard shortcuts are meant to be).. Uber Geeks have many of these memorized.. but you may prefer to print it out, or bookmark this page.

• Action Center= wscui.cpl
• Administrative Tools = control admintools
• Backup and Restore = sdclt
• Cleartype Text Tuner = cttune
• Computer Management = compmgmt.msc or CompMgmtLauncher
• Control Panel = control
• Create a System Repair disc = recdisc
• Device Manager = devmgmt.msc
• Devices and Printers = control printers
• Direct X Troubleshooter = dxdiag
• Disk Management = diskmgmt.msc
• Event Viewer = eventvwr.msc
• File Signature Verification Tool = sigverif
• Folders Options = control folders
• Keyboard = control keyboard
• Microsoft Management Console = mmc
• Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool = msdt
• Mouse = control mouse or main.cpl
• Performance Monitor = perfmon.msc
• Personalization = control desktop
• Power Configuration = powercfg.cpl
• Print management = printmanagement.msc
• Printer User Interface = printui
• Problems Steps Recorder = psr
• Programs and Features = appwiz.cpl or control appwiz.cpl
• Recovery = control.exe /name Microsoft.Recovery
• Registry Editor = regedit or regedt32
• Resource Monitor = resmon
• Services = services.msc
• System Configuration Utility = msconfig
• System Information = msinfo32
• System Properties = sysdm.cpl or Windows logo key + Pause/Break
• System Restore = rstrui
• Task Manager = taskmgr
• Task Scheduler = control schedtasks
• Taskbar and Start Menu = control.exe /name Microsoft.TaskbarandStartMenu
• User Accounts Windows = netplwiz or control userpasswords2
• Volume Mixer = sndvol
• Windows Activation Phone Numbers = slui 4
• Windows Easy Transfer = migwiz
• Windows Memory Diagnostic = MdSched
• Windows Standalone Update Manager = wusa
• Windows System Security Tool = syskey
• Windows Version = winver

Accessories

• Calculator = calc
• Character Map = charmap
• Command Prompt = cmd
• Connect to a Network Projector = NetProj
• Connect to a Projector = displayswitch or Windows logo key + P
• Defragment User Interface = dfrgui
• Disk Cleanup Utility = cleanmgr
• Magnifier = magnify
• Microsoft Paint = mspaint.exe
• Narrator = Narrator
• Notepad = notepad
• On Screen Keyboard = osk
• Presentation Settings = PresentationSettings
• Remote Desktop Connection = mstsc
• Snipping Tool = snippingtool
• Sound Recorder = soundrecorder
• Sticky Note = StikyNot
• Sync Center = mobsync
• Windows Explorer = explorer or Windows logo key + E
• Windows Mobility Center (Only on Laptops) = Windows logo key + X
• Wordpad = write

Internet Explorer = iexplore
Internet Explorer (No Add-ons) = iexplore -extoff
Internet Explorer (No Home) = iexplore about:blank

• Windows Fax and Scan = wfs
• Windows Fax and Scan Cover Page Editor = fxscover
• Windows Media Player = wmplayer
• Windows Media Player DVD Player = dvdplay

Logs out of Windows = logoff
Shuts Down Windows = shutdown

Related articles:

• What Is The “Windows key” Good For?
• Tip: Keyboard Shortcuts – Manage Your Windows with Alt
• Using Your Keyboard Instead Of Your Mouse*

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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What is a “Virtual Machine”?*

Yesterday’s article brought up the topic of VM’s (virtual machines). The following article was one of my early Tech – for Everyone efforts, and while it references XP frequently (the main OS of the day), required only slight updating. I hope you will enjoy it.

One of the hot topics in the IT industry is virtualization ¹. Basically what this is, is software that creates an environment — on an existing PC — into which you can install (and run) another operating system [OS]; in short, running a PC on top of your PC.. which gives you two PCs. This “on top of” machine is called a “virtual machine“.

Tip of the day: Get more out of your PC by using a virtual environment.
(I must take a moment to state that it is the power of the newer generations of PCs that allow us to take advantage of machine virtualization. VM “shares” resources (CPU, RAM) with the existing install… so if you’re barely clunking along as it is, forget about VMs and click here to read my article(s) on when it’s time for a new machine.)

How can this benefit you? One of the main advantages is when you are thinking about a dual-boot install, or would like to do away with an existing dual-boot set up — say, for security reasons. Instead of partitioning your hard drive, and using FAT32 to run (boot to) either Windows 98 or XP, format your drive in NTFS, install XP/Vista/Win7, and run 98 inside the virtual environment. (I am using Windows 98 as an example. You may want to run a Linux distro, and learn about Open Source. The fact is you can run any OS that you have a license for [I believe. I have not tried to load every OS personally…])
If you do this, and create a shared folder for the VM on your ‘base OS’, you will be able to switch back and forth between the two and share files with both OS’s.

Another advantage of using a VM is, it loads much like “mounting” a disk image. You can make multiple ’snapshots’ of your VM, and load the one of your choosing. This is an absolutely fantastic method for dealing with security issues. I know several geeks who run an XP VM on their XP machine– they use the VM version for their daily surfing and usage, and as a “sandbox” for testing downloaded programs and patches/Updates. At the end of the day, they just close the VM, and when they open it again (unless they take a ’snapshot’ and Save those changes to the VM) their pristine VM loads: no browsing history, no spyware, no trace of yesterday’s activity… just a brand-new XP machine.
By keeping a copy of the VM snapshot in another location, they always have a full system backup on hand. (And all my readers know about the importance of recovery backups!)

These are just two uses and applications for virtual machines (VMs). You may be able to think of others. You are not just limited to one VM, either — but each VM (unless it is an Open Source OS, like Linux) does require a valid Product Key/license. This is not a way to cheat.

Today’s free download(s): The most popular virtual machine software is put out by VMware. The free offerings are VMware Server (don’t worry about the use of the word “server”) and VMware Player (which is a web browsing sandbox). Not only is this a flexible (highly compatible with your particular hardware) program, but VMware offers several pre-configured Open Source ’snapshots’, called “appliances”, that you can download and run without going through an OS install process.

Microsoft also offers free virtual machine software, that some people argue works better with Microsoft OS’s. From website: “Virtual PC 2007 is a powerful software virtualization solution that allows you to run multiple PC-based operating systems simultaneously on one workstation.”

Reader recommended VirtualBox is also free, and a possible alternative to Virtual PC and VMWare. Their homepage is here, http://www.virtualbox.org/.

Either way you decide, you are not making fundamental changes to your hard drive or currently installed operating system. This is just a program, like Excel or Word is a program. Simply uninstall it if you find you don’t like or need it.. but I doubt very much that you ever will– it’s just too useful and safe.

¹ (For IT types) Virtualization in the Data Center has (under the banner of the “green movement” – and because it saves money) been for several years now, an area of study and certification not to be overlooked.

* Orig post: 9/8/07

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Compatibility Tricks for Old Programs, New Machines

How To Get Old Programs To Work On New Computers

So you went out and bought a new computer — congratulations! You got a good one, too: it has everything, including a dual-core processor. You have installed your favorite programs, and by that, I mean your games — great!

There’s just one catch — now some of your games misbehave and act like they’re in hyperdrive, everything moves at warp speed, and instead of three bloodthirsty hobgoblins, there’s thirty. You’re getting killed faster than you can press your “S” key… and that isn’t any fun! Or worse, the game will just freeze in mid-play.

I first noticed this on Battlefield 1942 (the whole series, actually). And then I noticed it on Call of Duty, but not so much on Call of Duty 2. And it was really bad on Quake. It became clear to me that the older the game, the more susceptible to this unplayability it was.

If this has happened to you, the odds are good you have a dual, triple, or quad core CPU. These processors weren’t available when these programs were written, and so the programmers didn’t factor in their ability to process multiple “threads” — basically what’s happening is these new processors are making two (or four) ‘events’ occur at the same time, where they are meant to happen one at a time.

But don’t worry… you need not say goodbye to your favorite games!

Tip of the day: Getting older programs to run smoothly on a new machine is just a couple of clicks away. Some of your programs are going to require you to “turn off” one of the ‘cores’ before it will run right.
To do this, launch the program and let it load (but don’t start using/playing it yet).
Now launch the Windows Task Manager by doing the “three fingered salute”, combination-press the Ctrl+Alt+Del keys (or Start >Run and enter “taskmgr” no quotes).
Click on (select) the Processes tab.

This shows a list of all the running processes on your machine, and how much RAM and CPU cycles are being used by each process. I have launched Battlefield 1942, which shows as the top (most recent) process.
* Right-click on the app that you want to adjust, in our case “BF 1942.exe”.

For some reason, the program-to-processor linkage is called “Affinity“, so from the menu of choices that appear due to our right-clicking, we want to click on (select) “Set Affinity”.
If you have a dual-core CPU, two CPU’s will be shown and checked, A quad-core, four.. We want to uncheck all but one… as shown below.

With luck, now your program will run like it should. Unfortunately, you must do this each time you want to launch your game/program. Sometimes, the game manufacturer’s will issue a “patch” that will mitigate this issue. Visit their website and look for downloadable “patches” and/or “updates”.

For really old programs and games, you may need to set them to run in something called “compatibility mode“. Mostly these will be items you have left over from your Windows 98 (or Me) days… but if you’re running Vista, you may need to do this for programs that ran fine on XP. Right-click on the program’s shortcut (desktop) icon and select (click) Properties. Now click on the Compatibility tab, as shown below.

Use the drop-down arrow to select the operating system you would like the program to run in as if it were installed. Here I am telling a Vista machine to run a XP environment, but you may need to set it to “Windows 98”. A little experimentation will determine your best choice.

See also, Windows 7 – Old Games Won’t Play.. Help! (Updated) for more help.

Today’s free download: There’s a small app called Prio that allows you to “Save” priority and affinity, so you won’t have to set them at each launch.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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