In my new position I don’t get to play much with the ole IT Pro skills I spent years honing.  So when I get a chance to dust off the knowledge tomes it is always fun.  Today’s lesson: How to launch IE from the command line.  Today’s lesson comes in 2 parts.  First, we will see how to launch IE from the command and  go to a website. Then we will look at different ways of launching IE (using different credentials)

So here we go!
Here is the first piece.  Go to command prompt and type the following:

“C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” (INCLUDE the quotes – but not this comment 😉  )

Now to add the specific webpage

“C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” http://gorling.ca/blogs (INCLUDE the quotes – but not this comment)

So far so good? A little bit of code never hurt anyone, right?  This could come in handy so lets put it on the back burner for now and we may come back to it later if we ever need it.

Here is the second part of the lesson for today:

runas /user:domain\username iexplore.exe

So this lovely little command lets you enter the password for a user (defined in “username” and if you know the password for that account launches the given application (“iexplore.exe” in this case)

A neat little addition is the following:

runas /user:domain\username /savecred iexplore.exe

This one switch will allow the credentials to be saved for future use.

Neat huh?

Now I wish I had the third part of this.  It would be great if we could launch IE as another user AND open a specific web site in the same command…

I am working on the last bit as we speak and as soon as I find the way to make it work I will make sure to update all of you, dear readers

This has been a great series of articles to write.  I only hope you are all learning from this as much as I am.  In this next installment we are going to look under the hood a bit.  This one caused me a bit of frustration and I was not a happy camper at first.  When I first started looking at the Windows 10 build I thought the good ‘ole control panel was gone.  It seemed to have been replaced with the Settings applet.  Thankfully that is not the case.  Both exist in harmony, the way all good apps should 😉

Control Panel/Settings

—Control Panel still exists (power user tools).  There are many ways to find Control Panel but by far the easiest is to either just right click on the windows logo (Start Button) or just type it in the Cortana search box (see my last post for details on that)

—Default save locations: settings -> system -> Storage.  Here is one of the things that I really like.  Settings control the user experiece while Control Panel covers more of the computer settings..

To change the default save locations has not been easy in some past versions of Windows but in W10 it is very easy.  Just launch the Settings applet and go to system then click on storage. You will be given the option to change to other drives if you want

—Default apps: Settings -> system -> Default apps.  While looking for the above I also noted that you can change your default apps here as well.

—Devices: Settings -> devices.  More things to look at in the Settings applet are found under the devices.  Here you can setup printers and blue tooth settings and lots of other fun stuff too

—Defer upgrades: Settings-> Update and security-> Windows Update-> Advanced-> defer upgrades.  This is another nice one.  W10 will always auto-upgrade – that is the service model for all home users.  Enterprise clients have a bit more flexibility but not as much as they used to. As a home customer customer you can easily slow down the updates by going to the above path and opting to defer your upgrades.

—There are lots of more new gems in the settings applet so do take your time and peruse them all in detail but know that Control panel is only a few clicks/keystrokes away if you need it 🙂

Happy computing!

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One of the most innovative new features for Windows fans is Cortana.  She is funny, smart and super well organized.  She makes the perfect assistant… once you get to know her.  In this blog we will cover the basics to wet your appetite.

Cortana

—Launched by clicking on search.  She lives on the task bar.  You can either click on the search box or just talk to her.  Just turn on the feature and say “Hey, Cortana”; however, do remember to turn off the feature when out at presentations or the such as she can pop-up unannounced if left to her own devices

—Can be hidden (right click taskbar).  The search box can be turned off and you can leave just the icon on the task bar. Of course, you can turn Cortana off completely but where is the fun in that.

—Searches files, apps, online.  She is a really powerful and wonderful search assistant.  She will look on you local machine, she will find and launch apps for you, she will look up internet articles and posts.  Try to use her and you will quickly stop using the keyboard and spend much more time talking to your computer

—Built into Edge browser to pull out useful info. She is part of the new browser and keeps up the helpful assitant role when you are online as well.  Select text on a web page, right click and ask her to help.  She will look up the phrase in question without leaving the page.  Quite nice really

—Can set reminders.  Of course, what assistant wouldn’t help you with your busy schedule.  She will give you reminders and let you know when you have upcoming meetings.  She can even be set to give you reminders when you are with certain people.  Setup a reminder for the next time you see John and if you have a meeting with John she will give you the reminder just before your meeting starts

Settings are changeable and trainable an can set cloud storage privacy.  She can be configured and works best once you look into the settings under the hood.  Just click in the search box or on the icon and go to the settings on the top left.

train voice recognition.  Much like the settings Cortana needs a little lovin to work at her best.  Take the time to let her know you and she will work all the more.  Again, just click in the search box or on the icon, select the second (notebook) icon and go into the settings.  There you will the option to “Learn my voice”

—Imagine how convenient it is to tell Cortana on your phone to deliver a reminder that pops up, at just the right time, on your desktop

She is a—vailable on iPhone and Android too!