Page 610 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

computers of the day. Most non-geeks sighed with relief, delighted that

they’d never have to memorize commands again. Yet here’s Microsoft’s
supposedly ultramodern operating system, complete with a command line!
What’s going on?

Actually, the command line never went away. At universities and

corporations, professional computer nerds kept right on pounding away at
the little C:> prompts, appreciating the efficiency and power such direct
computer control afforded them.

You never have to use the command line. In fact, Microsoft has swept it far
under the rug, expecting that most people will use the icons and menus of
the regular desktop.

GEM IN THE ROUGH TASK SCHEDULER

Weirdly enough, not every app in Windows has an icon. Not every app

is listed in the Start menu. A passel of obscure utility apps are available
only by searching for them.

One of those is Task Scheduler, which you can use to run certain tasks

automatically, according to a schedule. For example, you can schedule
the Recycle Bin to empty itself, or email to check itself, or your drive to
defragment itself.

For details, see the free PDF appendix to this chapter called “Task
Scheduler.” It’s on this book’s “Missing CD” at missingmanuals.com.

Tip
Quickest way to open the Command Prompt: type command into the search box, and then press
Enter.

If you have time and curiosity, however, the Command Prompt lets you

access corners of Windows that you can’t get to from the regular desktop.
(Commands for exploring network diagnostics are especially plentiful—