Vista EXE Deep Dive -- Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine Online

Vista EXE Deep Dive

A list of all the executable files that come with Vista, some familiar and some brand-new.

By Greg Shields
06/09/2008

I've been running Windows Vista since its very first day of release, and in that time I've gotten a lot of opportunity to work with both its GUI and command-line interfaces. Vista brings back a number of the old command-line tools we're used to seeing in Windows XP and previous Windows version, as well as adds its own new tools for viewing and configuring system settings.

What I haven't seen, however, is a good rundown of all the EXEs that make up Windows Vista. A few online locations, like www.greatis.com/vista and www.processlibrary.com provide searchable interfaces for determining what each EXE can do, but nowhere have I been able to find a single list that gives a short description of each.

So, I decided to build my own.

In this -- part one of a three-part series on the EXEs found within Vista's System32 folder -- I'll present to you the first third of my research. These and those in next week's part two are all executable files found in the System32 folder that enable command-line functionality for viewing and manipulating system configurations.

In part three, I'll list the EXEs you can run that will launch various GUI wizards and control panels. Knowing these will help speed up your administration of the system and prepare yourself for the kind of command-line management you'll need to improve your administrator skill set or to implement Windows Server Core.

Out of 390 EXE files in a default RTM Vista installation, 234 can be invoked by a user to accomplish some task. Eighty of those will launch a GUI-based tool, while the remaining 154 are command-line tools. The first 66 command line tools, representing "a" through "l" are listed with very short descriptions here:

Executable	Description
append.exe	Allows programs to open data files in specified directories as if they were in the current directory.
ARP.EXE	Displays and modifies IP to MAC address translation tables.
at.exe	Creates scheduled tasks.
attrib.exe	Displays and changes file attributes.
auditpol.exe	Configures system auditing policy.
bcdedit.exe	Boot configuration data store editor.
bitsadmin.exe	Background Intelligent Transfer Service administration utility.
bootcfg.exe	Configures, changes, or deletes the BOOT.INI file.
cacls.exe	Displays and modifies file and folder access control lists.
certreq.exe	Manages tasks associated with certificates.
certutil.exe	Manages tasks associated with Certificate Services.
change.exe	Used to change Terminal Services TCP port and install mode as well as enable or disable logons.
chglogon.exe	Enables or disables Terminal Services logons.
chgport.exe	Changes the Terminal Services TCP port.
chgusr.exe	Changes the install mode for Terminal Server.
chkdsk.exe	Verifies disks for errors.
chkntfs.exe	NTFS Volume maintenance utility.
choice.exe	Used in scripts to enable selecting an item from a list of choices.
cipher.exe	Manages the encryption of files and folders.
cleanmgr.exe	Disk space cleanup manager.
clip.exe	Redirects script or command line output to the clipboard.
cmd.exe	Creates an instance of the Windows command interpreter.
cmdkey.exe	Creates, displays, and deletes stored usernames and passwords.
cmstp.exe	Connection manager profile installer.
comp.exe	Compares the contents of files.
compact.exe	Displays and manages file compression for NTFS partitions.
convert.exe	Converts FAT volumes to NTFS volumes.
cscript.exe	Launches an instance of Windows script host.
debug.exe	Runs a program testing and editing debugger tool.
Defrag.exe	Runs the Windows defragmentation utility.
diantz.exe	Cabinet file creation utility.
diskpart.exe	Disk partition utility.
diskperf.exe	Enables or disables disk performance counters.
diskraid.exe	Manages and configures RAID subsystems.
dispdiag.exe	Logs display information to a dump file.
doskey.exe	Command line macro creator.
dosx.exe	Windows virtual DOS machine.
dpapimig.exe	Used in recovering encrypted files that have been migrated to another computer.
driverquery.exe	Displays a list of installed device drivers.
edlin.exe	A line-oriented text editor at the command prompt.
esentutl.exe	Database utilities for the Extensible Storage Engine.
eventcreate.exe	Provides a way to create custom event log entries.
exe2bin.exe	Converts EXE formatted files to binary format.
expand.exe	Uncompresses compressed files.
fc.exe	Compares the contents of files.
find.exe	Searches for text strings within files.
findstr.exe	Searches for text strings within files. Greater functionality then find.
finger.exe	Displays information about users on servers running the finger service.
fltMC.exe	Loads, unloads, and lists file system filter drivers.
fontview.exe	Displays various views of on-system fonts.
forfiles.exe	Executes a command against a list of files.
fsutil.exe	Used for managing file system parameters.
ftp.exe	FTP client application.
getmac.exe	Displays MAC addresses for network interfaces.
gpresult.exe	Shows resultant set of policy for Group Policy.
gpupdate.exe	Updates Group Policy.
help.exe	Displays help information for a subset of these commands.
hostname.exe	Displays the local host name.
icacls.exe	Displays and modifies file and folder access control lists and Windows Integrity Control settings.
ipconfig.exe	Displays and updates IP configuration information.
iscsicli.exe	Manages iSCSI Initiator configuration.
label.exe	Views, creates, and deletes disk volume labels.
lodctr.exe	Manages performance counter configuration.
logman.exe	Manages Windows data collector sets.
logoff.exe	Used for logging users off computers.
lpremove.exe	Used for removal of unused language packs.

Tune in next week for part two, a.k.a. "m through z" of Vista's command-line EXEs.

About the Author

Greg Shields is Author Evangelist with PluralSight, and is a globally-recognized expert on systems management, virtualization, and cloud technologies. A multiple-year recipient of the Microsoft MVP, VMware vExpert, and Citrix CTP awards, Greg is a contributing editor for Redmond Magazine and Virtualization Review Magazine, and is a frequent speaker at IT conferences worldwide. Reach him on Twitter at @concentratedgreg.

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