Most Windows problems can be checked in under a minute — if you know the right command. These are the 60 commands a working IT technician actually uses, grouped by job, so you never waste time hunting through menus again.
Every technician has the same problem: the command is on the tip of your tongue, but the exact words will not come. The fix is not a better memory — it is a short, organised list. Below are the essential Windows commands grouped by the job they do: system information, system tools, network, disk, repair and speed. Two kinds of commands appear here: CMD commands, typed in Command Prompt, and Run commands, typed in the Run box (Windows + R). Open Command Prompt as Administrator for the repair and disk commands — without admin rights, several of them will simply refuse to run.
👆 Three commands, three instant answers — your IP address, your RAM size and a Windows file health scan. Values shown are from an example PC.
Before fixing anything, a technician first learns what machine he is standing in front of. These commands print the full picture without opening a single window:
systeminfo — full report: Windows version and build, install date, RAM, processor, BIOS and network cardsmsinfo32 — System Information window with even deeper hardware detail (Run command)dxdiag — DirectX report: graphics card, display and sound details, perfect for gaming and driver questionshostname — the computer name, needed for network and office support workver — the Windows version line, for a quick checkwhoami — which user account you are actually signed in asNeed only one line from a long report? Pipe it through findstr, for example systeminfo | findstr /C:"Total Physical Memory".
Half of Windows troubleshooting lives inside tools that are buried three menus deep. The Run box opens every one of them directly:
msconfig — System Configuration: startup control, boot options and Safe Modeservices.msc — every Windows service: start, stop and restart the one that is stuckeventvwr — Event Viewer: the log where Windows records errors, crashes and warningsdevmgmt.msc — Device Manager, for driver problems and unknown devicesdiskmgmt.msc — Disk Management: partitions, drive letters and new disksappwiz.cpl — Programs and Features, to uninstall software properlyncpa.cpl — Network Connections: adapters, disable and enable, IP settingscontrol — the classic Control Panel, still faster for some jobsregedit — Registry Editor. Powerful and unforgiving — export a backup before changing anythingtaskmgr — Task Manager, now also available with Ctrl + Shift + EscWhen the internet misbehaves, these commands tell you exactly where the chain breaks — PC, router or internet provider:
ipconfig — your IP address, subnet mask and default gateway at a glanceipconfig /all — the complete picture: MAC address, DNS servers, DHCP statusping 192.168.1.1 — tests the router (replace with your gateway). Replies mean the local network is aliveping 8.8.8.8 — tests the raw internet, bypassing DNS completelytracert google.com — shows every hop to a website and where the journey stopsnslookup google.com — asks the DNS server directly; failure here means a DNS problem, not a cable problemnetstat -ano — every connection your PC is making, with the process ID behind itarp -a — devices your PC has seen on the local network, with their MAC addressesThe classic test order: ping the gateway, then ping 8.8.8.8, then nslookup a website. The first failure in that chain is your problem.
These are the commands technicians reach for when Windows itself is damaged. All of them need an Administrator Command Prompt:
sfc /scannow — System File Checker: scans protected Windows files and repairs the corrupt ones from its cacheDISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth — repairs the Windows image itself; run this first when SFC reports it cannot fix some fileschkdsk C: /f — checks the drive file system and fixes errors; on the C drive it schedules the check for the next restartcleanmgr — Disk Cleanup, the safe built-in junk removerrstrui — System Restore: roll Windows back to a date when it workedmdsched — Windows Memory Diagnostic: schedules a RAM test on the next bootHonest order of work: DISM first, then SFC, then chkdsk if the disk itself is suspected. Running them in the wrong order wastes half an hour.
The last group keeps a PC fast and gives you control over shutdown behaviour:
%temp% in the Run box — opens the temp folder; select all and delete (skip files Windows says are in use)temp and prefetch — the other two junk locations. Prefetch deletion is debated: it rebuilds itself, so the gain is small — the honest win is the temp foldersshell:startup — the Startup folder; anything sitting here launches at every sign-inmrt — Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, a free built-in scannerpowercfg /batteryreport — a full battery health report on laptops, saved as an HTML fileshutdown /s /t 3600 — shutdown in one hour; shutdown /a cancels itslmgr /xpr — shows whether Windows is permanently activatedw32tm /resync — forces the clock to sync with the time serverHere is the honest secret from the video: no technician memorises 60 commands. They keep them in one script or one text file. The video shows a ready-made toolkit script that collects these commands behind a simple menu — run it, pick a number, and the right tool opens or the right command runs, with no typing and nothing to forget.
Watch the video to see the script in action and how each section is organised.
diskpart, regedit edits and chkdsk /f on a failing drive can all do harm in the wrong moment. Read what a command does before pressing Enter, and back up important data before disk and registry work — a command has no undo button.
All 60 commands organised in one toolkit script — the full walkthrough, live.
▶️ Watch Full VideoNo — and professionals do not either. Learn the daily ten (ipconfig, ping, msconfig, services.msc, appwiz.cpl, ncpa.cpl, sfc, cleanmgr, taskmgr and the Run box itself) and keep the full list in a text file or toolkit script on your pen drive, exactly as shown in the video.
CMD commands run inside Command Prompt and usually print information or perform a repair, like ipconfig or sfc /scannow. Run commands are typed in the Run box (Windows key + R) and open a tool or window, like services.msc or msconfig. Many fix guides mix both, which is why one combined list is so useful.
Those commands change system files, disks or services, so Windows protects them. Right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator, approve the prompt, and run the command again. If it still refuses on an office PC, an IT policy is blocking it — that is the organisation protecting its machines, not a fault.