If you’re one of those people that go to Start > Run > “cmd” a lot, you can cut out some steps with this simple shortcuts.

Say you want to ping an address. Normally, you would go Start > Run > type “cmd”, hit Enter, then type ping google.com at the prompt. This will ping google.com’s server.

Instead, do this:

Press the Windows key (the key with the little flag on it) and the “R” key. This will bring up the “Run” box. Then type: cmd /k ping google.com

If you wanted to check your IP address using this method, simply type this in the “Run” box: cmd /k ipconfig