PCTips Box

In the first half of June 2008, when they gave a taste of the new features cooking for Internet Explorer 8 which are planned for integration starting with Beta 2, Jane Maliouta - IE Program Manager and James Pratt - IE Product Manager pointed out that IE8 would come with slipstream support by default. This is valid as early as the Beta 1 Build of Internet Explorer 8, but only with Windows Vista RTM, Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. Microsoft has left Windows XP SP3 out of the IE8 slipstream equation, this is nothing new for XP, as slipstreaming was also not supported even with Internet Explorer 7.

“With IE8 and Windows Vista, you are able to integrate IE8 into the image file of the original operating system in about 15 minutes. No more booting the OS image, manually installing IE and re-capturing the image. The slipstreaming support also extends to IE8 cumulative updates and language packages. Slipstreaming IE8 into an OS image will only be supported on Vista and Windows Server 2008 platforms. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 do not currently offer a solution for slipstreaming Windows components, which are built using update.exe,” Maliouta revealed. (more…)

1. Open the command prompt with administrative privileges by clicking the Start orb, All Programs, Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator.

2. Type defrag c: -b (assuming you want to defragment files on your C: drive) and then press Enter on your keyboard. You could also type defrag –b to defrag boot and application files on all hard drives.

3. You won’t see any output in the command prompt during the defrag process.

4. When it’s finished defragmenting a new line will appear in the command prompt. (more…)

The Microsoft acquisition Sysinternals that is famous for their useful Windows utilities has a new site up that allows you to easily access any of their utilities for free over the internet in your command prompt. This allows you to run any of their utilities without first downloading it to your computer. Just open an administrative level command prompt and type in:

\\live.sysinternals.com\tools\toolname.exe

For example if you want to run Autoruns (a great program to see what starts up automatically) type \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\autoruns.exe and hit Enter.

Every Sysinternals utility is available for “live” use. (more…)

Are you not able to fire up any commands just because your run prompt is not visible in your windows xp start menu?

We have already posted a procedure on how can you restore your run prompt in start menu, but still even after following the procedure given there if it does not appear then,

You can try this freeware called Command Prompt Bar which provides an alternative Command prompt in the task bar, but you will need to activate this new command prompt which will reside in your windows taskbar. Command Prompt Bar becomes a part of your Windows taskbar and allows you to launch command lines from your windows bar. (as shown in the image below). (more…)

I don’t know about you but I think the default font of the command prompt is ugly and hard to read. This guide shows you how to change the default font from a Raster font to a Consolas font specially designed for developers.

If your computer doesn’t have the Consolas font this guide shows you where to get it and how to configure the command prompt to recognize it.

Change the Command Prompt’s Font

1. Click the Start orb, All Programs, Accessories, and then open the Command Prompt.

2. Right-click the top bar of the command prompt and then select Defaults. (more…)

For power users Command Prompt is where you go to get work done quickly and efficiently. If you spend a lot of time using Command Prompt, why not customize the appearance and operation to your preferences? There are actually a few Command Prompt customizations that will make it more useful and good looking.

Just follow these steps to customize your Command Prompt:

1. Click on the Start Button and key in Command Prompt and hit Enter. (more…)