At some point I got tired of the Windows console (cmd). First, it is always in non-insert mode by default. I fixed this by checking the Insert mode in the properties, but still, no persistent history, no history search, bad auto completion, that was too much. So here is tip that could save you a lot of time when using command lines under Windows.

Project’s name is Clink. It gives you GNU read line power in cmd.exe. You can download the portable version (zip) and just unzip it somewhere.

Then, since it’s quite frequent to use the console, let’s pin it to the TaskBar. In the start menu, search for cmd, right click on it and pin it to the taskbar. Then right click on it while pressing shift and click Properties and add /c “full_path_to_clink.bat“.

Now when you clic on your pin that will open clink instead or the standard cmd.

Last but not least. Here is how to change the “Open command window here” when you’re doing right clic + shift on a folder, to open Clink.

To do this, edit the Windows register (Start menu, search regedit)

Open the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd\command. Then edit the value to the following

cmd.exe /s /c "pushd "%V" & C:\Applis\clink\clink.bat"

Edit with the path to your clink.bat of course.

Now the Right-Clic + Shift > Open command window here should open Clink already located on the target folder.