Windows vs Linux

• /lib + /sbin = C:\Windows\system32

• /home = C:\Users

• /var = C:\ProgramData

• /etc = registry

• /tmp = C:\Windows\Temp, etc.

Windows command	Linux command	Notes
arp	arp
cd	cd	On Windows, cd alone prints the current directory, but on Unix cd alone returns the user to his home directory.
cd	pwd	On Windows, cd alone prints the current directory.
cls	clear Control-L	Clear the terminal screen
copy	cp
assign	ln	Create a file link
assoc	file
at	at batch cron	See also schtasks.
attrib	chown chmod	Sets ownership on files and directories
chkdsk	fsck	Checks filesystem and repairs filesystem corruption on hard drives.
date time	date	Date on Unix prints the current date and time. Date and time on Windows print the date and time respectively, and prompt for a new date or time.
del	rm
deltree	rm -r	Recursively deletes entire directory tree
dir	ls	"dir" also works on some versions of Unix.
doskey /h F7 key	history	The Unix history is part of the Bash shell.
edit	vi emacs etc.	edit brings up a simple text editor in Windows. On Unix, the environment variable EDITOR should be set to the user's preferred editor.
exit	exit Control-D	On Unix, pressing the control key and D simultaneously logs the user out of the shell.
explorer	nautilus etc.	The command explorer brings up the file browser on Windows.
fc	diff
find	grep
ftp	ftp
help	man	"help" by itself prints all the commands
hostname	hostname
ipconfig /all	ifconfig -a	The /all option lets you get the MAC address of the Windows PC
mem	top	Shows system status
mkdir	mkdir
more	more less
move	mv
net session	w who
net statistics	uptime
nslookup	nslookup
ping	ping
print	lpr	Send a file to a printer.
reboot shutdown -r	shutdown -r
regedit	edit /etc/*	The Unix equivalent of the Windows registry are the files under /etc and /usr/local/etc. These are edited with a text editor rather than with a special-purpose editing program.
rmdir	rmdir
rmdir /s	rm -r	Windows has a y/n prompt. To get the prompt with Unix, use rm -i. The i means "interactive".
schtasks	at batch cron
set	env	Set on Windows prints a list of all environment variables. For individual environment variables, set <variable> is the same as echo $<variable> on Unix.
set Path	echo $PATH	Print the value of the environment variable using set in Windows.
shutdown	shutdown	Without an option, the Windows version produces a help message
shutdown -s	shutdown -h	Also need -f option to Windows if logged in remotely
sort	sort
start	&	On Unix, to start a job in the background, use command &. On Windows, the equivalent is start command. See How to run a Windows command as a background job like Unix ?.
systeminfo	uname -a
tasklist	ps	"tasklist" is not available on some versions of Windows. See also this article on getting a list of processes in Windows using Perl
title	?	In Unix, changing the title of the terminal window is possible but complicated. Search for "change title xterm".
tracert	traceroute
tree	find ls -R	On Windows, use tree | find "string"
type	cat
ver	uname -a
xcopy	cp -R	Recursively copy a directory tree
assign	ln -s	On Unix, a directory may not have multiple links, so instead a symbolic link must be created with ln -s.