Unless you're some tech expert, of course. To use these commands, go to your Start menu, click "Run ..." and type in "cmd", you can type the commands here to test. This only works when you're a user with sufficient rights (not a guest, for example). All these commands were tested on Windows XP Professional running Service Pack 1. Detailed help on each command can also be retrieved by using <command> /? in the command prompt.

1. xcopy

Syntax: xcopy <folder or file> <copy name>

Example: xcopy "My documents" "My documentsBackup"

The old DOS method to copy your files (or make backups)! This is in fact rather slow though.

2. net

Syntax: net send * <message>

Example: net send * Hello world!

Net provides a command line interface to a lot of network related functions, with net send you can send a message to a specific recipient or the entire network, this will appear in an annoying box in the middle of their screen!

3. subst

Syntax: subst <drive letter> <folder>

Example: subst r: "My documents"

This is a very fun function, it allows you to map a folder as a seperate drive. Go to "My Computer" after running this command and you'll see the new drive has appeared. This will be removed after rebooting so you could automate it with a simple batch file in your startup folder for example.

4. tasklist

Syntax: tasklist

Tasklist shows you the exact same as when you would press ctrl+alt+del, but in a DOS interface. This is mostly useful for programmers.

5. color

Syntax: color <0 - F>

Example: color 2

This allows you to change the font color for your current command prompt, won't get saved though.

6. mem

Syntax: mem

Will show very interesting statistics about your memory usage.

7. tracert

Syntax: tracert <host>

Example: tracert randombase.com

I love this command, it shows the very exact route of the packets you send to a host and shows where the slowness is on your connection to it.

8. findstr

Syntax: findstr <regex> <file or directory>

Example: findstr "test" testfile.txt

This is kind of comparable to Linux's grep, this is rather unknown but pretty useful when dealing with large portions of data!

9. bootcfg

Syntax: bootcfg /?

Example: bootcfg /timeout 5

This allows you to change the annoying XP menu when you launch Windows, you can also add other entries to multibooted operating systems such as Vista or Linux.

10. perfmon

Syntax: perfmon

How is your system performing? That is exactly what this command shows you! It shows a very detailed view on the performance of your computer, in a GUI. Very useful command for system administrators.

That's it folks! If you have enjoyed reading this post, please consider sharing it with your friends.

Thanks:

http://www.ss64.com/nt, http://commandwindows.com