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Efficient Windows Admin command prompt of any color in any desired location



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 9th 18, 01:37 AM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.msdos.batch,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Arlen Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 466
Default Efficient Windows Admin command prompt of any color in any desired location

On 8 Jul 2018 19:17:22 GMT, Arlen Holder wrote:

On 8 Jul 2018 07:14:53 GMT, Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

Your request boils down to changing the colo(u)r of a cmd prompt window
launched from a context menu item off a folder.


Thanks for your kind help - which solved the color problem after a few
empirical false starts.

The good news is that this new solution that you just helped me arrive at
below is now archived in the following newsgroups, which will benefit
everyone in them, now and in the future.
http://tinyurl.com/alt-msdos-batch
http://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-os-windows-10
http://tinyurl.com/microsoft-public-windowsxp-gen (30-char limit)

for best results stick "color 56" in the launched batch. colon dash right
bracket.


Thanks for hazarding advice, as I know it's always risky to try to help a
noob as the risk is that the technical morass is too deep for either of us
to get out of (e.g., ask me how many times I've bricked a system testing
things out like disabling cortana or disabling Windows updates!).

I admit I don't understand the location you're referring to as "launched
batch. colon dash" but the *only* place I surmise we "can" add the color is
in these two lines of the previously posted INF file:
HKCR,Directory\Shell\runas\command,,,"%11%\cmd.exe /k cd /d ""%1"""
HKCR,Drive\Shell\runas\command,,,"%11%\cmd.exe /k cd /d ""%1"""

Testing on the command line the "color 56" syntax, I find this hint:
C:\ %comspec% /? | findstr color
/T:fg Sets the foreground/background colors (see COLOR /? for more info)

Where following through on the suggestion provides this background info:
C:\ color /?
Color attributes are specified by TWO hex digits -- the first
corresponds to the background; the second the foreground. Each digit
can be any of the following values:
0 = Black 8 = Gray
1 = Blue 9 = Light Blue
2 = Green A = Light Green
3 = Aqua B = Light Aqua
4 = Red C = Light Red
5 = Purple D = Light Purple
6 = Yellow E = Light Yellow
7 = White F = Bright White

I think that means we want "47" for a red background with white fonts
(which a "color 47" command confirms in a default black command window).
C:\ color 47
C:\ color
(The first command changed the colors, the second reversed that.)

I admit I don't understand the syntax of the two INF commands above, but I
can sort of kind of maybe see where I'd put the "color" option as:
C:\ cmd.exe -T:47
But that doesn't work in a command window like "color 47" did in that same
window, so I'll just test it experimentally (which always gets me in
trouble).

This seems intuitive to test (although that concept of intuitive syntax has
bitten me greatly in the past):
HKCR,Directory\Shell\runas\command,,,"%11%\cmd.exe /T:47 /k cd /d ""%1"""
HKCR,Drive\Shell\runas\command,,,"%11%\cmd.exe /k cd /d /T:47 ""%1"""

I changed "CmdHereAsAdmin.inf" to "CmdHereAsAdminRed.inf" and right clicked
on it and selected "install" to test it out...

Well - that gave an error ... but the error was unrelated, which was:
Files Needed. The file "CmdHereAsAdmin.INF" on Open command window
here (admin) is needed. Type the path where the file is located, and
then click OK.

I decided to just change the name back to "CmdHereAsAdmin.INF" which was
easier than changing all the references inside the file itself.

Voila!

Now when I right click on a folder, I get the same context menu entry that
says:
"Open command window here (admin)"
but which now opens that command window as a red background with a white
font (the purpose being so that we can tell it's not a "normal" command
window but a "red" admin command window).

Thank you for hazarding helpful advice, where I much appreciate the hint to
use the "color 56" option, and where the result will help anyone who wishes
to add an "Open a red command window here as admin" context menu entry on
any Windows version, from Win95 upwards (I would assume).

What's left is modifying the INF so that it works on more than just
folders, but which also works inside a folder when no folder is selected,
which is how the normal "Open a black command window here as the user"
works.

For example, after loading both the "user cmd" REG file and after loading
the "admin cmd" INF file, neither the "user cmd" or "admin cmd" context
menu entry shows up when I right click in white space on "My PC".
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_showuphere01.jpg

But when I right click on "C:", the "user cmd" entry shows up,
while the "admin cmd" entry remains dormant:
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_showuphere02.jpg

Similarly, when I right click in white space inside any one folder,
the "user cmd" shows up but the "admin command" remains hidden:
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_showuphere03.jpg

Yet, when I right click on a folder, both finally show up:
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_showuphere04.jpg

And, neither shows up when I right click on a file:
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_showuphere05.jpg

My next task, which help is always requested, is to figure out how to give
myself, and all the users here, the new ability to open the red admin
command prompt in the same places where we already open the black user
command prompt - since - to my knowledge - nobody on the planet has posted
this capability yet (AFAIK).


On 8 Jul 2018 19:17:22 GMT, Arlen Holder wrote:

I admit I don't understand the syntax of the two INF commands above, but I
can sort of kind of maybe see where I'd put the "color" option as:
C:\ cmd.exe -T:47
But that doesn't work in a command window like "color 47" did in that same
window, so I'll just test it experimentally (which always gets me in
trouble).


I belatedly realized my first test on the command syntax was wrong in that
the syntax is not "cmd.exe -T:47" but "cmd.exe /T:47" so I'm correcting
this for the record.

This shows that the "cmd /T:47" & "cmd /T:56" syntax works fine
inside a command window.
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_cmdwindow03.jpg

Now the goal is to figure out what magic enables the user command
window context menu to open no matter where the mouse is, but
we can't get the admin command window menu to show up unless
we select a folder:
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_cmdwindow04.jpg
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  #2  
Old July 9th 18, 07:39 AM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.msdos.batch,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Kerr-Mudd,John
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 19
Default Efficient Windows Admin command prompt of any color in any desired location

On Mon, 09 Jul 2018 00:37:49 GMT, Arlen Holder
wrote:

"cmd /T:56"


clearly (or maybe not!) this was a joke. It's a horrid colo(u)r scheme.


cmd.exe /T:02

green screen retro is the only one for me.


--
Bah, and indeed, Humbug.
  #3  
Old July 9th 18, 08:55 AM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.msdos.batch,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Arlen Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 466
Default Efficient Windows Admin command prompt of any color in any desired location

On 9 Jul 2018 06:39:30 GMT, Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

clearly (or maybe not!) this was a joke. It's a horrid colo(u)r scheme.


cmd.exe /T:02

green screen retro is the only one for me.


Hi John Kerr-Mudd,
I don't get jokes ... I've never gotten them.
I'm all facts, and only facts. So I appreciate that explanation.

Here, by the way, are the three color schemes side by side...
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_cmdwindow05.jpg

The actual color scheme didn't matter anyway as what was important was the
fact that an admin window should stand apart on sight, and that the color
turned out to be trivial once I realized that you were telling me that the
command itself could specify the color:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/94004-customize-command-prompt-colors-windows.html

I've moved on to solving the other part of the problem, which is that the
user-level "Open command window here (user)" REG file causes the menu to
show up under more circumstances than does the "Open command window here
(admin)" INF result.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/72024-open-command-window-here-add-windows-10-a.html

By studying the registry after running both the REG & INF, I'm starting to
see how to add the context menu under various right-click circumstances.

To be clear, I have never dissected such things before, but I'm beginning
to figure out a solution empirically, where, when I'm done, everyone will
have both commands working anywhere they click:
* Open command window here (users) = works on both white space & folders
* Open command window here (admin) = only works on folders at the moment

If you don't hear back from me, it means I haven't found the solution yet.
If you hear back from me, that means everyone will have a working solution
by me that they can just cut and paste and it will work for them.
  #4  
Old July 9th 18, 04:43 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.msdos.batch,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default Efficient Windows Admin command prompt of any color in any desired location

In message ,
"Kerr-Mudd,John" writes:
On Mon, 09 Jul 2018 00:37:49 GMT, Arlen Holder
wrote:

"cmd /T:56"


clearly (or maybe not!) this was a joke. It's a horrid colo(u)r scheme.

Indeed!

cmd.exe /T:02

green screen retro is the only one for me.


Being a Hitchhiker's Guide fan, I tried 00 - but it has a trap for that
)-:.

(The two digits - hex - are background/foreground; "Color /?" will list
what's what. And you can type color rather than restarting cmd if you
want to play: "color f0" for those that remember the ZX80/81 [Sinclair,
Timex I think in USA].)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

in the kingdom of the bland, the one idea is king. - Rory Bremner (on
politics), RT 2015/1/31-2/6
 




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