Questions tagged [windows]
For questions not specific to a single version of Microsoft Windows. Otherwise, use a more specific tag such as [windows-7], [windows-10] or [windows-11].
55,544
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1.8m
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Find out which process is locking a file or folder in Windows
How can I find out which process is locking a file or folder in Windows?
For instance, when trying to delete a folder, Windows reports this:
The action can't be completed because the folder is ...
- 22.7k
1004
votes
20
answers
523k
views
What are the Windows A: and B: drives used for?
In Windows you have a C-drive. Everything labeled beyond that is with the following letter.
So your second drive is D, your DVD is E and if you put in a USB stick it becomes F and the following ...
799
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8
answers
2.6m
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How can I display the contents of an environment variable from the command prompt in Windows 7?
In Windows 7, when I start the Command prompt, is there any command to display the contents of an environment variable (such as the JAVA_HOME or PATH variables)?
I have tried with echo $PATH, echo ...
- 27.9k
569
votes
3
answers
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"directory junction" vs "directory symbolic link"?
In the context of NTFS:
MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target
/D Creates a directory symbolic link. Default is a file symbolic link.
/H Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.
/J ...
- 27.4k
562
votes
13
answers
3.3m
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Windows 7 SP1 Windows Update stuck checking for updates
I installed Windows 7 fresh and installed SP1. Now, when I try to check manually for Windows Updates it just hangs on the Checking for updates screen.
I tried running the tools in How do I reset ...
- 6,123
561
votes
5
answers
787k
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How do I run multiple commands on one line in PowerShell?
In a cmd prompt, you can run two commands on one line like so:
ipconfig /release & ipconfig /renew
When I run this command in PowerShell, I get:
Ampersand not allowed. The `&` operator is ...
- 9,454
516
votes
12
answers
310k
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Create/rename a file/folder that begins with a dot in Windows?
Many programs needs folder names that starts with a dot, like .emacs.d, .gimp-2.2, .jedit etc. How do I create such a folder?
When using the Windows Explorer in Windows 2000 (and other versions), I ...
Adventure10
509
votes
19
answers
876k
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Is there any 'sudo' command for Windows?
I always work on a non-administrator account on my Windows computer. Sometimes I need to install programs which requires administrator access. As I mostly use the Windows command prompt, is there a ...
- 10.7k
509
votes
9
answers
807k
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Can I delete the folder C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\?
There is a new folder full of installers located at C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\. I believe this is from Visual Studio 2012 RC.
Can I delete these gigabytes of data without consequences? Are they ...
- 5,460
502
votes
30
answers
462k
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How to check if a binary is 32 or 64 bit on Windows?
Is there an easy way to check if a binary is 32 or 64 bit on Windows? I need to check before I move the program to a 32bit machine and experience a spectacular failure.
- 5,498
484
votes
6
answers
813k
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How do I exit telnet?
I start telnet by telnet host port. How do I stop it in Windows? Shockingly, Ctrl+C doesn't work.
- 6,215
480
votes
21
answers
1.8m
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How to download files from command line in Windows like wget or curl
How can I download something from the web directly without Internet Explorer or Firefox opening Acrobat Reader/Quicktime/MS Word/whatever?
I'm using Windows, so a Windows version of Wget would ...
476
votes
9
answers
1.0m
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How can I free up drive space from the Windows installer folder without killing Windows?
On my SSD machine, the C:\Windows\Installer folder is massive and takes up about 15% of my total disk space.
Is there a way to clean up that folder without killing Windows 8.1/10? Tucking away the ...
- 8,857
469
votes
18
answers
882k
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Windows SSH: Permissions for 'private-key' are too open
I've OpenSSH 7.6 installed in Windows 7 for testing purposes. SSH client & server work just fine till I tried to access one of my AWS EC2 box from this windows.
It seems like I need to change the ...
- 5,463
469
votes
18
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How can I remove malicious spyware, malware, adware, viruses, trojans or rootkits from my PC?
What should I do if my Windows computer seems to be infected with a virus or malware?
What are the symptoms of an infection?
What should I do after noticing an infection?
What can I do to get rid of ...