Windows Administration

CMD.EXE

Configuration

• Enable file / path extension (see help cmd):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\CompletionChar     <-- 09 (tab)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\PathCompletionChar <-- 09 (tab)

• Command Extension are enabled by default

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\EnableExtensions

• Delayed expansion is not enabled by default:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\DelayedExpansion

Other useful config tools:

• DOSHere
  Open a cmd prompt by right clicking on any directory in windows explorer

Device Management

View and Delete Unused Devices

Open a cmd.exe console:

> set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
> devmgmt.msc

In the Device Management Console, select show hidden devices. Unused devices are grayed out.

Convert Logical Drive Letter to PhysicalDrive

The following C program illustrates what Win32 API to use to convert a logical drive letter like C: to the corresponding PhysicalDrive specification.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <w32api/wtypes.h>
#include <w32api/ddk/ntdddisk.h>

int main()
{
    HANDLE hDeviceHandle = NULL;

    char drive[] = {'\\', '\\', '.', '\\', 'A', ':', 0};
    DWORD driveMask = GetLogicalDrives();

    for(int i = 0; i < 26; i++)
    {
        drive[4] = 'A' + i;
        printf("Drive: %s\n", drive);
        hDeviceHandle = CreateFile(drive , 0, 0, NULL,
        OPEN_EXISTING,FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, NULL);
        if (hDeviceHandle != (HANDLE)-1)
        {
            STORAGE_DEVICE_NUMBER sdn;
            DWORD returned;
            if (DeviceIoControl(
                hDeviceHandle,IOCTL_STORAGE_GET_DEVICE_NUMBER,NULL ,0,&sdn,sizeof(sdn),&returned,NULL));
            {
                printf("\tDevice type: %d number: %d partition: %d\n",sdn.DeviceType,
                sdn.DeviceNumber, sdn.PartitionNumber);
                if(sdn.DeviceType == 7)
                    printf("\t-->\t\\\\.\\PhysicalDrive%d\n",sdn.DeviceNumber);
            }
        }
    }

    return 0;
}

Compile with:

% gcc logicalToPhysicalDrive.cpp

Example of output:

Drive: \\.\C:
        Device type: 7 number: 0 partition: 1
        -->     \\.\PhysicalDrive0

Patch file version resource

Some windows file have a specific resource record that stores release information on that specific file (like file version, company name, etc ). One can see this record by using the NT Explorer → right click → properties → Version panel.

It is quite easy to change the content of this record by using an Hex Editor such as UltraEdit. Just look for either of the hex string below in the file:

560053005F00560045005200530049004F004E005F0049004E0046004F00 // V.S._.V.E.R.S.I.O.N._.I.N.F.O.
460069006C006500560065007200730069006F006E                   // F.i.l.e.V.e.r.s.i.o.n.

Note that the version number (file version) given at the top of the Version panel is actually coded in hex. The example below gives a file version 1.2.3.4.

xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx 56 00 53 00 5F 00 // xxxxxxxxxxV.S._.
56 00 45 00 52 00 53 00 49 00 4F 00 4E 00 5F 00 // V.E.R.S.I.O.N._.
49 00 4E 00 46 00 4F 00 xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx // I.N.F.O.xxxxxxxx
xx xx xx xx 02 00 01 00 04 00 03 00 xx xx xx xx // xxxx........xxxx

Shutting Down / Locking

Using rundll32.exe (see [1]):

rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Another one:

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx [0|1|2|4|8]
:: 0: logoff, 1: shut down, 2: reboot, 4: forced shutdown, 8: powers down the machine

Regedit

Command-line

Using regtool (cygwin):

regtool /s registry_file.reg                     ;Silent merge registry file (no user confirmation)

Using reg.exe (windows):

• See http://ss64.com/nt/regedit.html
• See http://ss64.com/nt/reg.html

;Silent merge
regedit /s registry_file.reg                      

;Create a global USER environment variable (persistent)
SET MYROOT="%CD"
echo Setting global USER Environment variable to %MYROOT%
reg add HKCU\environment /v MYROOT /t REG_SZ /d %MYROOT% /f

Regedit .reg File Format

See also Microsoft's reference page, here, here, here and on Wikipedia.

See also regtool chapter on Cygwin page.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup]
@=dword:00000000
"SetupType"=dword:00000000
"CmdLine"="setup -newsetup"
"SystemPrefix"=hex:c5,0b,00,00,00,40,36,02

; Comments are created with a semi-colon

; Delete a value by assigning a minus to it
"SetupType"=-

; Delete a key by preceding the name with a minus sign
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup]

The header line indicates the version and can be either

 Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00   for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003
 REGEDIT4                               for Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 (but is also accepted in 2000, XP or 2003)

Network

Detect Network Environment Change

The following VBS script can be used to detect automatically when a network cable is connected or disconnected ("network cable unplugged"), as in [2]. Some explanations at [3], and more on [4].

Use MSNdis_StatusMediaDisconnect to detect when a cable is unplugged.

Set colMonitoredEvents = GetObject("winmgmts:root\wmi")._
     ExecNotificationQuery("Select * from MSNdis_StatusMediaConnect")
Do
     Set strLatestEvent = colMonitoredEvents.NextEvent
     WScript.Echo "Connected! Do something here"
     ' enable the line below if you want to exit after the first event.
     ' Exit Do
Loop

Same script a bit improved in order to limit detection to some specific adapter:

Set colMonitoredEvents = GetObject("winmgmts:root\wmi")._
     ExecNotificationQuery("Select * from MSNdis_StatusMediaConnect" _
        & " WHERE InstanceName = '3Com 10/100 Mini PCI Ethernet Adapter'")
Do
     Set strLatestEvent = colMonitoredEvents.NextEvent
     WScript.Echo "Connected! Do something here"
     ' enable the line below if you want to exit after the first event.
     'Exit Do
Loop

Rename / Delete locked files using Registry

This uses a registry data called PendingFileRenameOperations in key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager]. This data is a REG_MULTI_SZ. The syntax is as follows:

\??\source file
!\??\target file

To delete a file, target file must be the null string, i.e. 00 00. For instance the registry file below can be used to delete a file named c:\TEMP\Kill-ME.eXe.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager]
"PendingFileRenameOperations"=hex(7):5C,3F,3F,5C,63,3A,5C,54,45,4D,50,5C,4B,69,6C,6C,2D,4D,45,2E,65,58,65,00,00,00

Another way is to use the windows program reg.exe.

Windows VISTA Tips

Re-Enable Hibernate Option

On Vista, Hibernation is disabled after running the disk cleanup wizard and removing the hibernate files. To re-enable (see [5]):

• Go to the command prompt icon in the Start menu under Accessories and right click the icon: click “Run as administrator”.
• Paste: “powercfg.exe /hibernate on” and hit Enter and also paste “powercfg -h on” and hit enter just to be safe.
• Open Control Panel and type in “Hibernate” in the Search.
• Click “Turn hibernation on or off”
• Click “Change advance power settings”
• Scroll to and expand the “Sleep” option.
• Select “Off” to the “Allow hybrid sleep” option.
• Scroll to and expand the “Power buttons and lid” option.
• Select “Hibernate” for the “Sleep button action” option. 10. Select “Hibernate” for the “Start menu power button” option.

Troubleshoot Windows 7 Boot Issues

The new Microsoft's flagship OS come with new features in boot, and now has plenty of different ways to fail at boot, each time with very cryptic and unhelpful messages. It is very easy to get these insulting messages for instance when you change your harddisk, or restore your Windows 7 backup in a different machine (possibly a virtual one). Here I list all the issues I encountered, and how I did solve them.

Corrupted / Missing Master Boot Record (MBR)

Typical error messages when the MBR is absent / corrupted:

Missing operating system
Error loading operating system
Invalid partition table
MBR Error 1
...

There are actually 2 possible way for corrupted MBR:

• Corrupted MBR code (detected by BIOS)
• Corrupted Partition Table (detected by MBR code)

The actual message may vary depending on the BIOS (corrupted MBR code), or the variant of MBR code installed on the disk. Note that the MBR works fine if GRUB shows up (even in rescue mode).

Solutions:

• Install new MBR

TBC

• Install GRUB

TBC

• Fix partition table

TBC

• Set boot partition

TBC