Microsoft Windows Vista Certification Exam Tutorial:

What Happened To The Run Line?

By Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

Working with Microsoft Vista is just like working with any new operating system – there are some great features you’re going to love, some you’re going to dislike, and the inevitable annoyance of not being able to do things the way you’ve done them on previous versions of Windows.

This happened to me recently when I went to use a basic feature in Windows XP, the Run line. I personally like to use the Run line to use telnet, and I occasionally use it to run Windows calculator and tracert as well.

I was recently working with a Vista laptop while traveling, and I needed to telnet to a router. Out of years of habit, I went down to the lower left-hand corner to click Start, then Run – and there was no Run command!

I admit to having the typical reaction of “Hey, that’s been there for years, why isn’t it there now?” Well, that and some words that aren’t suitable for a family website!

One thing I’ve quickly learned about Vista is that the Help And Support feature is a vast improvement over past versions of Windows. I’ve been able to quickly and easily get my Vista questions answered then and there without being directed to a page on the Microsoft website, and that was indeed the case here – one of the first responses to my query was entitled “What happened to the Run command?”

Obviously Microsoft knew we’d be looking for it! It’s actually quite easy to install the Run line.

After opening the Taskbar, select Start Menu Properties, and just click in the empty box next to “Run command”.

The Run line will immediately be available just where you’d expect it to be. (You can simultaneously press the Windows logo key and the “R” key to access the Run line immediately.)

Now that I had the Run line up and running, I entered the Telnet command the way I always have – and I was then presented with a message that the “telnet” command wasn’t understood by Vista.

Sigh.

After another choice word or two, I went back to Help to find out what the problem was, and again I quickly found the answer. I’ll share that answer with you in the next installment of my Microsoft Vista Certification Tutorial series!

To your success,

Chris Bryant

CCIE #12933

chris@thebryantadvantage.com