Manage application installations on Windows. Install, uninstall and update on the command line.
Category Archives: Tips & Tricks
Epson XP-3200 new printer problem
After trying to set-up a new Epson Expression Home printer for a client and failing to get any usable printouts from the control panel I then connected directly by USB to a Windows 11 machine. Using the downloadable configuration tool the black prints became dense enough to read. After a couple of nozzle cleans and a head clean the black improved slightly more but the nozzle check report showed the colours were still full of gaps. The Epson support line advised me to then carry out multiple head cleans & nozzle checks in succession. My client intervened and started the return process. I cannot remember ever having this amount of set-up difficulty with a new printer to get to the output of printed sheets. Printer drivers and connectivity would not be such an issue as this involves so many combinations of products.
Using OpenSSH and SSH on Windows
Secure Shell software allowing connections between clients and servers for remote administration.
Related Powershell Commands:
Check the installation status
Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object Name -like 'OpenSSH*'
Start the service
Start-Service sshd
Change the service startup behaviour
Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType 'Automatic'
Add/Install the service
Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0
Useful Commands to show the logged in user account etc:
tasklist /s <pcname> /fi "imagename eq explorer.exe" /v
wmic /node: <pcname> computersystem get username
wmic /node: <pcname> computersystem get manufacturer, model, username
Or locally:
wmic computersystem get manufacturer, model, username
Change the Network Hostname (Requires Admin account)
Using CMD
wmic computersystem where name="%COMPUTERNAME%" rename "NewName"
Use Powershell and CMD to switch between sessions on either command line
Using Powershell
Rename-Computer "NewName" -Restart
Windows cURL on the command line
Command line and scripting tool for transferring data with URLs see the website Curl.se
curl -L -A "Mozilla" http://website.com
This follows re-directs and uses a dummy header to anticipate 406 Not Acceptable errors then returns the page content, you can use a full header string to represent other browsers
This YouTube video is presented by the cURL creator
Clearing & formatting a drive from the command line using Diskpart
Run diskpart from the Commmand prompt – Run CMD from the Start Menu or Run dialogue box using WinKey + R to get to the command prompt
Then use the commands below in sequence within the diskpart interface
list disk
select disk [#] (adding the reference number from the list command above)
clean (permanent delete content)
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs
assign (gives a drive letter – unspecified)
exit to leave diskpart
Managing Windows Device Drivers with Powershell
Exporting the third party device drivers from your running windows installation.
Export-WindowsDriver -online -Destination D:\path\folder
Exporting the third party device drivers from a windows image
Export-WindowsDriver -Path E:\ -Destination D:\path\folder
Add all device drivers from folder tree to a windows image
Add-WindowsDriver -Path "E:\offline" -Driver "D:\drivers" -Recurse
Add an unsigned device driver to a windows image
Add-WindowsDriver -Path "E:\offline" -Driver "D:\driver.inf" -ForceUnsigned
Microsoft Outlook failing to open
There’s a repair option available from the control panel programs & features dialogue or the Apps panel from settings in later versions of Windows.
Install Windows 11 without a Microsoft Account
Command used: ‘OOBE\BYPASSNRO‘
Open YouTube and Skip to main instructions: https://youtu.be/qUO6_hHnBAg?t=121