Discussion on:

10 command-line tools that refuse to die

awk, updatedb in a cron, ipconfig /flushdns, gpupdate /f, also chkdsk sometimes will revive flash and external drive that appear to have lost all data. top, ps aux, ls -la

Some are Windows, some Unix/Linux. Why mix them up. Not everyone is a Win/Unix/Linus/Mac user. This would've been easier to sift thru if they'd been put in OS groups.

"Some people think the command line is an outdated mode of usage and administration. "
Yeah, they're called IGNORANTS! - including pseudo "IT staff" that runs MS Windows, OMG! >:-D

I Love this command : Ping 0.0.0.0,
ipconfig,
sc query ex
taskkill

I like them because what you can do at the cmd line, is something you can write a .bat file to do for you, and you can schedule it.

In unix, my favorite has to be "cp". If it wasn't for that little command, I'd have been manually recreating a bunch of complex things through a GUI that does not support copying.

With the popularity of shell based programming languages such as Ruby and PowerShell growing, the command-line is even more popular today than even the old System V days.This is due to the accessibility of the modern shell compared to the shell of yesteryear. The personal computer was born because the need to customize a system to do what you need when you want it. There will always be the need for commands as written language is more powerful and allows a end user to more creative than a simple GUI. In the future the most popular and desired features will be in the GUI, but power knowledge workers that want customization and efficiency will be using the command-line on a regular basis.

How many times we use CD command to change directories??
@0vidiu you have to add NETSTAT to your list

Commands are the kernel of any system.

This command tools are everywhere, and available at almost all time. My favorite is "sc", starting and stopping a process in a remote machine is really cool.

NI

When I need to make lists of files in directories and subdirectories, this is the command I use. I import the resulting file into Excel, do a little manipulation, and I have my list.

Valuable schedulling command!
at 21:00 /every:M,T,W,Th,F,S,Su shutdown -s -f -t 10

I would have to add the ROUTE command to the list. At least for my current position, it has most definately helped

It's the most powerful and easiest way to locally and remotely manage sistems for skilled professionals. GUIs are for beginners.

The shell is the past-present-future for ITs.

md \\?\drive_letter:\folder_name.extension... to make a secured folder. To access it, simple press Windows+R -> type \\?\drive_letter:\folder_name.extension...\ -> enter. To remove it, use rd \\?\drive_letter:\folder_name.extension...

sfc /scannow
The system file checker in Windows has saved me a thousand times, yet it is not in most textbooks (I'm a tech, but I also teach this stuff). This tool examines all of the system files to be sure they are present and in the correct version. It uses a combo of installation files from the DVD and the list of installed updates to accomplish this task.
Most of the greatest Linux commands are already on the list!
I tell my students I want a bumper sticker that says "I love my CLI!" Command line tools and scripting make life sooo much easier.

GREP when combined with any command makes all commands more useful.

If you combine GREP with AWK and KILL! You morph into a GOD, no really it's true.

It is Wonderful and helpful information and boost any business. Thanks for sharing this information friend.

vendor audits

Being worked on linux for more than a decade, I prefer to use command prompt on my windows box too. I think windows cmd is also powerful enough for managing administrative tasks..I usually refer this site http://www.windows-commandline.com for anything related to command line.

Me everyday use "ping" and "killall"

most commands that I use and i think they should include:
1- nslookup
2- netsh
3- grep
4- adsquery

Windows commands I use alot:

NBLOOKUP (kb830578) - for those still with WINS.
NBTSTAT
IPCONFIG
NSLOOKUP
NETSTAT
PING
TRACERT
CD
MD
RD
DEL
ECHO
REM
@
CALL
:text - labels for scrpts
EXIT
GOTO
IF
TYPE
FOR - in all its iterations - "looping" plus
SET - review advanced SET usage - arithmatic, substrings, substitution
SETX
FINDSTR - Regular expresions, grep capabilities
DFSUTIL
NLTEST - If you have DFS....
DSQUERY
DSGET
DSMOD
DSMOVE
DSADD
DSRM
XCACLS
ICACLS
PROMPT
SCHTASKS
SC - such a powerful command for service control
SLEEP
SUBST
CMD /C - use it to prefix any external command in a script to prevent the script from ending unexpectedly. ie cmd /c myutil.exe
START - good way to spin off separate items in a script
CHOICE
NTRIGHTS
NOW - great for flagging log files
POWERCFG
NETSH
NETDOM (errorlevls 2224, 2691 are collision errors)
FTYPE
ASSOC
W32TIME
REG - King of registry management REG /?
NET - Extremely powerful see all its capabilities NET /?
MKLINK
FILEACL
ATTRIB
MSIEXEC
ROBOCOPY - extremely powerful copy with logging!

A very good topic, but it is a terrible idea to mix Windows commands and other operating system(s) commands in the topic.
There are plenty of very important Windows command-lines that can fill out this topic of 10, with plenty more to spare.
I hope the next re-write of this topic would be "20 Essential Windows Command-Line Tools for IT Professionals".
Thanks.

what about xcopy for backup? In scripts I use this daily for my most important files