Basic MS-DOS

History

 MS-DOS 1.0 was released in August 1981,

and was updated until April 1994 when it was
replaced by Windows 95
 All versions of windows still contain some type
of DOS, in windows 95 and 98 you can go to
run and type command to get to DOS prompt,
in NT, 2000, and XP you can type CMD and
get DOS.
Introduction

The role of DOS is to interpret commands that

the user enters via the keyboard.

These commands allow the following tasks to be

executed:
 file and folder management
 disk upgrades
 hardware configuration
 memory optimization
 program execution
File Manipulation

DIR - Lists files and subdirectories

 Wildcard Characters ? *
EDIT - creates a new file or modifies an existing file
COPY - copies a file or a group of files
XCOPY - copies all files in a directory (and its subdirectories)
DEL or ERASE - deletes a file or a group of files
UNDELETE - undeletes files
COPY (or XCOPY) plus DEL - moves files
DOSKEY - recalls commands
RENAME or REN - renames files
TYPE - displays text files
PRINT - prints a text file
COPY - used to create a file
ATTRIB - sets file properties
FC - compares two files
Directory Manipulation

MD or MKDIR - creates a directory

CD or CHDIR - changes directory

PROMPT - changes the command prompt

TREE - displays the directory structure

RD or RMDIR - removes a directory

REN - Renaming directories

PATH - creates a search path

Basic Structure

 Most DOS commands use the same structure

 Command Source Destination /Switch
 The switch will give options to the command
 Example COPY A:\file.txt c:\ /v
 /v will verify if the file copied correctly
MS-DOS Prompt

The prompt in MS-DOS displays your

current directory

C:\dos\commands> means you are in

that directory, and any command you
use will apply to the current directory
unless you specify a different one.
DOS Naming

Characters like * + = | \ [ ] : ; “ < > ,

? / cannot be used in DOS names.
 Relative and Absolute path

Alternatively referred to as the file path and full path,

the absolute path contains the root directory and all
other subdirectories that contain a file or folder.

absolute path
C:\Windows\calc.exe

Windows non absolute path (relative path)

calc.exe
Basic Commands CD

CD- Change directory

You use this command when you want
to change the directory.
Example: CD C:\DOS will bring you to
the dos folder
Basic Commands CD.. And CD\

CD.. - brings you to the previous

directory.
Example: if you are in C:\DOS\FOLDER
CD.. Will bring you to C:\DOS
Basic Commands CLS

CLS Will clear the contents of the screen

Basic Commands DIR

DIR will display the contents of the folder

Basic Commands COPY

COPY will copy the file from one location

to another
Example COPY A:\file.txt c:\ will copy
the file from a:\ to c:\
Basic Command XCOPY

XCOPY can move files, directories, and

whole drives from one location to
another, It is more powerful then the
copy command, and has a lot of
switches.
Basic Commands MOVE

MOVE will move the file or directory from

one location to another

Example: MOVE a:\file.txt c:\file.txt will

move the file to the c:\ drive
Basic Command DEL

DEL will delete a file or an empty

directory from the drive
Basic Command EDIT

EDIT will open a text file

Basic Commands REN

REN will rename the file

Example : REN file.txt myfile.txt will
rename the file.txt to myfile.txt
Basic Commands MD/RD

MD is used to make a directory (folder)

in MS-DOS.
Example: MD myfolder will make a folder
called myfolder in current directory
RD is used for remove directory
Deleting folders and sub folders
Basic Command TREE

TREE shows you all of the folders and

files in current directory like explorer in
windows.
Attributes

Attributes are the properties of a file

such as hidden, read-only, archive or
system file.
In MS-DOS you can view/change
attributes with the attrib command.
Example: attrib +r file.txt will make the
file read-only.
The MORE Command
 The PRINT Command
The PRINT Command in MS DOS is
used to print the text files
Syntax :
 PRINT Filename
E.g.
 PRINT File1.txt
 The PROMPT Command
The PROMPT is used to configure a
DOS prompt into our linking

Syntax :
 C:\ PROMPT Promptname
E.g.
 PROMPT NCIT

Now, the Prompt will be as NCIT

 Checking the Date/Time
 For checking the date from the system in MS
DOS, we use the DATE command. It returns
the current system date.
 Similarly, the TIME command returns the
current time from the system.

 Syntax :
 C:\>DATE
 E.g. C:\>DATE
Removing unwanted Files
command line.
Go to Run –> cmd. This should open the command
prompt.

Type g:\ where g is the USB drive letter.

Now run the following command: attrib -h -r -s -a *.*.

This will remove the attributes hidden, archive,
system from all the files.

Type del autorun.inf. This will delete the autorun.inf

file.
F:\>edit test.txt

F:\>edit test.txt

F:\>copy con 123.docx

my name is indika rathninda^Z
1 file(s) copied.

F:\>edit 123.docx

F:\>dir>1234.txt
Batch file

DOS, OS/2, and Windows, a batch file is a

type of script file, a text file containing a

series of commands to be executed by the

command line interpreter. A batch file may

contain any command the interpreter accepts

interactively at the command prompt.