CMD Commander v3

I've read a few Instructables about playing with school computers in which people complain about how difficult it is to open Command Prompt. Yes, you can usually find a way past the school restrictions, or you can download Command Prompt Portable from portableapps.com, but I have a batch file that will do the exact same thing.

Step 1: The Script

To make CMD Commander, Version 3 (so-named because it commands the Command Prompt program), simply copy/paste the following into NotePad:

@echo off
color 0a
:Input
title @ %CD%
echo.
set/p "command= +++> "
%command%
goto Input

Save as a batch file (CMD Commander.bat, All Program Files), and run it. You now have a portable Command Prompt that is only a few bites in size (miniscule)!

Comments

[kroq-gar78]

why do you make the color 0a (greenish), not FFFFFF (white)?? just for the heck of it?

[Dark-player]

you could use any color you want, but FFFFFF wont wok, because its not a command color (from 01 to FE, you can't use same chars)

[El Mano]

I like a bit of color. The standard white of CMD is rather boring, don't you think? I used bright blue (09) on version 2, but it was a little hard to see when sitting away from the screen. Light green is a nice, easy-to-see color, and it looks cool against the black. You can set it to any color; white on black, pink on grey, red on purple. I just like the green.

[Saturn V]

I like green because of The Matrix.

[naruto 777]

what if you dont have notepad and the portable one is blocked too?

[corey11]

Simple, if you have a computer at home, type this up in notepad and save it on a thumbdrive! It's easy, just hide it deep in the thumb drive and if you make a shortcut, chance the icon and name. I have so much code on my thumbdrive it's not even funny!

[El Mano]

Well, then you better learn C++ real fast and write a program to do whatever you're trying to do, because the patron saint of batch scripters has decided that you're ugly! Ha ha ! Ha! Ha!..Thunk!.. "Ugh..." (gurgle) Sorry about that; I just hit my sarcasm streak over the head with a 9-Iron. Batch is a rather limited language, which I use for various tasks because it's easy and I couldn't find a C++ compiler that worked simply enough to keep me persevering in learning the language. Chances are that if your school computer has blocked NotePad, CMD, Run, and Command Prompt Portable, the process of unblocking said programs would involve some tedious research, some sneaky skullduggery, and a trip to the principal's office when your librarian (who is technologically advanced enough to affectively block the desired programs) notices your attempts to hack the system. You could try VBS or, if you have a lot of time on your hands, a home-made, compiled program (or a ready-made program off the web; if you do find one that works, I presume you'll share it with our class), or, unless you're trying to hack into the school administrator, you could just do your business on a computer that the school's evil net of restriction hasn't yet ensnared.

[Doubleblades85]

haha, lol'd at the beggining of your comment

[Geek101]

Visual basic!! Super easy to make a notepad clone!

[kroq-gar78]

haha... nice way of thinking about it, but can't you just go to run and type 'cmd'????? it's so much easier than doing whatever you're doing. but, if what you mean by 'restrictions' is that you can't open command prompt, then forget whatever i said at the top. nice tutorial either way tho!

[El Mano]

You can, but I like to add my own touch to things. CMD Commander is also useful when manipulating files/folders, as you can just drag and drop the batch file into any file-to-be-changed, instead of "Run, CMD, cd C:\Documents and Settings\Me\etc."

[PyRo_RaPiD]

(removed by author or community request)

[El Mano]

It didn't make a difference when I tried it. I don't see the point of trying to change the %CD% variable unless you are navigating directories. Then you can just type "cd *YOUR DIRECTORY HERE*"

[PyRo_RaPiD]

(removed by author or community request)

[El Mano]

Maybe I didn't do it right, but when I added "set CD=Hello", to the repeating part of the file, it just replaced the directory name with "Hello". Not very useful, unless you want to look innocent when the school librarian walks up behind you and asks what your doing. ("Oh, nothing, I'm just playing the Hello Game. I type in anything and try to get the screen to say something other than 'Hello'. There's a secret password that make the screen say 'You Win!', but I haven't found it yet.") Adding "set CD=" didn't do anything. You said it fixed a glitch: what glitch?

[wizerd 745]

At my school the computers arnt allowed to run batch files, however last year my computer would for some reason. It was just luck, nothing I did.

[mattyandchloe]

if you say title cmd commander-then put whatever you want here it will be called that like el mano

[Scytheon3]

Or you could just type the command you want to do into windows run and it will work just fine

[iHackAlot]

or just type in command in notepad and save as .bat either way it works fine btw nice find

[will421]

What`s ? If it looks nice to you for me it says:

[00][13]

[El Mano]

Where is this in my -ible?

[TheDeviant13]

steps 1 and 3 where you have the text that needs to go into the batch file at it says title CMD Commander By El Mano

[El Mano]

It should say "title CMD Commander - By El Mano". I type my instructions on M-Word and then copy/paste them into the editor. For some reason the editor treats things like dashes and quotes as those little boxes. I go back afterward and fix them, but I guess I missed one. I've got a new version of the Commander to add, so I'll fix it soon.

[TheDeviant13]

Ok I also noticed that when I pasted it into word and I like this just as much as CMD prompt because it does the same thing and can be used if CMD is blocked such as at school dang it though school is out for me well there is always time to perfect my program list for next year.

[PyroMaster007]

my admin has blocked the use of command prompt so when i open it it displays a message that says "command prompt has been disabled by your administrator..." your 'ible didn't help, same message displayed. any help?

[Pie Ninja]

There are a couple of things you can try that your admin may have overlooked: Writing your commands in notepad and saving them as .bat The "Run" button in the start menu, just type cmd.exe where the text box is I'm trying to find other ways around admin restrictions at my school, but I really don't have to anymore after I found out the Admin password :P Hope this helps

[El Mano]

You can download Command Prompt Portable from portableapps.com; I used this before I wrote CMD Commander. How did you get the admin's password?

[Pie Ninja]

Black Magic :D (It was a stroke of luck actually) Also, you could try writing your batch files at home and converting them to .exe using a converter.

[Pie Ninja]

Oh, you could try the net user command and typing the admin user name after it, like so; net user "admin user name" Obviously without the quotes, and if you're lucky you may find that it lists the password, (as well as other info from the last logon) it hasn't worked for me, but it has for some people.

[mitchell931993]

another way to do this is make a new trext file and save ti as command.bat just type in the text file : echo off command.com

[Sublivious]

Wow....that actually worked even when CMD is disabled by GPO. Kudos!

[lemonie]

So this does use the normal CMD but modifies it? I'm interested as to how this bypasses blocks on running CMD (in technical detail) L

[agent]

You will be able to run the commands through a "tunnel" (for lack of a better word). It is not the REAL command prompt, just runs whatever commands you tell it to. It's really hard to explain though. It might work, but it might not. Depends on the security.

[lemonie]

Sorry, I misunderstood this If it's not using CMD what is the command-interpreter it is using? I suppose I should try it and find out! L

[Padlock]

Cmd is really just a "launcher," for say. The commands that you type in are actually just the name of a program, with certain attributes after them. The same thing applies for a batch file- each command is a program, and the coding after it is just attributes the program is started with. When you set the variable in El Mano's CMD, it then takes it and runs the content of the variable. It's just like pressing (Windows Key) and R, except it has more functionality. However, some commands are built INTO command prompt, like echo. In a computer that actually has command prompt deleted, these inclusive commands should not work. If it just has it blocked, then it might would work, depending on the sophistication of the blocking program. If it allows SYSTEM user to run it, then it should work, but if it doesn't allow anyone to use it, then no it shouldn't work.