Customer Reviews

Microsoft® Windows® Command-Line Administrator's Pocket Consultant

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very well written book with every page being very useful and consise. Each page is a treasure, which is a far cry to a lot of tech books filled with fluff and opinion these days.

I am both a Solaris and Windows system administrator, and though I dearly love GUI interface to access complex things, I would not like to repeat these tasks on hundreds of desktops. With this book, I found that I could automate chores and remotely configure desktops. There are so many gems in this book, this is a MUST have for any PowerUser, Admin, or anyone simply wanting to use command-line alternatives.

In the beginning Stanek covers the differences between Windows and MS-DOS command shells (cmd vs command) and environments, Win2k3 Reskit, and Cmd Shell fundamentals (similar but slightly different that ol' DOS Batch files). He then jumps into (Chap 4) one of the most important topics, task scheduling from the command line, which is essential for automation, especially for backups, virus updates, etc. The following chapters, he covers topics like registry maintence, process management, event logging, disk maintences (RAID, partitioning, formatting, etc.). The process management part can be useful in killing spyware processes, especially for spyware that blocks out such functionality through the GUI.

My favorite sections that have the most impact for me is Active Directory tools (account creation, groups, etc.), printer management, and network management. I tried to figure out, for instance, the enigma of "netsh" command before without success, and this book helped me on that powerful tool. Now armed with this knowledge, I can remotely configure desktops IP addresses, and monitor the health of printers, without even getting out of my seat.

All in all, this book is excellent. Very well organized chapters and flow of information, and very well written. It's works both for general reading and also as a reference.

Like most of Stanek's books, this volume is concise, practical, and emminently useful. There have been several "command line" books published previously, but this book is by far the best.

The book contains a quick course in writing .bat files for those not already "in the know." I liked this section for both beginners and old-hands who need to occasionally need to create quick command files and do not need the functionality of a full scripting language.

The various commands are covered in sufficient detail. The command include the basics plus AD commands and commands from MS's website and resource kits.

Highly recommended.

I had never read any of Mr. Stanek's books previously, and had grabbed this at a local store because (1) it was on sale and (2) I wanted to see if there was any additional command line info I could glean from it, especially since a quick browse showed that I would learn a few things like command-line task scheduling. [I've done basic batch scripts since MS-DOS 5]

By the end of Chapter 3, I was thinking that this was an excellantly written book. The other reviewers have it properly nailed down that this author's style is concise. There's no better way to describe it. I never feel like I'm wasting time reading what the author presents. The other plus to the organization of the book is that the headers are well defined enough that it is easy enough to skip ahead if I'm not interested in a particular topic.... which, of course, most other books do as well.... However, the difference here is that this author never makes me feel like I missed some key critical sentence in the area I skipped. I can pick up wherever I want to in the book.

By the end of Chapter 6, I was thinking, "WOW, I HAVE to write a positive review of this book, I didn't know Windows exposed so much to the command line"

By the end of Chapter 8, I was thinking, "Windows Server 2003 could do ALL THIS???????" :)

So, in all, I got a huge dose of administration knowledge for Windows Server 2003 in a VERY compact format. I'm off to purchase the other books that this author read. It is seldom that I've come across an author that packs so much into so few words. A harried administrator's (or Programmer's!) must read.

I never knew the command-line could do so much. I learned how to search all of Active Directory. With one line of code I created accounts, checked global catalogs, searched for expired passwords. Very good details on networking, printers, and performance troubleshooting. Highly recommended.

I found the book to be helpful in understanding some of Window's more common command line programs and associated options. However, the book has omitted significant detail regarding relatively common commands (e.g. robocopy, xcopy, etc.) I recommend the book "universal command line", a compendium of command line programs and arguments for six operating systems including windows, linux, unix, mac, solaris, etc. The book has good coverage of windows networking functions.

Stanek's pocket consultants are excellent. I have his Exchange, Windows 2003, and IIS books and they are the most used on my shelf. I bought this one as soon as I saw it even though I own several command line books already. Once again I am extremely pleased. This is the type of book that will help you get your job done.

Wow! So concise and well collected. It contains so many commands needed by the administrator, systems engineer or build architect when scripting together any batch scripts, wrappers or quick install routines.

For those who missed out on growing up in the MS-DOS era and wish to become MCSA/E or even desk support staff: This is where you *really* should begin!

Always well written by Stanek, and remember: He's the guru that has been re-educating Microsoft programmers how to code secure for the past few years.

Go Buy!

There was a time when all we had was the command line. We didn't call it that, but when we wanted to see what was in a directory we typed DIR, to change directories we typed CD.

Back in these old days the operating system even came with a manual. And strangely enough one of those old manuals would have been almost the same as this book.

Now most people don't even realize that every Windows operating system has what was called the MS-DOS Prompt.

To be sure there are a lot of new things you can do that relate to things like network printers and security, but this is still the type in one command at a time and tell the computer to do something that we used to know and love.

The book is basically a reference manual on how to use these functions.

I have been looking for a book that describes what can be done from the Windows command-line for years and years. I can't even find good (all-encompasing) references on Microsoft's Web sites. This gave me everything I wanted and more. When I came in to work the next day I immediatly ordered copies for everyone on my team (we're software testers).

Back before Windows I used to use the command-line to do magical things with batch files but over the years I lost touch with what was possible. This book showed me that you can still do wonderful things with batch files (and more) and told me what those things were. I felt like a kid in a candy store and wasn't able to put it down. I read it from front to back in the first evening. I don't plan to ever let it out of my sight.

Good reference for command line administrative tasks. The author succinctly illustrates many tools that an administrator may want to use from the command line. The book is laid out in four basic parts: Fundamentals, System Admin, File and Disk, Active Dir and Network.

Don't expect any more than this. Also don't expect any deep information on registry manipulation, driver discovery, system prep or access control list manipulation. All of which are accessible from the command line, and all of which are insufficiently covered in this book. Cacls, devcon, sysprep, don't expect to find *ANY* information here.

I don't entirely blame the author, I was just a bit disappointed to find out the hard way that this book is geared to a pretty inexperienced audience. But don't fool yourself, this is not a comprehensive refence to Windows command line tools.

What I would like to see: an Advanced Windows Command Line Reference.