Greg's Shell
GS.EXE is a free, alternative command-line shell for Windows. It offers improved editing features, command history, and support for Aero Glass.
For example, if you want yellow text on a blue background, the color code would be 14 + 144 = 158.
Key Features
- Pressing the left arrow key does not perform a backspace, it lets you go back and change something without destroying everything that came after it.
- Pressing the up and down arrow keys will cycle through a history of past commands (including commands from a previous session).
- Pressing the insert key will toggle the editing mode between "insert" and "overwrite".
- Ctrl+V will paste the clipboard into the command-line. This can be either text or files (files are pasted as quoted filepaths).
- Pressing F7 will display the command history. You can choose a command and press Enter to run it again, or Escape to cancel.
- Pressing Ctrl+Left or Ctrl+Right will move to the previous/next word on the command-line.
- If the "cd" command cannot find the folder, you will be presented with a list of folders that have a similar name or that have the same prefix. You can then select one of these suggestions.
- Pressing Alt+Insert will enter "free select and copy" mode. Use the arrow keys to move anywhere in the console. Hold down shift while moving with the arrow keys to select text. Press Enter, Ctrl+C, or Ctrl+Insert to copy the selected text to the clipboard. Or press Escape or Alt+Insert to cancel.
Configuration
The configuration file for GS.EXE is GS.INI. This file is created the first time that GS runs. Following is a description of each setting in GS.INI.| Section.Entry | Default | Description |
| Colors.CurrentPath | 15 | Color of the prompt (which is the current path and ">"). |
| Colors.CommandLine | 14 | Color of the command-line entered by the user. |
| Colors.Hilite | 206 | Color of the currently selected folder (when the user is presented with a list). |
| Colors.ExitCode | 11 | Color of the process exit code (when ReportStatus is 1). |
| Options.ExitOnEscape | 0 | If 1, the Escape key will exit GS if there is no entered text. |
| Options.ReportStatus | 0 | If 1, the exit code of a process is reported after it finishes. |
| Options.Glass | 0 | If 1, the entire background will use the Aero Glass effect. Requires Vista or later. |
| Options.HistoryImmediate | 0 | If 1, upon selecting a command from the history, the command is executed immediately. Otherwise it is necessary to press the Enter key. |
| Options.NoHistory | 0 | If 1, the command history is not recorded between sessions. |
| Options.NoRedirect | 1 | If 1, the File System Redirector will be disabled. GS will view the file system as a 64-bit app, even though it is 32-bit. |
| Options.Transparency | 0 | The transparency of the console window (from 0 to 255, where 0 is completely opaque). Please note that if Glass is enabled, this transparency is additive to the transparency that is inherent with Glass. Unfortunately it is not possible to reduce the transparency of Glass. |
Color Codes
A color code is formed by adding a foreground color value to a background color value.| Color | Foreground | Background |
| Black | 0 | 0 |
| Dark Blue | 1 | 16 |
| Dark Green | 2 | 32 |
| Dark Cyan | 3 | 48 |
| Dark Red | 4 | 64 |
| Dark Magenta | 5 | 80 |
| Dark Yellow | 6 | 96 |
| Light Gray | 7 | 112 |
| Dark Gray | 8 | 128 |
| Blue | 9 | 144 |
| Green | 10 | 160 |
| Cyan | 11 | 176 |
| Red | 12 | 192 |
| Magenta | 13 | 208 |
| Yellow | 14 | 224 |
| White | 15 | 240 |
For example, if you want yellow text on a blue background, the color code would be 14 + 144 = 158.
Download
Click the button below to download version 10.1 of GS.EXE, released March 19th, 2024.
Download