Enable Full Screen Command Prompt Window Persistently In Windows 7

Please take note of the difference between “full screen command prompt” and “full screen command prompt window”. Yes, the “window” is the keyword!

Unless you give up Aero desktop experience and change the WDDM driver (Windows Vista Display Driver Model) to Windows XP compatible display driver, there is no easy way to enable a real, windowless full screen command prompt in Windows 7 (or Windows Vista that obsolete).

This trick, however, can easily set Windows 7 to persistently open Command Prompt window in full screen (maximized) mode.

(This video playback is default to high definition (HD), and best watch in full screen mode. Yet another lousy, “silent” screencast in WalkerNews Channel @ YouTube.)

1) Create a shortcut to cmd.exe and double click to open it.

2) Type wmic and press ENTER to get Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line utility running into an interactive mode.

3) Click the maximize button to get a real full screen window of Command Prompt. With Windows 7 default installation setting, you can also click the Command Prompt window title bar and drag it up to the edge of Desktop to get the same maximized window.

You won’t get this “full screen” window mode if you click the maximize button before executing WMIC. Am I right?

4) Right click the maximized Command Prompt window title bar and select “Properties”. In the Properties dialog box, tick the “Quick edit mode” check-box followed by clicking OK button.

This step makes Windows 7 “remember” to maximize Command Prompt to this particular full screen window mode, each time you double click the cmd.exe shortcut created in step 1!

5) Close the Command Prompt window (by click the X button or execute exit command twice to exit from WMIC as well as cmd.exe).

Now, double click the same cmd.exe shortcut again, you should see Windows 7 open Command Prompt in the same maximized, full screen window mode again :-)