A
Complete List of MS-DOS Commands
Append
The
append command can be used by programs to open files in another directory as if
they were located in the current directory.
Attrib
The
attrib command is used to change the attributes of a single file or a
directory.
Break
The
break command sets or clears extended CTRL+C checking.
Call
The
call command is used to run a script or batch program from within another
script or batch program.
The
call command has no effect outside of a script or batch file. In other words,
running the call command at the DOS prompt will do nothing.
Cd
The cd
command is the shorthand version of the chdir command.
Chcp
The
chcp command displays or configures the active code page number.
Chdir
The
chdir command is used to display the drive letter and folder that you are
currently in. Chdir can also be used to change the drive and/or directory that
you want to work in.
Chkdsk
The
chkdsk command, often referred to as check
disk, is used to identify and correct certain hard drive errors.
Choice
The
choice command is used within a script or batch program to provide a list of
choices and return the value of that choice to the program.
Cls
The cls
command clears the screen of all previously entered commands and other text.
Command
The
command command starts a new instance of the command.com command interpreter.
Copy
The
copy command does exactly that - it copies one or more files from one location
to another.
Ctty
The
ctty command is used to change the default input and output devices for the
system.
Date
The
date command is used to show or change the current date.
Dblspace
The
dblspace command is used to create or configure DoubleSpace drives.
DriveSpace,
executed using the drvspace command, is an updated version of DoubleSpace.
Debug
The
debug command starts Debug, a command line application used to test and edit
programs.
Defrag
The
defrag command is used to defragment a drive you specify. The defrag command is
the command line version of Microsoft's Disk Defragmenter.
Del
The del
command is used to delete one or more files.
The del
command is the same as the erase command.
Deltree
The
deltree command is used to delete a directory and all the files and
subdirectories within it.
Dir
The dir
command is used to display a list of files and folders contained inside the
folder that you are currently working in.
Diskcomp
The
diskcomp command is used to compare the contents of two floppy disks.
Diskcopy
The
diskcopy command is used to copy the entire contents of one floppy disk to
another.
Doskey
The
doskey command is used to edit command lines, create macros, and recall
previously entered commands.
Dosshell
The
dosshell command starts DOS Shell, a graphical file management tool for MS-DOS.
The
dosshell command was only available up to MS-DOS 6.0 but most MS-DOS 6.22
installations were upgrades from previous versions so the dosshell command is
usually still available.
Drvspace
The
drvspace command is used to create or configure DriveSpace drives.
DriveSpace
is an updated version of DoubleSpace, executed using the dblspace command.
Echo
The
echo command is used to show messages, most commonly from within script or
batch files. The echo command can also be used to turn the echoing feature on
or off.
Edit
The
edit command starts MS-DOS Editor, a tool used to create and modify text files.
Edlin
The
edlin command starts the Edlin tool which is used to create and modify text
files from the command line.
Edlin
was only available up to MS-DOS 5.0 so unless your version of MS-DOS 6.22 was
upgraded from 5.0, you likely won't see the edlin command. Later versions of
Windows again included the edlin command.
Emm386
The
emm386 command is used to give MS-DOS access to more than 640 KB of memory.
Erase
The
erase command is used to delete one or more files.
Exit
The
exit command is used to end the command.com session that you're currently
working in.
Expand
The
expand command is used to extract a single file or a group of files from a
compressed file.
Fasthelp
The
fasthelp command provides more detailed information on any of the other MS-DOS
commands.
Fastopen
The
fastopen command is used to add a program's hard drive location to a special
list stored in memory, potentially improving the program's launch time by
removing the need for MS-DOS to locate the application on the drive.
Fc
The fc
command is used to compare two individual or sets of files and then show the
differences between them.
Fdisk
The
fdisk command is used to create, manage, and delete hard drive partitions.
Find
The
find command is used to search for a specified text string in one or more
files.
For
The for
command is used to run a specified command for each file in a set of files. The
for command is most often used within a batch or script file.
Format
The
format command is used to format a drive in the file system that you specify.
Goto
The
goto command is used in a batch or script file to direct the command process to
a labeled line in the script.
Graphics
The
graphics command is used to load a program that can print graphics.
Help
The
help command provides more detailed information on other DOS commands.
If
The if
command is used to perform conditional functions in a batch file.
Interlnk
The
interlnk command is used to connect two computers via a serial or parallel
connection to share files and printers.
Intersvr
The
intersvr command is used to start the Interlnk server and to copy Interlnk
files from one computer to another.
Keyb
The
keyb command is used to configure a keyboard for a specific language.
Label
The
label command is used to manage the volume label of a disk.
Lh
The lh
command is the shorthand version of the loadhigh command.
Loadfix
The
loadfix command is used to load the specified program in the first 64K of
memory and then runs the program.
Loadhigh
The
loadhigh command is used to load a program into high memory and is usually used
from within the autoexec.bat file.
Md
The md
command is the shorthand version of the mkdir command.
Mem
The mem
command shows information about used and free conventional, upper, reserved,
and extended (XMS) memory.
Memmaker
The
memmaker command is used to start MemMaker, a memory optimization tool.
Mkdir
The
mkdir command is used to create a new folder.
Mode
The
mode command is used to configure system devices, most often COM and LPT ports.
More
The
more command is used to display the information contained in a text file. The
more command can also be used to paginate the results of any other MS-DOS
command.
Move
The
move command is used to move one or files from one folder to another. The move
command is also used to rename directories.
Msav
The
msav command starts Microsoft Antivirus.
Msbackup
The
msbackup command starts Microsoft Backup, a tool used to back up and restore
one or more files.
Mscdex
The
mscdex command is used to provide CD-ROM access to MS-DOS.
Msd
The msd
command starts Microsoft Diagnostics, a tool used to display information about
your computer.
Nlsfunc
The
nlsfunc command is used to load information specific to a particular country or
region.
Path
The
path command is used to display or set a specific path available to executable
files.
Pause
The
pause command is used within a batch or script file to pause the processing of
the file.
When
the pause command is used, a "Press any key to continue…" message is
displayed.
Power
The
power command is used to reduce the power consumed by a computer by monitoring
software and hardware devices.
Print
The
print command is used to print a specified text file to a specified printing
device.
Prompt
The
prompt command is used to customize the appearance of the MS-DOS prompt.
Qbasic
The
qbasic command starts QBasic, the MS-DOS based programming environment for the
BASIC programming language.
Rd
The rd
command is the shorthand version of the rmdir command.
Rem
The rem
command is used to record comments or remarks in a batch or script file.
Ren
The ren
command is the shorthand version of the rename command.
Rename
The
rename command is used to change the name of the individual file that you
specify.
Replace
The
replace command is used to replace one or more files with one or more other
files.
Restore
The
restore command is used to restore files that were backed up using the backup
command.
The
backup command was only available up to MS-DOS 5.00 but the restore command was
included by default with later versions of MS-DOS to provide a way to restore
files that were backed up in previous versions of MS-DOS.
Rmdir
The
rmdir command is used to delete a directory.
Scandisk
The
scandisk command is used to start Microsoft ScanDisk, a disk repair program.
Set
The set
command is used to display, enable, or disable environment
variables in MS-DOS.
Setver
The setver command is used to set the MS-DOS version number that MS-DOS reports to a program.
Share
The
share command is used to install file locking and file sharing functions in
MS-DOS.
Shift
The
shift command is used to change the position of replaceable parameters in a
batch or script file.
Smartdrv
The
smartdrv command installs and configures SMARTDrive, a disk caching utility for
MS-DOS.
Sort
The
sort command is used to read data from a specified input, sort that data, and
return the results of that sort to the MS-DOS prompt, a file, or another output
device.
Subst
The
subst command is used to associate a local path with a drive letter. The subst
command is a lot like the net use command available in Windows except
a local path is used instead of a shared network path.
The
subst command replaced the assign command beginning with MS-DOS 6.0.
Sys
The sys
command is used to copy the MS-DOS system files and command interpreter to a
disk. The sys command is used most often to create a simple bootable disk or
hard drive.
Time
The
time command is used to show or change the current time.
Tree
The
tree command is used to graphically display the folder structure of a specified
drive or path.
Type
The
type command is used to display the information contained in a text file.
Undelete
The
undelete command is used to undo a deletion performed with the MS-DOS delete
command.
Unformat
The
unformat command is used to undo the formatting on a drive performed by the
MS-DOS format command.
Ver
The ver
command is used to display the current MS-DOS version number.
Verify
The
verify command is used to enable or disable the ability of MS-DOS to verify
that files are written correctly to a disk.
Vsafe
The
vsafe command is used to start Vsafe, a basic virus protection system for
MS-DOS.
Xcopy
The
xcopy command can copy one or more files or directory trees from one location
to another.
Did I Miss a DOS Command?
No comments:
Post a Comment