Command Prompt is one of the command-line interface programs used to execute commands in Windows operating systems.
Some popular Command Prompt commands you might have heard of include ping, netstat, tracert, shutdown, and attrib, but there are many more. We have a complete list here.
To start a Command Prompt you simply need to type cmd.exe in the search field in the Start menu or click on Start, then Accessories, and then click on the Command Prompt icon. A window will appear, called the Command Prompt, that will open in your user profile folder and wait for you to issue commands.
While Command Prompt probably isn't a tool most of you will use on a regular basis, it can really come in handy now and then, maybe to troubleshoot a specific Windows problem or to automate some kind of task.
How you open Command Prompt differs between Windows versions, so you'll find steps below for Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, and Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. See What Version of Windows Do I Have? if you're not sure.
Open Command Prompt in Windows 10
Click or tap Command Prompt from the list.
Another way to open Command Prompt in Windows 10 is to look in its Start menu folder:
Select the Start button.
Find the Windows System folder from the list of apps and tap or click it.
Click or tap Command Prompt under the Windows System folder.
One more method for opening Command Prompt in Windows 10 is through the Power User Menu. If you're using a keyboard or mouse, choose Command Prompt from the menu that appears after pressing Win+X or right-clicking the Start button.
You might see Windows PowerShell options in the Power User Menu instead of Command Prompt. In more recent versions of Windows 10, Command Prompt has been replaced by PowerShell, but you can still access it from the Power User Menu by editing the taskbar settings.
Open Command Prompt in Windows 8 or 8.1
Swipe up to show the Apps screen. You can accomplish the same thing with a mouse by clicking on the down arrow icon at the bottom of the screen.
Prior to the Windows 8.1 update, the Apps screen can be accessed from the Start screen by swiping up from the bottom of the screen, or right-clicking anywhere, and then choosing All apps.
If you're using a keyboard or mouse, a really quick way to open a Command Prompt window in Windows 8 is through the Power User Menu—just hold the WIN and X keys down together, or right-click the Start button, and choose Command Prompt.
Swipe or scroll to the right on the Apps screen to locate the Windows System section heading.
Tap Command Prompt under Windows System.
A new Command Prompt window will open on the Desktop.
You can now execute whatever command you needed to run. See our List of Windows 8 Command Prompt Commands for a complete list of the commands available through Command Prompt in Windows 8, including short descriptions and links to more in-depth information if we have it.
Open Command Prompt in Windows 7, Vista, or XP
Click Start (Windows XP) or the Start button (Windows 7 or Vista).
In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, it's a bit faster to enter command in the search box at the bottom of the Start Menu and then click Command Prompt when it appears in the results.
Use Command Prompt to execute commands. Here's our List of Windows 7 Commands, List of Windows Vista Commands, and List of Windows XP Commands if you need a command reference for any of those versions of Windows.
Elevated Command Prompts and Old Windows Versions
In versions of Windows released before Windows XP, like Windows 98 and Windows 95, Command Prompt does not exist. However, the older and very similar MS-DOS Prompt does. This program is located in the Start Menu, and can be opened with the command run command.
Some commands, like the sfc command that's used to repair Windows files, require that Command Prompt be opened as an administrator before they can be executed. You'll know if this is the case if you get a 'check that you have administrative rights', '... command can only be executed from an elevated command prompt', or 'you must be an administrator' message after trying to execute the command.
See How to Open an Elevated Command Prompt for help starting Command Prompt as an administrator, a process that's a bit more complicated than what's outlined above.
This article presents a list of commands used by DOSoperating systems, especially as used on x86-based IBM PC compatibles (PCs). Other DOS operating systems are not part of the scope of this list.
In DOS, many standard system commands were provided for common tasks such as listing files on a disk or moving files. Some commands were built into the command interpreter, others existed as external commands on disk. Over the several generations of DOS, commands were added for the additional functions of the operating system. In the current Microsoft Windows operating system, a text-mode command prompt window, cmd.exe, can still be used.
- 2DOS commands
Command processing[edit]
The command interpreter for DOS runs when no application programs are running. When an application exits, if the transient portion of the command interpreter in memory was overwritten, DOS will reload it from disk. Some commands are internal — built into COMMAND.COM; others are external commands stored on disk. When the user types a line of text at the operating system command prompt, COMMAND.COM will parse the line and attempt to match a command name to a built-in command or to the name of an executable program file or batch file on disk. If no match is found, an error message is printed, and the command prompt is refreshed.
External commands were too large to keep in the command processor, or were less frequently used. Such utility programs would be stored on disk and loaded just like regular application programs but were distributed with the operating system. Copies of these utility command programs had to be on an accessible disk, either on the current drive or on the command path set in the command interpreter.
In the list below, commands that can accept more than one file name, or a filename including wildcards (* and ?), are said to accept a filespec (file specification) parameter. Commands that can accept only a single file name are said to accept a filename parameter. Additionally, command line switches, or other parameter strings, can be supplied on the command line. Spaces and symbols such as a '/' or a '-' may be used to allow the command processor to parse the command line into filenames, file specifications, and other options.
The command interpreter preserves the case of whatever parameters are passed to commands, but the command names themselves and file names are case-insensitive.
Many commands are the same across many DOS systems, but some differ in command syntax or name.
DOS commands[edit]
A partial list of the most common commands for MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS follows below.
APPEND[edit]
Sets the path to be searched for data files or displays the current search path. The APPEND command is similar to the PATH command that tells DOS where to search for program files (files with a .COM, . EXE, or .BAT file name extension).
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.2 and later.[1]
ASSIGN[edit]
The command redirects requests for disk operations on one drive to a different drive. It can also display drive assignments or reset all drive letters to their original assignments.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3 through 5 and IBM PC DOS releases 2 through 5.[1]
ATTRIB[edit]
Attrib changes or views the attributes of one or more files. It defaults to display the attributes of all files in the current directory. The file attributes available include read-only, archive, system, and hidden attributes. The command has the capability to process whole folders and subfolders of files and also process all files.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3 and later.[1]
BACKUP and RESTORE[edit]
These are commands to backup and restore files from an external disk. These appeared in version 2, and continued to PC DOS 5 and MS-DOS 6 (PC DOS 7 had a deversioned check). In DOS 6, these were replaced by commercial programs (CPBACKUP, MSBACKUP), which allowed files to be restored to different locations.[1]
BASIC and BASICA[edit]
An implementation of the BASIC programming language for PCs. Implementing BASIC in this way was very common in operating systems on 8- and 16-bit machines made in the 1980s.
IBM computers had BASIC 1.1 in ROM, and IBM's versions of BASIC used code in this ROM-BASIC, which allowed for extra memory in the code area. BASICA last appeared in IBM PC DOS 5.02, and in OS/2 (2.0 and later), the version had ROM-BASIC moved into the program code.
Microsoft released GW-BASIC for machines with no ROM-BASIC. Some OEM releases had basic.com and basica.com as loaders for GW-BASIC.EXE.
BASIC was dropped after MS-DOS 4, and PC DOS 5.02. OS/2 (which uses PC DOS 5), has it, while MS-DOS 5 does not.
BREAK[edit]
This command is used to instruct DOS to check whether the Ctrl and Break keys have been pressed before carrying out a program request.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
CALL[edit]
Starts a batch file from within another batch file and returns when that one ends.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.3 and later.[1]
CD and CHDIR[edit]
The CHDIR (or the alternative name CD) command either displays or changes the current working directory.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
CHCP[edit]
The command either displays or changes the active code page used to display character glyphs in a console window.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.3 and later.[1]
CHKDSK[edit]
CHKDSK verifies a storage volume (for example, a hard disk, disk partition or floppy disk) for file system integrity. The command has the ability to fix errors on a volume and recover information from defective disk sectors of a volume.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
CHOICE[edit]
The CHOICE command is used in batch files to prompt the user to select one item from a set of single-character choices. Choice was introduced as an external command with MS-DOS 6.0;[1][2]Novell DOS 7[3] and PC DOS 7.0. Earlier versions of DR DOS supported this function with the built-in switch command (for numeric choices) or by beginning a command with a question mark.[3] This command was formerly called ync (yes-no-cancel).[citation needed]
CLS[edit]
The CLS or CLRSCR command clears the terminal screen.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
COMMAND[edit]
Start a new instance of the command interpreter.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
COMP[edit]
Show differences between any two files, or any two sets of files.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.3 through 5 and IBM PC DOS releases 1 through 5.[1]
COPY[edit]
Makes copies of existing files.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
CTTY[edit]
Defines the terminal device (for example, COM1) to use for input and output.[4]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
CV[edit]
DATE[edit]
Displays the system date and prompts the user to enter a new date. Complements the TIME command.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
DBLBOOT[edit]
DBLSPACE[edit]
A disk compression utility supplied with MS-DOS version 6.0 (released in 1993) and version 6.2.[1]
DEBUG[edit]
A very primitive assembler and disassambler.
DEFRAG[edit]
The command has the ability to analyze the file fragmentation on a disk drive or to defragment a drive. This command is called DEFRAG in MS-DOS/PC DOS and diskopt in DR-DOS.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 6 and later.[1]
DEL and ERASE[edit]
DEL (or the alternative form ERASE) is used to delete one or more files.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
DELTREE[edit]
Deletes a directory along with all of the files and subdirectories that it contains. Normally, it will ask for confirmation of the potentially dangerous action. Since the RD (RMDIR) command can not delete a directory if the directory is not empty, the DELTREE command can be used to delete the whole directory.
The deltree command is included in certain versions of Microsoft Windows and MS-DOSoperating systems. It is specifically available only in versions of MS-DOS 6.0 and higher,[1] and in Microsoft Windows 9x. In Windows NT, the functionality provided exists but is handled by the command rd or rmdir which has slightly different syntax. This command has been deprecated for Windows 7.
DIR[edit]
The DIR command displays the contents of a directory. The contents comprise the disk's volume label and serial number; one directory or filename per line, including the filename extension, the file size in bytes, and the date and time the file was last modified; and the total number of files listed, their cumulative size, and the free space (in bytes) remaining on the disk. The command is one of the few commands that exist from the first versions of DOS.[1] The command can display files in subdirectories. The resulting directory listing can be sorted by various criteria and filenames can be displayed in a chosen format.
DISKCOMP[edit]
A command for comparing the complete contents of a floppy disk to another one.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.2 and later and IBM PC DOS releases 1 and later.[1]
DISKCOPY[edit]
A command for copying the complete contents of a diskette to another diskette.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
DOSKEY[edit]
A command that adds command history, macro functionality, and improved editing features to the command-line interpreter.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[1]
DRVSPACE[edit]
A disk compression utility supplied with MS-DOS version 6.22.[1]
ECHO[edit]
The ECHO command prints its own arguments back out to the DOS equivalent of the standard output stream. (Hence the name, ECHO) Usually, this means directly to the screen, but the output of echo can be redirected, like any other command, to files or devices. Often used in batch files to print text out to the user.
Another important use of the echo command is to toggle echoing of commands on and off in batch files. Traditionally batch files begin with the @echo off statement. This says to the interpreter that echoing of commands should be off during the whole execution of the batch file, thus resulting in a 'tidier' output (the @ symbol declares that this particular command (echo off) should also be executed without echo.)
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
EDIT[edit]
EDIT is a full-screen text editor, included with MS-DOS versions 5 and 6,[1] OS/2 and Windows NT to 4.0 The corresponding program in Windows 95 and later, and Windows 2000 and later is Edit v2.0. PC DOS 6 and later use the DOS E Editor and DR-DOS used editor up to version 7.
EDLIN[edit]
DOS line-editor. It can be used with a script file, like debug, this makes it of some use even today. The absence of a console editor in MS-DOS/PC DOS 1-4 created an after-market for third-party editors.
In DOS 5, an extra command '?' was added to give the user much-needed help.
DOS 6 was the last version to contain EDLIN; for MS-DOS 6, it's on the supplemental disks,[1] while PC DOS 6 had it in the base install. Windows NT 32-bit, and OS/2 have Edlin.
EMM386[edit]
The EMM386 command enables or disables EMM386 expanded-memory support on a computer with an 80386 or higher processor.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[1]
EXE2BIN[edit]
Converts an executable (.exe) file into a binary file with the extension.com, which is a memory image of the program.
The size of the resident code and data sections combined in the input .exe file must be less than 64 KB. The file must also have no stack segment.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 through 5. It is available separately for version 6 on the Supplemental Disk.[1]
EXIT[edit]
Exits the current command processor. If the exit is used at the primary command, it has no effect unless in a DOS window under Microsoft Windows, in which case the window is closed and the user returns to the desktop.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
EXPAND[edit]
The Microsoft File Expansion Utility is used to uncompress one or more compressed cabinet files (.CAB). The command dates back to 1990 and was supplied on floppy disc for MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[5][1]
FAKEMOUS[edit]
FASTHELP[edit]
Provides information for MS-DOS commands.
FASTOPEN[edit]
A command that provides accelerated access to frequently-used files and directories.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.3 and later.[1]
FC[edit]
Show differences between any two files, or any two sets of files.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later – primarily non-IBM releases.[1]
FDISK[edit]
The FDISK command manipulates hard disk partition tables. The name derives from IBM's habit of calling hard drives fixed disks. FDISK has the ability to display information about, create, and delete DOS partitions or logical DOS drive. It can also install a standard master boot record on the hard drive.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.2 and later and IBM PC DOS releases and later.[1]
FIND[edit]
The FIND command is a filter to find lines in the input data stream that contain or don't contain a specified string and send these to the output data stream. It may also be used as a pipe.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
FOR[edit]
Iteration: repeats a command for each out of a specified set of files.The FOR loop can be used to parse a file or the output of a command.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
FORMAT[edit]
Deletes the FAT entries and the root directory of the drive/partition, and reformats it for MS-DOS. In most cases, this should only be used on floppy drives or other removable media. This command can potentially erase everything on a computer's drive.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
GOTO[edit]
Moves execution to a specified label. Labels are specified at the beginning of a line, with a colon (:likethis).
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
GRAFTABL[edit]
The GRAFTABL command enables the display of an extended character set in graphics mode.[6]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3 through 5.[1]
GRAPHICS[edit]
A TSR program to enable the sending of graphical screen dump to printer by pressing <Print Screen>.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.2 and later and IBM PC DOS releases 2 and later.[1]
HELP[edit]
Gives help about DOS commands.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later. Full-screen command help is available in MS-DOS versions 6 and later.[1]
IF[edit]
IF is a conditional statement, that allows branching of the program execution. It evaluates the specified condition, and only if it is true, then it executes the remainder of the command line. Otherwise, it skips the remainder of the line and continues with next command line.
Used in Batch files.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
INTERSVR and INTERLNK[edit]
In MS-DOS; filelink in DR-DOS.
Network PCs using a null modem cable or LapLink cable. The server-side version of InterLnk, it also immobilizes the machine it's running on as it is an active app (As opposed to a TSR app) which must be running for any transfer to take place. DR-DOS' filelink is executed on both the client and server.
Windows 7 Dos Commands
New in PC DOS 5.02, MS-DOS 6.0.[7][1]
JOIN[edit]
The JOIN command attaches a drive letter to a specified directory on another drive.[7] The opposite can be achieved via the SUBST command.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3 through 5. It is available separately for versions 6.2 and later on the Supplemental Disk.[1]
KEYB[edit]
The KEYB command is used to select a keyboard layout.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.3 and later.[1]
LABEL[edit]
Changes the label on a logical drive, such as a hard disk partition or a floppy disk.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.1 and later and IBM PC DOS releases 3 and later.[1]
LOADFIX[edit]
Loads a program above the first 64K of memory, and runs the program. The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[1] It is included only in MS-DOS/PC DOS. DR-DOS used memmax, which opened or closed lower, upper, and video memory access, to block the lower 64K of memory.[8]
LOADHIGH and LH[edit]
A command that loads a program into the upper memory area.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[1]
It is called hiload in DR-DOS.
MD or MKDIR[edit]
Makes a new directory. The parent of the directory specified will be created if it does not already exist.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
MEM[edit]
Displays memory usage. It is capable of displaying program size and status, memory in use, and internal drivers. It is an internal command.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 4 and later.[1]
MEMMAKER[edit]
Starting with version 6,[1] MS-DOS included the external program MemMaker which was used to free system memory (especially Conventional memory) by automatically reconfiguring the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. This was usually done by moving TSR programs and device drivers to the upper memory. The whole process required two system restarts. Before the first restart the user was asked whether he/she wanted to enable EMS Memory, since use of expanded memory required a reserved 64KiB region in upper memory. The first restart inserted the SIZER.EXE program which gauged the memory needed by each TSR or Driver. MemMaker would then calculate the optimal Driver and TSR placement in upper memory and modify the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS accordingly, and reboot the second time.[9]
MEMMAKER.EXE and SIZER.EXE were developed for Microsoft by Helix Software Company and were eliminated starting in MS DOS 7 / Windows 95. PC DOS uses another program RamBoost to optimize memory, working either with PC DOS's HIMEM/EMM386 or a third-party memory manager. RamBoost was licensed to IBM by Central Point Software.
MIRROR[edit]
The MIRROR command saves disk storage information that can be used to recover accidentally erased files.
The command is available in MS-DOS version 5. It is available separately for versions 6.2 and later on Supplemental Disk.[1]
MODE[edit]
Configures system devices. Changes graphics modes, adjusts keyboard settings, prepares code pages, and sets up port redirection.[10]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.2 and later and IBM PC DOS releases 1 and later.[1]
MORE[edit]
The MORE command paginates text, so that one can view files containing more than one screen of text. More may also be used as a filter. While viewing MORE text, the return key displays the next line, the space bar displays the next page.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
MOVE[edit]
Moves files or renames directories.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 6 and later.[1]
DR-DOS used a separate command for renaming directories, rendir.
MSAV[edit]
A command that scans the computer for known viruses.[11][12]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 6 and later.[1]
MSBACKUP[edit]
The MSBACKUP command is used to backup or restore one or more files from one disk to another.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 6 and later.[1]
Windows Vista Dos Commands List
MSCDEX[edit]
MSCDEX is a driver executable which allows DOS programs to recognize, read, and control CD-ROMs.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 6 and later.[1]
MSD[edit]
The MSD command provides detailed technical information about the computer's hardware and software. MSD was new in MS-DOS 6;[1][13] the PC DOS version of this command is QCONFIG.[citation needed] The command appeared first in Word2, and then in Windows 3.10.
MSHERC[edit]
NLSFUNC[edit]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.3 and later.[1]
PATH[edit]
Displays or sets a search path for executable files.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
PAUSE[edit]
Suspends processing of a batch program and displays the message 'Press any key to continue. . .', if not given other text to display.
Windows Vista Dos Commands Windows 10
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
POWER[edit]
The POWER command is used to turn power management on and off, report the status of power management, and set levels of power conservation. It is an external command implemented as POWER.EXE.[14]
/windows-vista-dir-command-5a479de07d4be800369b5a17.PNG "Windows")
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 6 and later.[1]
PRINT[edit]
The PRINT command adds or removes files in the print queue. This command was introduced in MS-DOS version 2.[1] Before that there was no built-in support for background printing files. The user would usually use the copy command to copy files to LPT1.
PRINTFIX[edit]
PROMPT[edit]
The PROMPT command allows the user to change the prompt in the command screen. The default prompt is $p (i.e. prompt $p), which displays the drive and current path as the prompt, but can be changed to anything. 'Prompt $d', displays the current system date as the prompt. Type 'prompt /?' in the cmd screen for help on this function.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later and IBM PC DOS releases 2.1 and later.[1]
QBASIC[edit]
An integrated development environment and BASICinterpreter.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[1]
RD or RMDIR[edit]
Remove a directory (delete a directory); by default the directories must be empty of files for the command to succeed.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
The deltree command in some versions of MS-DOS and all versions of Windows 9x removes non-empty directories.
RECOVER[edit]
A primitive filesystem error recovery utility included in MS-DOS / IBM PC DOS.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 through 5.[1]
REM[edit]
Remark (comment) command, normally used within a batch file, and for DR-DOS, PC/MS-DOS 6 and above, in CONFIG.SYS. This command is processed by the command processor. Thus, its output can be redirected to create a zero-byte file. REM is useful in logged sessions or screen-captures. One might add comments by way of labels, usually starting with double-colon (::). These are not processed by the command processor.
REN[edit]
The REN command renames a file. Unlike the move command, this command cannot be used to rename subdirectories, or rename files across drives. Mass renames can be accomplished by the use of the wildcards characters asterisk (*) and question mark (?).[15]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
REPLACE[edit]
A command that is used to replace one or more existing computer files or add new files to a target directory.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.2 and later.[1]
RESTORE[edit]
See: BACKUP and RESTORE
SCANDISK[edit]
Disk diagnostic utility. Scandisk was a replacement for the chkdsk utility, starting with MS-DOS version 6.2 and later.[1] Its primary advantages over chkdsk is that it is more reliable and has the ability to run a surface scan which finds and marks bad clusters on the disk. It also provided mouse point-and-click TUI, allowing for interactive session to complement command-line batch run.chkdsk had surface scan and bad cluster detection functionality included, and was used again on Windows NT based operating systems.
SELECT[edit]
The SELECT command formats a disk and installs country-specific information and keyboard codes.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.3 and 4 and IBM PC DOS releases 3 through 3.3.[1]
This command is no longer included in DOS Version 6 and later.
SET[edit]
Sets environment variables.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
cmd.exe in Windows NT 2000, 4DOS, 4OS2, 4NT, and a number of third-party solutions allow direct entry of environment variables from the command prompt. From at least Windows 2000, the set command allows for the evaluation of strings into variables, thus providing inter alia a means of performing integer arithmetic.[16]
SETUP[edit]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[1]
SETVER[edit]
SetVer is a TSR program designed to return a different value to the version of DOS that is running. This allows programs that look for a specific version of DOS to run under a different DOS.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[1]
SHARE[edit]
Installs support for file sharing and locking capabilities.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3 and later.[1]
SHIFT[edit]
The SHIFT command increases number of replaceable parameters to more than the standard ten for use in batch files.This is done by changing the position of replaceable parameters. It replaces each of the replacement parameters with the subsequent one (e.g. %0 with %1, %1 with %2, etc.).
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
SIZER[edit]
SMARTDRV[edit]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 6 and later.[1]
SORT[edit]
A filter to sort lines in the input data stream and send them to the output data stream. Similar to the Unix command sort. Handles files up to 64k. This sort is always case insensitive.[17]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
SUBST[edit]
A utility to map a subdirectory to a drive letter.[7] The opposite can be achieved via the JOIN command.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.1 and later.[1]
SYS[edit]
A utility to make a volume bootable. Sys rewrites the Volume Boot Code (the first sector of the partition that SYS is acting on) so that the code, when executed, will look for IO.SYS. SYS also copies the core DOS system files, IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM, to the volume. SYS does not rewrite the Master Boot Record, contrary to widely held belief.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
TELNET[edit]
The Telnet Client is a tool for developers and administrators to help manage and test network connectivity. [18]
TIME[edit]
Display the system time and waits for the user to enter a new time. Complements the DATE command.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
TITLE[edit]
Enables a user to change the title of their MS-DOS window.
TREE[edit]
It is an external command, graphically displays the path of each directory and sub-directories on the specified drive.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.2 and later and IBM PC DOS releases 2 and later.[1]
TRUENAME[edit]
The TRUENAME command will expand the name of a file, directory, or drive, and display the result. It will expand an abbreviated form which the command processor can recognise into its full form. It can see through SUBST and JOIN to find the actual directory.
MS-DOS can find files and directories given their names, without full path information, if the search object is on a path specified by the environment variable PATH. For example, if PATH includes C:PROGRAMS, and file MYPROG.EXE is on this directory, then if MYPROG is typed at the command prompt, the command processor will execute C:PROGRAMSMYPROG.EXE. In this case,
would display
This command displays the UNC pathnames of mapped network or local CD drives. This command is an undocumented DOS command. The help switch '/?' defines it as a 'Reserved command name'. It is available in MS-DOS 5.00.0. This command is similar to the which command, which, given an executable found in $PATH, would give a full path and name. The C library function realpath performs this function. The Microsoft Windows command processors do not support this command.<real code.st>
TYPE[edit]
Displays a file. The more command is frequently used in conjunction with this command, e.g. type long-text-file | more. TYPE can be used to concatenate files (type file1 file2 > file3); however this won't work for large files[dubious][citation needed]—use copy command instead.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 1 and later.[1]
UNDELETE[edit]
Restores file previously deleted with del. By default all recoverable files in the working directory are restored; options are used to change this behavior. If the MS-DOS mirrorTSR program is used, then deletion tracking files are created and can be used by undelete.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[1]
UNFORMAT[edit]
The UNFORMAT command is used to undo the effects of formatting a disk.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 5 and later.[1]
VER[edit]
An internal DOS command, that reports the DOS version presently running, and since MS-DOS 5, whether DOS is loaded high.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
VERIFY[edit]
Enables or disables the feature to determine if files have been correctly written to disk. If no parameter is provided, the command will display the current setting.[19]
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
VOL[edit]
An internal command that displays the disk volume label and serial number.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 2 and later.[1]
VSAFE[edit]
A TSR program that continuously monitors the computer for viruses.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 6 and later.[1]
XCOPY[edit]
Copy entire directory trees. Xcopy is a version of the copy command that can move files and directories from one location to another.
XCOPY usage and attributes can be obtained by typing 'XCOPY /?' in the DOS Command line.
The command is available in MS-DOS versions 3.2 and later.[1]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoapaqarasatauavawaxayazbabbbcbdbebfbgbhbibjbkblbmbnbobpbqbrbsbtbubvbwbxbybzcacbcccdcecfcgchcicjckclcmcnWolverton, Van (2003). Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN0-7356-1812-7.
- ^'MS-DOS choice command help'. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
- ^ ab'Caldera DR-DOS 7.03 User Guide'. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
- ^ Does not automatically appear in Help
- ^https://ss64.com/nt/expand.html
- ^graftabl | Microsoft Docs
- ^ abcEasyDOS Command Index
- ^DR DOS 6.0 User Guide. Digital Research. 1991.
- ^Cooper, Jim (May 2001). Using MS-DOS 6.22. Que Publishing. p. 455. ISBN0789725738.
- ^'MS-DOS mode command help'. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
- ^https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/tn-archive/cc722867(v%3dtechnet.10)
- ^MS-DOS and Windows command line msav command
- ^'MS-DOS msd command help'. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
- ^MS-DOS and Windows command line power command
- ^'Microsoft TechNet Rename (ren) article'.
- ^Karp, David Aaron; Tim O'Reilly; Troy Mott (2005). Windows XP in a nutshell. Nutshell handbook (2 ed.). O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 422. ISBN978-0-596-00900-7. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
- ^'Microsoft on 'sort''. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
- ^ Client must be activated from Admin
- ^'DOS Command: VERIFY'. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
Further reading[edit]
- Cooper, Jim (2001). Special Edition Using MS-DOS 6.22, Third Edition. Que Publishing. ISBN978-0789725738.
- Wolverton, Van (1990). MS-DOS Commands: Microsoft Quick Reference, 4th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN978-1556152894.
External links[edit]
| Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Guide to Windows Commands |
- Command-Line Reference : Microsoft TechNet Database 'Command-Line Reference'
- The MS-DOS 6 Technical Reference on TechNet contains the official Microsoft MS-DOS 6 command reference documention.
There are several guides to DOS commands available that are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License:
- The FreeDOS Spec at SourceForge is a plaintext specification, written in 1999, for how DOS commands should work in FreeDOS