Reminders for Microsoft Windows

• Bitlocker commands
• Clean up WinSxS folder using DISM /cleanup-image
• How to enable the built-in Administrator account
• SYSPREP fails: ‘reserved storage in use’
• Disable Wi-Fi from the command line
• Windows kernel versions

Various handy shortcuts:

• Shift-F10 : (during OOBE) open a Command Window
• Control-Shift-F3 : (during OOBE ) logs you in as Administrator
• Control-Shift-Win-B : Windows desktop manager/display reset

Useful Command-window commands:

• Reboot now : C:> SHUTDOWN /R /T 0
• see who is logged on : C:> QUERY USER
• see if PC is joined to a domain : C:> SET USER
• see when last rebooted : C:> NET STATISTICS WORKSTATION OR C:> SYSTEMINFO (which also shows lots of other useful info, such as which Hotfixes have been installed)
• recursive search for a file : C:> DIR /S *REALTEK* ( /S meaning “scan subfolders too” )
• recursive delete of a folder and all its subfolders : C:> RMDIR /S SUBFOLDER ( /S meaning “subfolders too” )
• Laptop battery health report: C:>POWERCFG /BatteryReport - will write the report to a file and show you the filename

Useful Powershell/‘Terminal’ commands :

• PS> Get-volume : show disk space used/free on all drives
• PS> Get-printer : show printers
• PS> Get-printer | select name,portname : show printers’ IP addresses
• PS> GWMI -class Win32_BIOS : show BIOS version, serial number/Service Tag etc
• PS> Test-NetConnection -computername smtp.office365.com -port 587 : check network connectivity to a specific (TCP) port on a remote server

BitLocker commands

In an Elevated powershell terminal:

• PS> manage-bde -status - show whether Bitlocker is enabled on any drives
• PS> manage-bde -off C: - turn off Bitlocker on C: drive. ( May take up to 10 min to decrypt the drive)
• Note: instead of ‘-off’ you can use -on, -pause or -resume

Clean up Windows WinSxS folder

Using DISM /cleanup-image

If you have more than about 18GB used in C:>Windows\WinSxS folder , you can usually free up some space by deleting unused system files from the component store :

• first run the analysis step, which displays a report on how much space is used, how many unused components there are, followed by a recommendation on whether you should run the cleanup . Open an Elevated Command window and type the following :

C:> dism /online /cleanup-image /analyzeComponentStore ( takes a couple of minutes)

• if it recommends a cleanup, run the next step :

C:> dism /online /cleanup-image /startComponentCleanup /resetbase ( may take 5+ minutes)

OR you could just save yourself a lot of typing by running Windows’ built-in Disk Cleanup Tool and choose the Windows Update cleanup option :)

How to enable the built-in Administrator account

• Windows 10 & 11 contain an Administrator account which is disabled by default. It can be useful to enable this, then use it to run SYSPREP. Note: must be run in an Elevated Command window:

C:> NET USER ADMINISTRATOR /ACTIVE:YES

SYSPREP fails: ‘reserved storage in use’

Sometimes when you run SYSPREP it may fail with an error like Audit mode cannot be turned on if reserved storage is in use. If this error persists after a reboot and/or allowing Windows Update to complete any outstanding updates, then you can try the following:

1. Run REGEDIT and set the following key to zero : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ReserveManager\ActiveScenario
2. Open an elevated Command window and type the following:

C:> DISM /online /Set-ReservedStorageState /State:Disabled

Disable Wi-Fi from the command line

I once had a laptop whose Wi-Fi refused to stay on when using the controls in the Settings app, or the WiFi switch in the System tray. The WiFi would come on briefly, then go off again.

It was fixed by opening an Elevated Command window and using the NETSH command as follows:

• use NETSH INTERFACE SHOW INTERFACE to find the exact name of your Wi-Fi interface :

C:> netsh interface show interface

Admin State     State           Type           Interface Name
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Enabled         Disconnected    Dedicated      Ethernet
Disabled        Disconnected    Dedicated      WiFi

From the above, we can see that the name of the Wi-Fi interface is ‘WiFi’.

• use NETSH INTERFACE SET INTERFACE "WiFi" admin=enable to switch on the WiFi

• Note: you can use ... admin=disable to turn off the WiFi

Windows kernel versions

If you ever come across an old Windows hard disk in your storage drawer and want to know what version of Windows it has on it, one way you can find out is by checking the Properties of C:\Windows\System32\NTOSKERNEL.exe : in the ‘Details’ tab it should show the version :

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