Copying the text from command prompt in Windows.

I still feel that the command prompt in Windows is a very powerful tool while troubleshooting an issue on a computer. Though its Command Line Interface (CLI) is mostly onto typing the commands at the prompt to get the results, you can also use your mouse to do some copying operations which can be very useful many times. However this option works only in the windowed mode operation of the Command prompt.

The option to copy the information from command prompt might be handy at certain situations. Here are some of them.

1. You might want to copy a MAC address of a network card in your computer which can be found by a simple "IPCONFIG" command.

2. When you have to send a list of processes(from the "TASKLIST" command) running on your computer to an expert for advise.

3.  Creating a list of Files in a folder.

How to Copy the Text?

It is fairly simple. Let me explain about how to copy the MAC address of your network card.

1. Go to command prompt. (Start --> Run --> type cmd --> press Enter.)

2. At the Prompt type "IPCONFIG /all". You will get a page like this one given below. Please note that your results might differ from the picture.

3. From the big list of all the network adapter details of your computer, find the network adapter for which you need the MAC address.

4. The sequence of numbers next to the PHYSICAL ADDRESS is the MAC address of your computer.

5. Right click anywhere on the command prompt and click MARK from the context menu.

6. Select the MAC address with your mouse.

7. Right Click again to copy the marked text to the clipboard.

8. You can paste this detail to any document or to any form.

The operation demonstrated above will also be very useful while working on routers and switches on the network to configure port filtering etc.,

To summarize,

There is an option in command prompt to mark the text  with the help of your mouse. All you have to do is use the right click button and click mark. Select the text in command prompt and right click. The text selected will be copied to the clipboard.

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Laters

Hi-speed DNS servers for faster Internet Browsing.

If you have been using internet for some time now, I am sure that you would have faced some kind of a connectivity issue in your computer. One fine morning you switch it ON and try to browse through your favorite websites in your browser, only to see the "Page cannot be displayed" error on the browser. Otherwise your browser will take its own time to show you a simple website like Google. This problem may occur due to various reasons starting from network card issues to some cargo ship scraping over the underwater cable that brings the Internet link to your country.

However most of the time it is just a DNS server issue which can be solved very easily by yourself. Before taking you through the steps, let me explain what a DNS server is. 


DNS Server


Every network device in the Internet like your Laptop, Servers, Routers, etc.,  have to identify itself with a unique address called IP address. You have to use these IP addresses to access or identify a device on the Internet. Sometimes remembering these IP addresses can be very tiring particularly when it comes to remembering the address of a webpage. To make things easier, names like www.microsoft.com or www.google.com are used to represent an IP address of a website.  

In Windows 95 and 98, these names would get stored in your laptop or desktop, so that when you type www.google.com in your browser, it will replace the IP address of Google's web server and try to connect to it. Later this process of storing or caching the web addresses was shifted to distributed servers called DNS (Domain Name Service) servers. Now whenever you type a web address in your browser, a query is made to the DNS server and an IP address is fetched. If your computer cannot contact the DNS server or if your DNS server does not have the web address you typed cached in its database and could not find a website's IP address within the timeout period, you will get a "Page cannot be found" error.

So how will your computer know the IP address of a DNS server which is somewhere in the cloud. It would make a query to another server called DHCP server in your network to find the IP address of the DNS server. If you have a broadband connection in your home or office, your ADSL modem does the job of a DHCP server as well as the DNS server. So your computer will be using this DNS server most of the time to translate the Web addresses. But your modem does not always have enough buffer to hold and serve you with a web address you request. When you make a request for an address that your server does not have, a request is made to a DNS server which is above it - a server maintained by your ISP. So it is always a better idea to use a faster DNS server either from your ISP or from a Public DNS service provider to get your web pages found and loaded quicker.

Changing DNS Settings


Follow the steps given below to manually enter a DNS server address in your Windows PC.

1. Click Start button and then press Run.(Windows Key + R)

2. Type control netconnections and click OK. A window called Network Connections will open now.

3. Right Click the Network connection you use to connect to the Internet (eg. Wireless Network Connection or Local Area Connection.) and click Properties

4. Click the Internet Protocol version 4(TCP/IP) and click Properties.

5. In the TCP/IP properties dialog box, select 'Use the following DNS server Address'.

6. You can type two DNS server addresses in the boxes below it.

7. Type any of the DNS servers' address I have given below and click OK to the dialog boxes that are open to save the settings. I would recommend the Public DNS server address which are more reliable and faster.

List of DNS servers of the ISPs in India.

If you use Airtel Broadband Connection use any of the following DNS servers.

202.56.215.6

202.56.230.6

203.145.184.32

203.145.184.13
202.56.250.5

For BSNL use the following.

61.0.0.5

61.1.96.69

218.248.255.147

218.248.255.146

For Tata Indicom

203.197.12.30

203.197.12.42

For Reliance 

220.225.236.84


List of Public DNS Servers.

Apart from using the above IP addresses you can always use the Public DNS servers given below irrespective of your Broadband connection.


Google
8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

Cisco

64.102.255.44

Level 3 Communications

4.2.2.1 

4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3
4.2.2.4
4.2.2.5
4.2.2.6

Verizon

151.197.0.38
151.197.0.39
151.202.0.84
151.202.0.85
151.202.0.85
151.203.0.84
151.203.0.85
199.45.32.37
199.45.32.38
199.45.32.40
199.45.32.43

GTE

192.76.85.133 

206.124.64.1

One Connect IP

67.138.54.100

OpenDNS

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

Exetel

220.233.167.31

VRx Network Services

199.166.31.3

SpeakEasy

66.93.87.2
216.231.41.2
216.254.95.2
64.81.45.2
64.81.111.2
64.81.127.2
64.81.79.2
64.81.159.2
66.92.64.2
66.92.224.2
66.92.159.2
64.81.79.2
64.81.159.2
64.81.127.2
64.81.45.2
216.27.175.2
66.92.159.2
66.93.87.2

Sprintlink

199.2.252.10
204.97.212.10
204.117.214.10

Keep your User files in Safe Place- A simple tip.

I have been facing this problem ever since I started my Business. There would be a problem at my clients' place. I would go there to find some problem like boot problem, virus issue, OS file corruption, Registry error etc., where I have to completely format the C: drive but I couldn't do that just because my client's files would be sitting on the Desktop or the My Documents folder in C: drive. Of course I would try to repair the Windows installation and then boot into Windows and try to solve this issue. But this procedure would not help always particularly when the computer is infected with a virus or if the hard disk has a partition level problem.


I am then forced to take this hard disk to my office and connect it to my computer and take a data backup and take it back to install Windows. I would do this happily when I had sufficient manpower and time with me. But when I had problems in these two valuable things, it will be such a pain to take a hard disk back and forth just for a data backup.

I started to advise my clients to keep their data safe by not saving their files in My Documents or Desktop. Not all the them will be religiously following it. When they call us the next time for an issue like what I said above, I will have to take the hard disk to my office. Why doesn't Microsoft ask the user where to keep their files after the setup is completed?

Then I did this small trick at one of my client's place after (taking the hard disk to my office, taking the file backup and then) installing Windows. As usual this person asked me what she should do to prevent all this mess and whether she should not save anything to the C: drive. I said to her not to worry about it and asked her to continue saving her files in the Desktop and My Documents. She said o.k and didn't even ask me what I did. Then I understood that this is how clients are and how they saw the Computer. We want to use a device to complete our task. The easier it is to use the gadget, more we use it.

Now let me explain what I did to solve this issue.

Warning: Please do this at your own risk. It worked for me always. But be careful as there might be a risk of data loss if don't do this properly.

1. After Installing Windows,go to

For Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\xxxx 

For Windows Vista and 7 C:\Users\xxxx.

Where xxxx is the your User-Name

2. Select the folders Desktop, My Documents in Windows XP. In Vista and 7 Select the folders Documents, Desktop, Videos, Music, Downloads, Contacts.

3. Right Click the Selected folders and then Click Cut (Ctrl + X).
Warning: Don't click copy.

4. Now go to My Computer and Select any drive other than your C: drive (Prefer the Last Partition).

5. Create a new folder in it and name it something like "Documents and Settings" or "My files(dont delete)" . 

6. Now Right Click the Folder and click Paste(Ctrl + V).  The files will be moved to the New location.

When you do this Windows redirects all its pointers for the Desktop and My Documents to the new location automatically.

7. Now go to the Desktop or the My Documents folders and Check if your files are intact. 

Do these steps in your PC and Keep your data safe. The next time you call me for a Virus issue all I have to do is a Windows Installation from your Windows Disc.

Bye for now.