Useful admin commands for Windows NT 4.0

Posted: (EET/GMT+2)

 

If you are working on Windows NT 4.0 regularly, a few command line tools are especially useful for administration and troubleshooting.

Here is a quick list:

  • ping: test network connectivity
  • ipconfig: TCP/IP configuration information
  • netstat: active connections
  • tracert: TCP packet route tracing
  • net use: network drive mappings
  • attrib: FAT and NTFS file attributes
  • cacls: NTFS permissions
  • xcopy: more advanced file copying.

The XCOPY command is especially useful when copying directory structures or backup files.

For example, to copy a complete directory tree, use the /s parameter:

xcopy C:\Data D:\Backup /s /e

The /s option copies subdirectories, and /e also includes empty directories.

You can also preserve hidden and system files:

xcopy C:\WebRoot D:\WebBackup /s /e /h

This hidden file copying is useful when backing up IIS content or moving application files between servers.