Windows 10 Redirection in a cmd box

[MikeyChris]

OK, before I start, I admit this is old school. That said, we often fall back on things that have worked in the past. I recently installed Win 10 Pro 64 bit and am getting familiar with it. I was wondering how many different .msc commands there were, so I thought I could use the following command to find out (using a command line DIR command, issued from c:\, inside powershell as admin):
dir *.msc /s > mscfiles.txt

When I ran that command and argument, I got this in reply from WIndows:
dir : Second path fragment must not be a drive or UNC name.
Paramater name: path2
At line:1 char:1
+ dir *.msc /s >MSCFile.txt
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo: InvalidArguement (bunch of stuff here)
+ FullyQualifiedErrorID: DirArguementError (more stuff here)

When I ran the same command sans the redirection to the text file (i.e. dir *.msc /s) , it ran fine, but the text blew by too fast to read, of course. Running the PAUSE switch (dir *.msc /s /p) did yield human-readable text (in screen sized chunks), but I want an actual list.

Soooo what am I doing wrong? Is redirection to a text file not supported by the DIR command any more? If I drop the space between msc and the switch (dir *.msc/s> mscfiles.txt) the command runs with no error, but the text file is a zero byte file with no list of msc files (remember the same command sans the redirection did indeed scroll all msc files through at light speed). Any ideas are appreciated.

 

[Neemobeer]

Based on the error syntax you're trying to run a cmd command in powershell. DIR is an alias in powershell, but it doesn't accept command prompt command argument syntax. So you would want to replace /s with -Recurse

 

[Neemobeer]

You could also open mmc.exe and select File > 'Add or Remove Snap-ins' to see them.

 

[MikeyChris]

Based on the error syntax you're trying to run a cmd command in powershell. DIR is an alias in powershell, but it doesn't accept command prompt command argument syntax. So you would want to replace /s with -Recurse

OK, I'll (obviously) have to read up on PowerShell. I didn't realize there was a difference between it and a cmd box. However, I ran all of the commands inside powershell, and the other DIR commands I ran (please see original post) ran fine, only the redirection failed. In any case thanx for the tip about mmc. I'll do that.

 

[Neemobeer]

Redirection works the same in powershell as in cmd. The error you received was generated by the /s. To see what else is aliased in powershell you can type the following.

Get-ChildItem Alias:


Another important piece of information to note is that cmd is being deprecated in favor of powershell. As of build 1703 (creator update) cmd has been removed from the [windows key + x] menu and I don't think it's in the start menu anymore either.

 

[MikeyChris]

Redirection works the same in powershell as in cmd. The error you received was generated by the /s. To see what else is aliased in powershell you can type the following.

Get-ChildItem Alias:


Another important piece of information to note is that cmd is being deprecated in favor of powershell. As of build 1703 (creator update) cmd has been removed from the [windows key + x] menu and I don't think it's in the start menu anymore either.

Yeah my system just did the build 1703 update last night, and today I have another issue too. When I first start up, instead of the usual screen, I get a message that the user or password is incorrect, like windows was trying to do an auto login. Now I have a new issue!

 

[Neemobeer]

In the registry go here HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
If 'AutoAdminLogon' is set to 1, change it to 0

 

[MikeyChris]

In the registry go here HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
If 'AutoAdminLogon' is set to 1, change it to 0

Sorry to take so long to reply - been having many other computer issues. I actually checked that reg entry right away and it was set to zero, so I don't know what is causing the "incorrect password" message. I am running UTW and thought there may be some issue with that, but can't locate a problem. It's not a big deal, just another aggravation Thanx for the reply.

 

[Neemobeer]

Are you using a local or MS account?

 

[MikeyChris]

I'm using an MS account.

 

[MikeyChris]

Based on the error syntax you're trying to run a cmd command in powershell. DIR is an alias in powershell, but it doesn't accept command prompt command argument syntax. So you would want to replace /s with -Recurse

BTW, I was playing around, and found if I open a PS box, then run CMD (inside the PS box), I can run: dir *.msc /s >MSCFile.txt and get my list.

 

[Neemobeer]

Yes it's the equivalent of just running cmd.