Windows XP in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Name

Msg — \windows\system32\msg.exe

Synopsis

Send a text message to one or all local users.

To Open

Command Prompt → msg

Usage

msg recipient [/server:name] [/time:sec] [/v] [/w] [message]

Description

Msg is used to send a text message to a user currently logged onto the local computer; it can also be used to send a message simultaneously to all logged-in users.

Note that Msg is not intended to send messages to other computers, but to users remotely logged onto your computer. The exception is a user on another machine currently logged into your machine (or the machine specified by /server), assuming that machine is set up as a Terminal Server. To send a message to another computer, use Microsoft Chat (or just send an email).

Msg accepts the following options:

message

The text message to send. If omitted, Msg prompts for it. Also can read from stdin; see Appendix C.

recipient

Recipient can be a username, a session name, a session ID, or a filename (pointing to a file containing a list of usernames, session names, or session IDs). Or, specify an asterisk (*) to send a message to all sessions on the specified server.

/server:name

Specifies /server:name to send the message to users on another machine, where name is the name of a Terminal Server (see “Services” in “Microsoft Management Console”, earlier in this chapter).

/time:sec

Indicates the amount of time, in seconds, to wait for the recipient to acknowledge the message being sent.

/v

Verbose mode; displays additional information about ...