Windows 2000 Quick Fixes

Change the colors used by command consoles

The Windows 2000 command console defaults to white text on a black background. However, you might prefer a different color scheme. You have two ways to change the colors: through the properties for the command console or using the color command. The former changes the color scheme for all consoles, and the latter changes it only for the current console.

Changing color for all consoles

You can change the color scheme for all command consoles by changing the properties for the Command Prompt shortcut:

1. Click Start → Programs → Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and choose Properties.

2. Click the Colors tab.

3. Use the controls on the Colors page to configure the default colors for all consoles.

Changing color for the current console

In addition to changing color for command consoles globally, you also can specify colors for the current console only. You do so using the color command from the command prompt:

1. Open a command console.

2. Type color bf and press Enter, where b is the background color and f is the foreground color. Use the values listed in Table 6-1 for b and f.

Table 6-1. Background and foreground color values

b & f color values	b & f color values
0 = Black	1 = Blue
2 = Green	3 = Aqua
4 = Red	5 = Purple
6 = Yellow	7 = White
8 = Gray	9 = Light Blue
A = Light Green	B = Light Aqua
C = Light Red	D = Light Purple
E = Light Yellow	F = Bright White

Enter color without any parameters to switch back to the default color settings. ...