I
still remember when the computers entered to our Department during the
early 90s, the local computer technician used to install Windows
operating system as and when required and used to charge an amount of Rs
250 per installation. He was dare enough to give a bill with
description that “installation of Windows” The OS CD supplied along with
computer was somewhere in the cupboard and we were not aware of the CD
supplied was a licensed version. The guy always used the pirated CD!
One of the DOS program which was the main program used then was opening in the directory in which it was installed and not opening in any other directory we wanted. Then we had to beg him for the remedy. He was doing something to make that DOS software functioning in any directory.
It took me a few months to detect what exactly he was doing. He was creating one bat file or precisely saying, he was editing the Autoexec.bat file. But he never revealed the secret he was doing.
What is Bat or Batch file?
In DOS and Windows, batch file is the name given to a type of script file, a text file with filename extension .bat containing a series of commands to be executed by the command interpreter.
Batch files are used to ease the work required for certain regular tasks by allowing the user to set up a script to automate them. When a batch file is run, the shell program (usually COMMAND.COM or cmd.exe) reads the file and executes its commands, normally line-by-line.
Variants
Brief information on the function and parameters of commands are usually displayed by typing the command at the command prompt followed by "/?" and pressing the Enter key. In some cases "-?", "?", or just the command name without parameters (if parameters are required) will also elicit information.
DOS
In MS-DOS, a batch file can be started from the command line by typing its name followed by any required parameters and pressing the "enter" key. When MS-DOS loads, the file AUTOEXEC.BAT is automatically executed, so any commands that need to be run to set up the MS-DOS environment for use could be placed in this file. Computer users would have the autoexec file set up the system date and time, initialize the MS-DOS environment, load any resident programs or device drivers, or initialize network connections and assignments.
In MS-DOS, the extension ".BAT" identified a file containing commands which could be executed by the command interpreter COMMAND.COM line by line as if it was a list of commands to be entered, with some extra batch-file-specific commands for basic programming functionality, including a GOTO command for changing flow of line execution.
Windows
Microsoft Windows was introduced in 1985 as a GUI Operating System alternative to text-based operating and was designed to run on MS-DOS. In order to start it the WIN command was used and could be added to the end of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to allow automatic loading of Windows. In the earlier versions one could run a .bat type file from Windows in the MS-DOS Prompt.
Example
This example batch file displays "Hello World!", prompts and waits for the user to press a key, and terminates.
@ECHO off
ECHO Hello World!
PAUSE
To execute the file it must be saved with the extension .bat (or .cmd for Windows-NT type operating systems) in plain text format, typically created by using a text editor such as Notepad or a word processor in text mode.
Result
When executed (either from Windows Explorer or Command Prompt) this is displayed:
Hello World!
Press any key to continue . . .
Explanation
The interpreter executes each line in turn, starting with the first. The @ symbol at the start of the line turns off the prompt from displaying that command. The command ECHO off turns off the prompt permanently, or until it is turned on again. Then the next line is executed, the ECHO Hello World! command outputs Hello World!, as only off and on have special functions. Then the next line is executed, the PAUSE command displays Press any key to continue . . . and pauses the script's execution until a key is pressed, when the script terminates as there are no more commands. In Windows, if the script is run within a Command Prompt window, the window remains open at the prompt as in MS-DOS, otherwise the command prompt windows closes on termination (unless the batch file has a command to prevent this).
Create a BAT File
Create a new text document on your desktop. Double click the file – it should be blank inside. Now, go to file>save as, and in the “Save As” window, input a name for your BAT file and then add a “.bat” on the end (without the quotes). For example: Shiva.bat
If you know how to run commands in the command prompt, you’ll be a wiz at creating BAT files because it’s the same language. All you’re doing is telling the command prompt what you want to put in through a file, rather than typing it every time you run the command prompt. This saves you time and effort; but it also allows you to put in some logic (like simple loops, conditional statements, etc. that procedural programming is capable of conceptually).
There are SEVEN simple commands. These are NOT case sensitive.
TITLE - The Window name for the BAT file.
ECHO - The “print” statement for BAT files. Anything following the word ECHO will be displayed in the command prompt as text, on its own line.
ECHO OFF – BAT writers typically put this at the beginning of their files. It means that the program won’t show the command that you told it to run while it’s running – it’ll just run the command.
PAUSE - This outputs the “press any key to continue…” message that you’ve seen all too many times. It’s helpful because it pauses the BAT file execution until the user tells it to go again. If you don’t put this in your program, everything will speed by and end before you can see it. People typically put this in BAT files to give the user a chance to review the material on the screen before continuing.
CLS - Clears the DOS window.
IPCONFIG – Outputs a lot of network information into DOS window.
PING - Pings an IP, letting you know if your computer was able to contact it. This command also returns the latency (ping time) and by default pings three times.
Write Your BAT File
Right click your BAT file and click “edit” to bring up Notepad. The whole document should be blank – ready for some epic programmer input.
ECHO OFF
ECHO Network Information for SA
IPCONFIG /ALL
PAUSE
PING www.google.com
ECHO All done pinging Google.
PAUSE
Run Your BAT File
Save the file and double click it. Your output should be something like the screenshot below.
Advanced Windows batch example - conditional shutdown
@echo off
color 0A
title Conditional Shutdown
:start
echo What would you like to do?
echo.
echo 1. Shutdown in specified time
echo 2. Shutdown now
echo 3. Restart now
echo 4. Log off now
echo 5. Hibernate now
echo.
echo 0. Quit
echo.
set /p choice="Enter your choice: "
if %choice%==1 goto shutdown
if %choice%==2 shutdown -s -f
if %choice%==3 shutdown -r -f
if %choice%==4 shutdown -l -f
if %choice%==5 shutdown -h -f
if %choice%==0 exit
echo Invalid choice: %choice%
echo.
pause
cls
goto start
:shutdown
cls
set /p sec="Minutes until shutdown: "
set /a min=60*%sec%
shutdown -s -f -t %min%
echo Shutdown initiated at %time%
echo.
set /p cancel="Type cancel to stop shutdown "
if %cancel%==cancel shutdown -a
if %cancel%==cancel cls
if %cancel%==cancel echo Shutdown is cancelled.
if %cancel%==cancel echo.
if %cancel%==cancel pause
if %cancel%==cancel exit
An A-Z Index of the Windows CMD command line
ADDUSERS Add or list users to/from a CSV file
ADmodcmd Active Directory Bulk Modify
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
ASSOC Change file extension associations•
ASSOCIAT One step file association
ATTRIB Change file attributes
b
BCDBOOT Create or repair a system partition
BOOTCFG Edit Windows boot settings
BROWSTAT Get domain, browser and PDC info
c
CACLS Change file permissions
CALL Call one batch program from another•
CD Change Directory - move to a specific Folder•
CHANGE Change Terminal Server Session properties
CHKDSK Check Disk - check and repair disk problems
CHKNTFS Check the NTFS file system
CHOICE Accept keyboard input to a batch file
CIPHER Encrypt or Decrypt files/folders
CleanMgr Automated cleanup of Temp files, recycle bin
CLEARMEM Clear memory leaks
CLIP Copy STDIN to the Windows clipboard.
CLS Clear the screen•
CLUSTER Windows Clustering
CMD Start a new CMD shell
CMDKEY Manage stored usernames/passwords
COLOR Change colors of the CMD window•
COMP Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
COMPACT Compress files or folders on an NTFS partition
COMPRESS Compress individual files on an NTFS partition
CON2PRT Connect or disconnect a Printer
CONVERT Convert a FAT drive to NTFS.
COPY Copy one or more files to another location•
CSCcmd Client-side caching (Offline Files)
CSVDE Import or Export Active Directory data
d
DATE Display or set the date•
DEFRAG Defragment hard drive
DEL Delete one or more files•
DELPROF Delete user profiles
DELTREE Delete a folder and all subfolders
DevCon Device Manager Command Line Utility
DIR Display a list of files and folders•
DIRUSE Display disk usage
DISKPART Disk Administration
DNSSTAT DNS Statistics
DOSKEY Edit command line, recall commands, and create macros
DSACLs Active Directory ACLs
DSAdd Add items to active directory (user group computer)
DSGet View items in active directory (user group computer)
DSQuery Search for items in active directory (user group computer)
DSMod Modify items in active directory (user group computer)
DSMove Move an Active directory Object
DSRM Remove items from Active Directory
e
ECHO Display message on screen•
ENDLOCAL End localisation of environment changes in a batch file•
ERASE Delete one or more files•
EVENTCREATE Add a message to the Windows event log
EXIT Quit the current script/routine and set an errorlevel•
EXPAND Uncompress files
EXTRACT Uncompress CAB files
f
FC Compare two files
FIND Search for a text string in a file
FINDSTR Search for strings in files
FOR /F Loop command: against a set of files•
FOR /F Loop command: against the results of another command•
FOR Loop command: all options Files, Directory, List•
FORFILES Batch process multiple files
FORMAT Format a disk
FREEDISK Check free disk space (in bytes)
FSUTIL File and Volume utilities
FTP File Transfer Protocol
FTYPE Display or modify file types used in file extension associations•
g
GLOBAL Display membership of global groups
GOTO Direct a batch program to jump to a labelled line•
GPRESULT Display Resultant Set of Policy information
GPUPDATE Update Group Policy settings
h
HELP Online Help
i
iCACLS Change file and folder permissions
IF Conditionally perform a command•
IFMEMBER Is the current user a member of a Workgroup
IPCONFIG Configure IP
k
KILL Remove a program from memory
l
LABEL Edit a disk label
LOCAL Display membership of local groups
LOGEVENT Write text to the event viewer
LOGMAN Manage Performance Monitor
LOGOFF Log a user off
LOGTIME Log the date and time in a file
m
MAPISEND Send email from the command line
MBSAcli Baseline Security Analyzer.
MEM Display memory usage
MD Create new folders•
MKLINK Create a symbolic link (linkd)
MODE Configure a system device
MORE Display output, one screen at a time
MOUNTVOL Manage a volume mount point
MOVE Move files from one folder to another•
MOVEUSER Move a user from one domain to another
MSG Send a message
MSIEXEC Microsoft Windows Installer
MSINFO32 System Information
MSTSC Terminal Server Connection (Remote Desktop Protocol)
MV Copy in-use files
n
NET Manage network resources
NETDOM Domain Manager
NETSH Configure Network Interfaces, Windows Firewall & Remote access
NETSVC Command-line Service Controller
NBTSTAT Display networking statistics (NetBIOS over TCP/IP)
NETSTAT Display networking statistics (TCP/IP)
NOW Display the current Date and Time
NSLOOKUP Name server lookup
NTBACKUP Backup folders to tape
NTRIGHTS Edit user account rights
o
OPENFILES Query or display open files
p
PATH Display or set a search path for executable files•
PATHPING Trace route plus network latency and packet loss
PAUSE Suspend processing of a batch file and display a message•
PERMS Show permissions for a user
PERFMON Performance Monitor
PING Test a network connection
POPD Restore the previous value of the current directory saved by PUSHD•
PORTQRY Display the status of ports and services
POWERCFG Configure power settings
PRINT Print a text file
PRINTBRM Print queue Backup/Recovery
PRNCNFG Display, configure or rename a printer
PRNMNGR Add, delete, list printers set the default printer
PROMPT Change the command prompt•
PsExec Execute process remotely
PsFile Show files opened remotely
PsGetSid Display the SID of a computer or a user
PsInfo List information about a system
PsKill Kill processes by name or process ID
PsList List detailed information about processes
PsLoggedOn Who's logged on (locally or via resource sharing)
PsLogList Event log records
PsPasswd Change account password
PsService View and control services
PsShutdown Shutdown or reboot a computer
PsSuspend Suspend processes
PUSHD Save and then change the current directory•
q
QGREP Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern.
r
RASDIAL Manage RAS connections
RASPHONE Manage RAS connections
RECOVER Recover a damaged file from a defective disk.
REG Registry: Read, Set, Export, Delete keys and values
REGEDIT Import or export registry settings
REGSVR32 Register or unregister a DLL
REGINI Change Registry Permissions
REM Record comments (remarks) in a batch file•
REN Rename a file or files•
REPLACE Replace or update one file with another
RD Delete folder(s)•
RMTSHARE Share a folder or a printer
ROBOCOPY Robust File and Folder Copy
ROUTE Manipulate network routing tables
RUN Start | RUN commands
RUNAS Execute a program under a different user account
RUNDLL32 Run a DLL command (add/remove print connections)
s
SC Service Control
SCHTASKS Schedule a command to run at a specific time
SCLIST Display Services
SET Display, set, or remove environment variables•
SETLOCAL Control the visibility of environment variables•
SETX Set environment variables permanently
SFC System File Checker
SHARE List or edit a file share or print share
SHIFT Shift the position of replaceable parameters in a batch file•
SHORTCUT Create a windows shortcut (.LNK file)
SHOWGRPS List the Workgroups a user has joined
SHOWMBRS List the Users who are members of a Workgroup
SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer
SLEEP Wait for x seconds
SLMGR Software Licensing Management (Vista/2008)
SOON Schedule a command to run in the near future
SORT Sort input
START Start a program or command in a separate window•
SU Switch User
SUBINACL Edit file and folder Permissions, Ownership and Domain
SUBST Associate a path with a drive letter
SYSTEMINFO List system configuration
t
TASKLIST List running applications and services
TASKKILL Remove a running process from memory
TIME Display or set the system time•
TIMEOUT Delay processing of a batch file
TITLE Set the window title for a CMD.EXE session•
TLIST Task list with full path
TOUCH Change file timestamps
TRACERT Trace route to a remote host
TREE Graphical display of folder structure
TSSHUTDN Remotely shut down or reboot a terminal server
TYPE Display the contents of a text file•
TypePerf Write performance data to a log file
u
USRSTAT List domain usernames and last login
v
VER Display version information•
VERIFY Verify that files have been saved•
VOL Display a disk label•
w
WAITFOR Wait for or send a signal
WHERE Locate and display files in a directory tree
WHOAMI Output the current UserName and domain
WINDIFF Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
WINMSDP Windows system report
WINRM Windows Remote Management
WINRS Windows Remote Shell
WMIC WMI Commands
WUAUCLT Windows Update
x
XCACLS Change file and folder permissions
XCOPY Copy files and folders
:: Comment / Remark•
Commands marked • are Internal commands only available within the CMD shell.
All other commands (not marked with •) are external commands which may be used under the CMD shell, PowerShell, or directly from START-RUN.
Source: http://www.makeuseof.com
Beware of Batch file Virus:
If you find any bat files in Pen drive, CDs or receive any bat files through email,Please never open unless you are 100 sure that it does not contain malicious commands/scripts.To read what bat file contains,just right click on it and select edit.Then you can read the file.
A single line of script in Bat file may ruin your entire data and your system will collapse.They may delete the windows files, format data, steal information, consume CPU resources to affect performance, disable firewalls, open ports, modify or destroy registry and do many more losses.
In most of the cases,these bat files cannot be detected as Virus by the Anti Virus softwares. So these files may do harm for what they intended without Anti Virus notice.
For security reasons, I am not sharing such scripts here.
Most Dangerous:
If you can recognize that the bat file is containing malicious script, the hackers are still more intelligent. They create executable files from the batch files and make them invisible and place them in Pen drive with support of Autorun.inf file.
To disable copying Autorun .inf file, use Panda USB Vaccine which will not allow to copy any Autorun.inf file to your Pen drive.
Courtesy : www.srfix.blogspot.in
