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Questions tagged [windows]

Writing software specific to the Microsoft Windows operating system: APIs, behaviours, etc. GENERAL WINDOWS SUPPORT IS OFF-TOPIC. Support questions may be asked on https://superuser.com

General support questions for Windows should be asked on Super User

Windows is a family of graphical operating systems developed by Microsoft for server, client, and mobile platforms.

Recent Versions

  • Windows 10 was released on July 29, 2015.

  • Windows 8.1, the first significant update to Windows 8, was released on October 17, 2013.

  • Windows 8, the successor to Windows 7, was released to the market on October 26, 2012. It was designed to be used on both tablets and conventional PCs.

Specific Version Tags

If your question relates to using Windows APIs or Windows-specific behavior with a particular version of Windows, use the tag for that particular version – for example:

Other Related Tags

Resources

166791 questions
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How do I install and use cURL on Windows?

I am having trouble getting cURL to run on Windows. I have downloaded a cURL zip file from here, but it seems to contain source code, not an executable. Do I need to compile cURL to run it? If yes, then how do I do that? Where can I find .exe…
pri_dev
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"rm -rf" equivalent for Windows?

I need a way to recursively delete a folder and its children. Is there a prebuilt tool for this, or do I need to write one? DEL /S doesn't delete directories. DELTREE was removed from Windows 2000+
FlySwat
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10 answers

How do I shutdown, restart, or log off Windows via a bat file?

I've been using Remote Desktop Connection to get into a workstation. But in this environment, I cannot use the power options in Start Menu. I need an alternative way to shutdown or restart. How do I control my computer's power state through the…
Keng
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57 answers

pip install fails with "connection error: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed (_ssl.c:598)"

I am very new to Python and trying to > pip install linkchecker on Windows 7. Some notes: pip install is failing no matter the package. For example, > pip install scrapy also results in the SSL error. Vanilla install of Python 3.4.1 included pip…
Jeremy Cook
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29 answers

Is there a command to refresh environment variables from the command prompt in Windows?

If I modify or add an environment variable I have to restart the command prompt. Is there a command I could execute that would do this without restarting CMD?
Eric Schoonover
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658
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21 answers

How to prevent auto-closing of console after the execution of batch file

What command can I put at the end of a batch file to prevent auto-closing of the console after the execution of the file?
joe
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How can I set up an editor to work with Git on Windows?

I'm trying out Git on Windows. I got to the point of trying "git commit" and I got this error: Terminal is dumb but no VISUAL nor EDITOR defined. Please supply the message using either -m or -F option. So I figured out I need to have an…
Patrick McElhaney
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34 answers

How do I measure execution time of a command on the Windows command line?

Is there a built-in way to measure execution time of a command on the Windows command line?
Kuroki Kaze
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637
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23 answers

Error "'git' is not recognized as an internal or external command"

I have an installation of Git for Windows, but when I try to use the git command in Command Prompt, I get the following error: 'git' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. How do I fix this problem?
Jason Kim
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634
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17 answers

How can I update the current line in a C# Windows Console App?

When building a Windows Console App in C#, is it possible to write to the console without having to extend a current line or go to a new line? For example, if I want to show a percentage representing how close a process is to completion, I'd just…
IVR Avenger
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631
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20 answers

What characters are forbidden in Windows and Linux directory names?

I know that / is illegal in Linux, and * " / \ < > : | ? are illegal in Windows. What else am I missing? I need a comprehensive guide that also accounts for double-byte characters.
Jeff
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How do I get current date/time on the Windows command line in a suitable format for usage in a file/folder name?

Update: Now that it's 2016 I'd use PowerShell for this unless there's a really compelling backwards-compatible reason for it, particularly because of the regional settings issue with using date. See @npocmaka's…
Rory
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627
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Unable to resolve "unable to get local issuer certificate" using git on Windows with self-signed certificate

I am using Git on Windows. I installed the msysGit package. My test repository has a self signed certificate at the server. I can access and use the repository using HTTP without problems. Moving to HTTPS gives the error: SSL Certificate problem:…
RichardHowells
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7 answers

How to create file execute mode permissions in Git on Windows?

I use Git in Windows, and want to push the executable shell script into git repo by one commit. Usually I need to do two steps (git commit). $ vi install.sh $ git add install.sh $ git commit -am "add new file for installation" # first…
Larry Cai
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35 answers

How can I create an empty file at the command line in Windows?

How can I create an empty file at the DOS/Windows command-line? I tried: copy nul > file.txt But it always displays that a file was copied. Is there another method in the standard cmd? It should be a method that does not require the touch command…
Grendler
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