How To Kill Processes from Command Prompt

I'm sure you are familiar with the traditional way to kill or end a process in Windows using Task Manager.  This method is effective but not nearly as fun as killing a process in Command Prompt.  Additionally, killing processes in Command Prompt provides much more control and the ability to end multiple processes at once.

 

All of this is possible with the TaskKill command. First, let's cover the basics.  You can kill a process by the process ID (PID) or by image name (EXE filename).

Open up an Administrative level Command Prompt and run tasklist to see all of the running processes:

 

C:\>tasklist

 

 

In the example above you can see the image name and the PID for each process. If you want to kill the notepad process run:

 

C:\>taskkill /IM notepad.exe /F

 

or

 

C:\>taskkill /PID 784 /F

 

The /f flag is kills the process forcefully.  Failure to use the /F flag will result in nothing happening in some cases.  One example is whenever I want to kill the explorer.exe process I have to use the /F flag or else the process just does not terminate.

 

If you have multiple instances of an image open such as multiple firefox.exe processes, running the taskkill /IM firefox.exe command will kill all instances. When you specify the PID only the specific instane of firefox will be terminated.

 

The real power of taskkill are the filtering options that allow you to use the following variables and operators.

 

Variables:

STATUS

IMAGENAME

PID

SESSION

CPUTIME

MEMUSAGE

USERNAME

MODULES

SERVICES

WINDOWTITLE

 

Operators:

eq (equals)

ne (not equal)

gt (greater than)

lt (less than)

ge (greater than or equal)

le (less than or equal)

 

"*" is the wildcard.

You can use the variables and operators with the /FI filtering flag.  For example, let's say you want to end all processes that have a window title that starts with "Internet":

 

C:\>taskkill /FI "WINDOWTITLE eq Internet*" /F

 

How about killing all processes running under the Steve account:

 

C:\>taskkill /FI "USERNAME eq Steve" /F

 

It is also possible to kill a process running on a remote computer with taskkill.  Just run the following to kill notepad.exe on a remote computer called SteveDesktop:

 

C:\>taskkill /S SteveDesktop /U RemoteAccountName /P RemoteAccountPassword /IM notepad.exe /F

 

To learn more about taskkill run it with the /? command just like any other Windows command.

 

Regards,

Paul Parackel

Email# info.transaircoms@gmail.com

CCNA / MCP / MCITP

 

How to Recover Deleted Photos, Pictures and Other Files (Recuva)

Have you ever accidentally deleted a photo or file from your computer or digital camera....?  Even if you clear the recycle bin, there is still a chance your pictures can be recovered.

Even though a file was deleted there is a good chance the contents of the file are still around.  When a file is deleted the contents of the file are not removed. Only a pointer to the file in the file system table is deleted.  

 

Time is your worst enemy when restoring files. When the pointer to the file has been deleted the operating system can use that storage space to write and store new data.  The longer it has been since you realized the file was deleted increases the chance any remaining file content has been overwritten.

 

It is very important to immediately stop writing to the storage device that previously contained your pictures so that the old file contents are not overwritten.  For example, don’t take any more pictures with your digital camera because new pictures will overwrite the deleted files.

 

Next, you will need to use a utility to reassemble the file remains back into the original files. Use a free utility called Recuva by Piriform.

 

After the utility is installed start it up and click cancel on the Recuva Wizard screen know select the drive you want to scan for the deleted files.

 

There are two ways to scan for deleted files.

Method1:-  First we are going to use the default scan method by just clicking Scan.

The results pane will be populated when the scan is completed. Files that are  green can be recovered by other files that are yellow or red have been overwritten. Previews are shown for some files when you click on them.

 

Check the boxes next to the files you want to restore and click Recover.

 

Select a location to restore the files to and click OK. Make sure you select a different storage device/drive than where the files are currently located so you don’t overwrite the file remains. 

 

Your files will now be recovered. 

 

Method 2 :- DEEP SCAN

 

Running a deep scan will check the actual sectors on the storage device for file remains. You can enable this scan option by clicking Options on the main screen.

 

Click on the Actions tab, check Deep Scan and click OK.

 

Now just click Scan again and go for a walk because the deep scan can take a while depending on the size of the drive.

 

When the scan is completed restore the files the same way discussed above for the normal scan.

 

 

 

 

Regards,

Paul Parackel

Email# info.transaircoms@gmail.com

CCNA / MCP / MCITP

 

How To Refresh Or Reset Your Windows 8 PC

REFRESH:- You can use Refresh option for your PC  in situations where your PC frequently becomes unstable and starts behaving in an erratic manner. The Refresh option gives a little boost to PC performance by restoring your PC system settings to default and removing all the applications installed from third-party resources.

 

RESET:-  Reset option can be used before selling your PC or when you want to start afresh by removing everything except core Windows 8 system files and utilities. The Reset utility attempts to reset all the changes which you have made to the system in order to bring the system back to original factory settings.

 

Here I will show you how to use REFRESH and RESET option from General window in Windows 8 PC Settings. To quickly open PC Settings, bring up charms bar using Windows + C hotkey combination,

 

1) Click Setting on Charms Bar (REFRESH and RESET)

 

 

2) Now Click More PC Settings to open PC Settings (REFRESH and RESET)

 

 

How to Use REFRESH for your PC

 

The Refresh your PC option is present underneath Language control in General window.  The Refresh PC utility checks whether the system files, Windows registry, and other important system components are working fine or not; on finding issues with Windows files, it will attempt to repair your PC. The Refresh PC utility doesn’t remove any of your personnel files, including document, video, music and other types of files during the PC refresh process. However, it is recommended to create backup of applications which fetch data directly from Windows native utilities to restore them later.

 

 

 

When you click Get Started under Refresh your PC, it will show the changes which will be made during the process. Insert Windows 8 installation disk, and then click Next followed by Refresh to reboot the system.

 

 

First, it will start preparing your system for a complete Refresh.

 

 

When Windows 8 restarts, you will see boot screen with refresh process progress at the bottom.

 

 

After the refresh process ends, you will be taken back to Windows Start Screen, where you can find all default Windows 8 utilities and widgets. Now restore applications for which you created backup for, and then reboot the system.

 

NOTE:-  Refresh feature doesn’t ask you to enter Windows activation key and configure Windows settings.

 

How to Use RESET for your PC

 

The Reset your PC option is present underneath Language control in General window.  Windows 8 Reset utility provides one-stop solution to those who are planning to sell their Windows 8 PC without leaving any chances of recovering personal information and other important data from the PC. The Windows 8 Reset utility ensures that all of your personal data along with user-installed applications will be removed. After removing all the user-data, it will attempt to reset your PC settings back to default.

 

 

To begin, click Get Started under Reset your PC option.

 

 

For disk with multiple partitions, it asks you to choose entire hard disk to perform the cleanup operation or only the disk where Windows 8 is installed. Just select the required option to move to next step.

 

 

Now, specify the type of cleanup operation – Thoroughly or Quickly. The Thorough disk cleanup operation removes all the files from selected disk(s), deletes all the installed applications, and makes data irrecoverable, whereas the quick cleanup option simply deletes your files and installed applications.

 

 

Like Windows 8 Refresh utility, it will reboot your system and start resetting Windows to default settings, The time it takes depends upon the number of changes made to your system and total size of your data. Once system reboots, it starts preparing your system for complete PC reset. At the bottom, you will see Resetting your PC progress.

 

 

After the Resetting your PC process finishes, it will reboot your system to update Windows 8 registry settings, find attached devices, and then make identified devices ready for Windows 8.

 

 

Once the process is finished, you will be asked to enter the Product key. Enter the license key and click Next. If you want to enter the license key later, click Skip. (Please Note for Some System Manufacture it may not ask for the Product Key as it is pre-injected on the Motherboard)

 

 

Now, accept License terms and click Accept to proceed further. It will now start loading Windows 8, and you will see Personalization window. Follow the on-screen instructions, enter details where required, and let Windows 8 prepare a fresh desktop for you.

 

 

These system repair utilities have made Windows 8 reinstallation and repair processes not only easy but also free from any type of system failures and other risks. The Reset and Refresh repair options can also be accessed from Startup Menu under Troubleshoot window, which includes advance system repair options such as, System Restore, System Image Recovery, etc.

 

 

Regards,

Paul Parackel

Email# info.transaircoms@gmail.com

CCNA / MCP / MCITP

 

You may experience that DVD drive is not recognized in Windows 8

METHOD:- 1

 

Symptom: One of the common issues many Windows 8 CP users are experiencing is missing optical drive icon. According to users, after installing the operating system or upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8, Windows 8 doesn’t recognize the DVD drive. Because of this the DVD drive is not appearing neither in Windows Explorer or nor in Device Manager.

 

Resolution:

 

1. Run Command Prompt as an  Administrator. Type cmd in Windows 8 Metro UI and press cltr+shift+enter

 

2. Type following and enter

 

reg.exe add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0" /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001

 

 

3. Reboot the system

 

METHOD 2

 

If Method 1 does not work then download and run the free utility named CD-DVD Icon Repair

 

 

CD-DVD Icon Repair is a portable tool that helps you when Windows doesn’t recognize the CD/DVD drive. Even though the program was designed for Windows 7, it works perfectly fine in Windows 8 as well. Launch the tool, click Repair CD-DVD Icon button and then restart your PC.

 

 

Regards,

Paul Parackel

Email# info.transaircoms@gmail.com

CCNA / MCP / MCITP

 

Different Versions OF Windows 8 for you

Windows 8 (For Consumer)

This is the consumer version of Windows 8 that excludes a lot of the business-type features like drive encryption, group policy and virtualization. However, you will have access to the Windows Store, Live Tiles, Remote Desktop Client, VPN Client and other features.

Windows 8 Pro (For Enthusiasts & Professionals/Businesses)

Windows 8 Pro is for the PC enthusiast and business/technical professionals. It includes everything found in 8 plus features like BitLocker encryption, PC virtualization, domain connectivity and PC management. Definitely geared

Windows 8 Enterprise (The Enterprise)

Includes all that Windows 8 Pro has, but geared towards enterprise customers with Software Assurance agreements.

Windows 8 RT (ARM or WOA)

RT (Windows Runtime AKA WinRT) is the newest addition to the list of Windows editions. It is specifically designed for ARM-based devices like tablets, ARM-powered PCs and any other devices that support the ARM architecture and are designed to run Windows 8 RT.

The nice thing about Windows RT is that it offers device-level encryption and the touch-based Office suite as part of the operating system, so you won't have to go buy a copy of Office or worry about data exposure.

 

 

Regards,

Paul Parackel

Email# info.transaircoms@gmail.com

CCNA / MCP / MCITP