Customize the command prompt in Windows 7
by Mark Kaelin | October 8, 2010 4:19am PDT | Image 1 of 11
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New Shortcut
Despite the Microsoft Windows 7 graphical user interface, with its advanced features like Snap, Shake, and Peek, there are still plenty of good reasons to use the command prompt. If you find yourself using the command prompt for several different tasks, you may want to take a few minutes to customize it. By adjusting the font, screen size, and background color, you can make several versions of the command prompt environment, thereby associating each specific command prompt shortcut with each specific task.
Create the shortcut
The customization is accomplished by adjust property settings located in a Windows shortcut. The first step is to create a command prompt shortcut. There are several ways to do this, but for our purposes we'll use the direct method.
Right-click on any blank part of the Windows 7 Desktop and navigate to the New | Shortcut menu item.
This gallery is also available as a TechRepublic blog post and download. Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.
Create the shortcut
The customization is accomplished by adjust property settings located in a Windows shortcut. The first step is to create a command prompt shortcut. There are several ways to do this, but for our purposes we'll use the direct method.
Right-click on any blank part of the Windows 7 Desktop and navigate to the New | Shortcut menu item.
This gallery is also available as a TechRepublic blog post and download. Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.
You can also create a CMD shortcut from the Start Menu | Accessories | Command Prompt. You can then use the shortcut properties to modify the prompt or set the CMD to run a specific program, like "Defrag C:\mountpoint /U /A"
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