Operating System Shell Commands

by | Sep 2, 2025 | College class, Information Technology | 0 comments

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Journal: Operating System Shell Commands

by-Darren J. Oates

This journal is based on the Windows 10 shell.

Type of CPU

My PC is a Surface Laptop 4 thus it has an AMD Ryzen 5 and is not an Intel Core i5; they are different processor brands, though Microsoft has offered both Intel Core i5 and AMD Ryzen 5 processors, often in a custom “Surface Edition” form, in their Surface devices. For example, the Surface Laptop 4 was available with either an Intel Core i5 or an AMD Ryzen 5 “Surface Edition” processor, so the specific processor depends on the model and configuration.
Here’s why they are different:
Brand:
AMD and Intel are two different companies that manufacture computer processors.
“Surface Edition”:
When Microsoft uses “Surface Edition” with an AMD processor, it indicates a custom version of an AMD Ryzen processor optimized for their Surface devices.
Device Configuration:
Microsoft provides a choice of processors for some Surface models, such as the Surface Laptop 4, which could be configured with either an Intel Core i5 or a custom AMD Ryzen 5 processor. (YouTube)

command line image

With the command “systeminfo,” I was able to view this information.

Rubric Required Content

  • NAME OF PROCESSOR-
    AMD Ryzen 5 Microsoft Surface (R) Edition
  • HOW MUCH RAM?-
    Total Physical Memory- 15,823 MB
  • NUMBER OF CORES– 6 , This value indicates the number of physical cores present in your CPU.(MustafaMustafa., 77511 gold badge88 silver badges1616 bronze badges, 2014)
  • INSTALLATION DATE–
    20210922105733.000000-240 = 2021/09/22-10:57 am and 33 seconds
  • BOOT TIME–
    8/26/2025, 2:53:59 AM
    The duration from when you power on a computer to when the operating system is fully loaded and ready for user interaction. This process involves the computer’s hardware initializing, the firmware (like BIOS/UEFI) loading the operating system, and then the OS itself loading its kernel, device drivers, and essential services. (What is a boot and how does The boot process work?)

The Windows System Calls

In investigating the system call in Windows for the command “systeminfo” it does not rely on a single system call but rather utilizes multiple Windows API functions (which are essentially system calls) to gather and display system information. “To start with, the library calls and the actual system calls are highly decoupled. Microsoft has defined a set of procedures called the WinAPI, Win32 API, or Win64 API (Application Programming Interface) that programmers are expected to use to get operating system services( Tanenbaum, 2022).”

To find out what version my system uses, I prompted “wmic os get osarchitecture”. In my Windows shell, it is 64-bit.

Important Information

Linux has a “man”command for manuals to find usage of all the command line prompts in the system. Windows does not but you can use “help” then a command name to find what a command does. “Help” alone provides a full list of Windows common commands from A to W.

To view the shell type cmd in the search bar left of the taskbar and press enter.

list of commands

Commands I have Used so Far

                1. How to look up my cpu– cpu get name
                2. How to get installation date– wmic OS get InstallDate
                3. How to find Boot Time– systeminfo | find /i “Boot Time”
                4. How to find the number of cores– wmic cpu get NumberOfCores,
                5. How to get Windows API version– wmic os get osarchitectur
                6. How to graphically display the directory structure of a drive or path– Tree
                7. How to display the name of or changes the current directory– CD

References

MustafaMustafa., 77511 gold badge88 silver badges1616 bronze badges. (2014, April 7). Find number of cpus and cores per CPU using command prompt. Stack Overflow. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22919076/find-number-of-cpus-and-cores-per-cpu-using-command-prompt

 

 

 

 

 

Tanenbaum, A. S., & Bos, H. (2022). Modern Operating Systems (5th ed.). Pearson Education (US). https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9780137618941

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is a boot and how does The boot process work?. What is a Boot And How Does The Boot Process Work? | Lenovo US. (n.d.). https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/glossary/what-is-boot/?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F

 

YouTube. (n.d.). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI0uy_r54yY&t=4s

 

 

 

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