Questions tagged [windows]
For questions not specific to a single version of Microsoft Windows. Otherwise, use a more specific tag such as [windows-7], [windows-10] or [windows-11].
55,528
questions
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Find out which process is locking a file or folder in Windows
How can I find out which process is locking a file or folder in Windows?
For instance, when trying to delete a folder, Windows reports this:
The action can't be completed because the folder is ...
- 22.7k
1004
votes
20
answers
523k
views
What are the Windows A: and B: drives used for?
In Windows you have a C-drive. Everything labeled beyond that is with the following letter.
So your second drive is D, your DVD is E and if you put in a USB stick it becomes F and the following ...
798
votes
8
answers
2.6m
views
How can I display the contents of an environment variable from the command prompt in Windows 7?
In Windows 7, when I start the Command prompt, is there any command to display the contents of an environment variable (such as the JAVA_HOME or PATH variables)?
I have tried with echo $PATH, echo ...
- 27.8k
569
votes
3
answers
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"directory junction" vs "directory symbolic link"?
In the context of NTFS:
MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target
/D Creates a directory symbolic link. Default is a file symbolic link.
/H Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.
/J ...
- 27.4k
562
votes
13
answers
3.3m
views
Windows 7 SP1 Windows Update stuck checking for updates
I installed Windows 7 fresh and installed SP1. Now, when I try to check manually for Windows Updates it just hangs on the Checking for updates screen.
I tried running the tools in How do I reset ...
- 6,123
560
votes
5
answers
786k
views
How do I run multiple commands on one line in PowerShell?
In a cmd prompt, you can run two commands on one line like so:
ipconfig /release & ipconfig /renew
When I run this command in PowerShell, I get:
Ampersand not allowed. The `&` operator is ...
- 9,444
516
votes
12
answers
310k
views
Create/rename a file/folder that begins with a dot in Windows?
Many programs needs folder names that starts with a dot, like .emacs.d, .gimp-2.2, .jedit etc. How do I create such a folder?
When using the Windows Explorer in Windows 2000 (and other versions), I ...
Adventure10
509
votes
19
answers
876k
views
Is there any 'sudo' command for Windows?
I always work on a non-administrator account on my Windows computer. Sometimes I need to install programs which requires administrator access. As I mostly use the Windows command prompt, is there a ...
- 10.7k
509
votes
9
answers
806k
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Can I delete the folder C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\?
There is a new folder full of installers located at C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\. I believe this is from Visual Studio 2012 RC.
Can I delete these gigabytes of data without consequences? Are they ...
- 5,460
502
votes
30
answers
462k
views
How to check if a binary is 32 or 64 bit on Windows?
Is there an easy way to check if a binary is 32 or 64 bit on Windows? I need to check before I move the program to a 32bit machine and experience a spectacular failure.
- 5,498
484
votes
6
answers
812k
views
How do I exit telnet?
I start telnet by telnet host port. How do I stop it in Windows? Shockingly, Ctrl+C doesn't work.
- 6,215
480
votes
21
answers
1.8m
views
How to download files from command line in Windows like wget or curl
How can I download something from the web directly without Internet Explorer or Firefox opening Acrobat Reader/Quicktime/MS Word/whatever?
I'm using Windows, so a Windows version of Wget would ...
475
votes
9
answers
1.0m
views
How can I free up drive space from the Windows installer folder without killing Windows?
On my SSD machine, the C:\Windows\Installer folder is massive and takes up about 15% of my total disk space.
Is there a way to clean up that folder without killing Windows 8.1/10? Tucking away the ...
- 8,847
469
votes
18
answers
880k
views
Windows SSH: Permissions for 'private-key' are too open
I've OpenSSH 7.6 installed in Windows 7 for testing purposes. SSH client & server work just fine till I tried to access one of my AWS EC2 box from this windows.
It seems like I need to change the ...
- 5,463
469
votes
18
answers
328k
views
How can I remove malicious spyware, malware, adware, viruses, trojans or rootkits from my PC?
What should I do if my Windows computer seems to be infected with a virus or malware?
What are the symptoms of an infection?
What should I do after noticing an infection?
What can I do to get rid of ...
455
votes
11
answers
1.8m
views
How to rename the User folder in Windows 10?
After installing Windows 10 on my Surface Pro 3 it took my user name 'Jeremy' and created a user folder named C:\Users\jerem.
I want to rename the folder C:\Users\Jeremy. The procedure for Windows 8 ...
- 7,350
432
votes
25
answers
549k
views
How to delete directories with path/names too long for normal delete
Windows seems to have a length limit on file names when trying to delete, though it won't prevent those files from being created.
Our build process creates a number of temporary files (many build off ...
- 9,742
424
votes
13
answers
520k
views
How can I delete a symbolic link in Windows?
I created a symlink using mklink. Now I need to change it but I can't figure out how to delete it so I can recreate it correctly.
- 4,412
413
votes
3
answers
1.0m
views
What is the Windows equivalent of the Unix command cat?
I want to do exactly what unix "cat" does, but on my PC. Is there a simple equivalent command for the Windows command line?
Specifically I want to create a file from all the files of a given type in ...
- 7,391
394
votes
14
answers
552k
views
How to disable the "Get Windows 10" icon shown in the notification area (tray)?
This icon showed up in my taskbar notification area today and I cannot seem to get rid of it:
Clicking on it displays the following screen:
So how do I disable or remove the "Get Windows 10&...
- 3,405
382
votes
8
answers
901k
views
How to recursively delete directory from command line in windows?
What is the windows equivalent of rm -r [directory-name]?
- 8,028
367
votes
15
answers
1.2m
views
How do you list all processes on the command line in Windows?
Is there a command equivalent to 'ps' on Unix that can list all processes on a Windows machine?
- 3,944
363
votes
11
answers
923k
views
How to read ext4 partitions on Windows?
Is there a way to read ext4 partitions from Windows? If so, what can I do?
354
votes
12
answers
622k
views
Native alternative to wget in Windows PowerShell?
I know I can download and install the aformentioned library (wget for Windows), but my question is this:
In Windows PowerShell, is there a native alternative to wget?
I need wget simply to retrieve ...
- 9,091
348
votes
7
answers
1.4m
views
Why does virtualbox only have 32-bit option, no 64-bit option on Windows 7?
I have downloaded and installed the newest virtualbox 4.3.20 for my Windows 7 (64-bit OS), but when I want to install 64-bit Linux, the New->Create Virtual Machine only displays 32-bit option, no 64-...
- 4,123
344
votes
9
answers
532k
views
Keyboard language keeps changing in Windows 10
So I recently did a clean install of Windows 10 English. I configured it to have English UI language but Norwegian keyboard. I have several problems with that setup:
The keyboard language keeps ...
- 4,509
326
votes
11
answers
323k
views
Menu select item stuck on screen after context or command menu has closed
Periodically when I select a menu command, the label or selected option gets "stuck" on screen and won't go away. I can close all open applications, including whichever one I was using when it got ...
- 6,842
311
votes
23
answers
187k
views
How can I visualize the file system usage on Windows?
How can I visualize which folders and files are taking up all of the space on my hard drive?
I'm getting some conflicting reports on the size of hard drive contents. Namely what is and isn't there ...
308
votes
22
answers
708k
views
How to move windows that open up offscreen?
I have a dual monitor setup, and I recently played around with the positioning settings, and some of my single window applications do the favour of preserving where they were last closed, and opening ...
- 4,493
307
votes
5
answers
960k
views
Setting and getting Windows environment variables from the command prompt?
I want to set an environment variable from the command prompt and then be able to access it globally (for instance, I should see it by going to System -> Environment Variables).
When I use the set ...
- 3,670
305
votes
6
answers
321k
views
Is there a list of Windows special directories/shortcuts (like %TEMP%)?
I'm looking for a reference list of shortcuts like %TEMP%.
When I'm using Windows+R or Windows Explorer and type %temp%, the Windows Explorer takes me to the Temp directory. Are there more of these ...
- 3,340
302
votes
9
answers
1.3m
views
Using cd command in Windows command line, can't navigate to D:\
This may be a silly question, and I think I have looked elsewhere to find the answer... Might be a path issue, but when I open the command line and type from the C:\>:
cd D:\
I cannot get to the ...
- 6,725
301
votes
27
answers
118k
views
How to mess up a PC running Windows 7? [closed]
Ok, so for my PC class I have to find 3 hacks that would mess up the lab's PC. Me and my partner are going to mess up the PC and then another team will try to fix it. The system on it is Windows 7. ...
290
votes
5
answers
251k
views
How do I make Windows 10's File Explorer open "This PC" by default?
I know how to do that on Windows Vista and Windows 7, and I know how to do that on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, but neither of the ways work with Windows 10; it always defaults ...
- 3,037
287
votes
6
answers
232k
views
How to automatically reload modified files in Notepad++
How can automatically reload modified files in Notepad++? The confirmation step is annoying, and is completely unnecessary in some situations.
- 6,638
286
votes
6
answers
181k
views
Equivalent of cmd's "where" in powershell
I can't seem to find anything about a Powershell equivalent of the where command from cmd. Should I just call it from cmd or is there something more elegant in PS?
sunnyseas
282
votes
14
answers
372k
views
Equivalent of Linux `touch` to create an empty file with PowerShell [duplicate]
Is there an equivalent of touch in PowerShell?
For instance, in Linux I can create a new empty file by invoking:
touch filename
On Windows this is pretty awkward -- usually I just open a new instance ...
- 9,091
281
votes
16
answers
252k
views
How to quickly move current window to another Task View / desktop in Windows 10?
Windows 10 introduced Task View - the ability to have multiple virtual desktops. When I am in a window on Desktop 1, what's the quickest way to move it to Desktop 2?
Currently, I need to enter the ...
- 14.5k
265
votes
10
answers
43k
views
Why is Google so much faster than a hard-drive search?
When I search a file on my HD in Windows 7 or Windows XP it takes some minutes to finish the process. If I fill in a search term in Google, the answer is on my screen in milliseconds
How is it ...
- 1,787
262
votes
12
answers
824k
views
How can I execute a Windows command line in background?
How can I execute a windows command line in the background, without it interacting with the active user?
- 2,891
260
votes
9
answers
551k
views
How do I change the language of all Powerpoint slides at once?
I want to change the proofing language of all my slides in a Powerpoint. I've tried setting the language via the Language Preferences menu, however this only changes it for new powerpoints.
- 3,237
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10
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2.6m
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How can I check the temperature of my CPU in Windows?
Does Windows provide a means to check my CPU temperature natively?
If not, are there any software tools which can reveal this information?
- 3,195
259
votes
4
answers
273k
views
How to list Chocolatey packages already installed and newer version available from the command line
I have the following packages installed with Chocolatey.
choco list
> choco list
Chocolatey v0.9.9.2
adobereader 11.0.10
...
- 2,694
253
votes
13
answers
832k
views
How to search inside files on Windows 7?
In Windows XP we can search for files that contain a defined keyword (inside all files types).
Windows 7 can look inside files for a keyword, but only for text files. (*.doc, *.txt, *.inf, ...), not (...
user8228
252
votes
32
answers
464k
views
Windows equivalent of the Linux command 'touch'?
What do you use when you want to update the date-modified field of a file on Windows?
commands accessible via C++, .NET, C#, or something native to Windows (Vista preferably)
tools/applications ...
247
votes
11
answers
205k
views
Windows equivalent of whereis?
Is there an equivalent of the Unix whereis command in Windows?
So that I could figure out where commands I can run actually is.
- 39.9k
247
votes
11
answers
1.1m
views
Kill a process which says "Access denied"
I have a process that I can't kill with either Task Manager or Process Explorer - I get the error "Access denied". The process isn't a Windows executable.
How can I kill it? Is there some tool I ...
- 11.9k
243
votes
11
answers
360k
views
Refresh Icon Cache Without Rebooting
Normally, to refresh the icon cache in Windows, we have to reboot.
Is there a way to refresh the icon cache in Windows 7/8 without rebooting?
- 14.7k
236
votes
9
answers
1.4m
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How do I set system environment variables in Windows 10? [duplicate]
How do I set a system environment variable in Windows 10 (without using the registry editor)?
(Note: Other answers don't specifically address Windows 10 - at least not yet - and they leave off ...
- 2,639
231
votes
19
answers
479k
views
How to compare the differences between two PDF files on Windows?
Do you know a good way to compare PDF files side-by-side and show the modifications between the two?
I'm looking for Windows software to accomplish this. It would be great if you can post both free ...