UNIX people access everything from a Xterm window, so the second step we take is to emulate that behavior (to get a REAL console program, you should install the CYGWIN package and run bash, but that's another story which we will cover in ater steps):

Create a short cut on your desktop pointing to your command processor (in Win9x/ME, it's called command.com, in WinNT/2K it's called cmd.exe), right click on the shortcut and choose "Properties", change the layout to something bigger than 80x25, say 80x50. Change the font to something more pleasant (instead of Terminal, that is), say Raster Fonts - 8x12 (Lucida Console fonts is a very good choice), enable QuickEdit mode. If you have a three button mouse, for example a Logitech, enable the middle mouse button to perform the paste function.

For WinNT/2K, you should also enable the wonderful AutoComplete feature for cmd.exe. Run regedit.exe and find the key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor

If you want more power with your console program, either install CYGWIN or get a copy of 4Dos/4NT for Windows. Now, let's go on to Step 3: Installing the CYGWIN package.