List of DOS Commands – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
APPEND
answer
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 filename extension). The APPEND command guides the search for data files (such as text files).
question
ASSIGN
answer
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 5.00.
question
ATTRIB
answer
Attrib changes or views the attributes of one or more files. It defaults to displaying 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.
question
BACKUP and RESTORE
answer
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.
question
BASIC and BASICA
answer
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 Microsoft Windows NT (MS-DOS 5) does not.
question
CALL
answer
Starts a batch file from within another batch file and returns when that one ends.
question
CD and CHDIR
answer
The CHDIR (or the alternative name CD) command either displays or changes the current working directory.
question
CHCP
answer
The command either displays or changes the active code page used to display character glyphs in a console window.
question
CHKDSK
answer
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.
question
CHOICE
answer
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] Novell DOS 7[2] 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.[2] This command was formerly called ync (yes-no-cancel).[citation needed]
question
CLS
answer
The cls command clears the screen of all previously entered commands and other text.
question
Command
answer
The command command starts a new instance of the command.com command interpreter.
question
Copy
answer
The copy command does exactly that - it copies one or more files from one location to another.
question
Ctty
answer
The ctty command is used to change the default input and output devices for the system.
question
Date
answer
The date command is used to show or change the current date.
question
Dblspace
answer
The dblspace command is used to create or configure DoubleSpace drives. DriveSpace, executed using the drvspace command, is an updated version of DoubleSpace.
question
Debug
answer
The debug command starts Debug, a command line application used to test and edit programs.
question
Defrag
answer
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
question
Deltree
answer
The deltree command is used to delete a directory and all the files and subdirectories within it.
question
Dir
answer
The dir command is used to display a list of files and folders contained inside the folder that you are currently working in. The dir command also displays other important information like the hard drive's serial number, the total number of files listed, their combined size, the total amount of free space left on the drive, and more.
question
Diskcomp
answer
The diskcomp command is used to compare the contents of two floppy disks.
question
Diskcopy
answer
The diskcopy command is used to copy the entire contents of one floppy disk to another.
question
Doskey
answer
The doskey command is used to edit command lines, create macros, and recall previously entered commands.
question
Dosshell
answer
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.
question
Drvspace
answer
The drvspace command is used to create or configure DriveSpace drives. DriveSpace is an updated version of DoubleSpace, executed using the dblspace command.
question
Echo
answer
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.
question
Edit
answer
The edit command starts MS-DOS Editor, a tool used to create and modify text files.
question
Edlin
answer
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.
question
Emm386
answer
The emm386 command is used to give MS-DOS access to more than 640 KB of memory.
question
Erase
answer
The erase command is used to delete one or more files. The erase command is the same as the del command.
question
Exit
answer
The exit command is used to end the command.com session that you're currently working in.
question
Expand
answer
The expand command is used to extract a single file or a group of files from a compressed file.
question
Fasthelp
answer
The fasthelp command provides more detailed information on any of the other MS-DOS commands.
question
Fastopen
answer
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.
question
Fc
answer
The fc command is used to compare two individual or sets of files and then show the differences between them.
question
Fdisk
answer
The fdisk command is used to create, manage, and delete hard drive partitions.
question
Find
answer
The find command is used to search for a specified text string in one or more files.
question
For
answer
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.
question
Format
answer
The format command is used to format a drive in the file system that you specify
question
Goto
answer
The goto command is used in a batch or script file to direct the command process to a labeled line in the script.
question
Graphics
answer
The graphics command is used to load a program that can print graphics
question
Help
answer
The help command provides more detailed information on other DOS commands
question
If
answer
The if command is used to perform conditional functions in a batch file.
question
Interlnk
answer
The interlnk command is used to connect two computers via a serial or parallel connection to share files and printers.
question
Intersvr
answer
The intersvr command is used to start the Interlnk server and to copy Interlnk files from one computer to another.
question
Keyb
answer
The keyb command is used to configure a keyboard for a specific language.
question
Label
answer
The label command is used to manage the volume label of a disk.
question
Lh
answer
The lh command is the shorthand version of the loadhigh command.
question
Loadfix
answer
The loadfix command is used to load the specified program in the first 64K of memory and then runs the program.
question
Loadhigh
answer
The loadhigh command is used to load a program into high memory and is usually used from within the autoexec.bat file.
question
Md
answer
The md command is the shorthand version of the mkdir command.
question
Mem
answer
The mem command shows information about used and free conventional, upper, reserved, and extended (XMS) memory.
question
Memmaker
answer
The memmaker command is used to start MemMaker, a memory optimization tool.
question
Mkdir
answer
The mkdir command is used to create a new folder.
question
Mode
answer
The mode command is used to configure system devices, most often COM and LPT ports.
question
More
answer
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.
question
Move
answer
The move command is used to move one or files from one folder to another. The move command is also used to rename directories.
question
Msav
answer
The msav command starts Microsoft Antivirus.
question
Msbackup
answer
The msbackup command starts Microsoft Backup, a tool used to back up and restore one or more files.
question
Mscdex
answer
The mscdex command is used to provide CD-ROM access to MS-DOS.
question
Msd
answer
The msd command starts Microsoft Diagnostics, a tool used to display information about your computer.
question
Nlsfunc
answer
The nlsfunc command is used to load information specific to a particular country or region.
question
Path
answer
The path command is used to display or set a specific path available to executable files.
question
Pause
answer
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.
question
Power
answer
The power command is used to reduce the power consumed by a computer by monitoring software and hardware devices.
question
Print
answer
The print command is used to print a specified text file to a specified printing device.
question
Prompt
answer
The prompt command is used to customize the appearance of the MS-DOS prompt.
question
Qbasic
answer
The qbasic command starts QBasic, the MS-DOS based programming environment for the BASIC programming language.
question
Rd
answer
The rd command is the shorthand version of the rmdir command.
question
Rem
answer
The rem command is used to record comments or remarks in a batch or script file.
question
Ren
answer
The ren command is the shorthand version of the rename command.
question
Rename
answer
The rename command is used to change the name of the individual file that you specify.
question
Replace
answer
The replace command is used to replace one or more files with one or more other files.
question
Restore
answer
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.
question
Rmdir
answer
The rmdir command is used to delete a directory.
question
Scandisk
answer
The scandisk command is used to start Microsoft ScanDisk, a disk repair program.
question
Set
answer
The set command is used to display, enable, or disable environment variables in MS-DOS
question
Setver
answer
The setver command is used to set the MS-DOS version number that MS-DOS reports to a program.
question
Share
answer
The share command is used to install file locking and file sharing functions in MS-DOS.
question
Shift
answer
The shift command is used to change the position of replaceable parameters in a batch or script file.
question
Smartdrv
answer
The smartdrv command installs and configures SMARTDrive, a disk caching utility for MS-DOS.
question
Sort
answer
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.
question
Subst
answer
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.
question
Sys
answer
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.
question
Time
answer
The time command is used to show or change the current time.
question
Tree
answer
The tree command is used to graphically display the folder structure of a specified drive or path.
question
Type
answer
The type command is used to display the information contained in a text file.
question
Undelete
answer
The undelete command is used to undo a deletion performed with the MS-DOS delete command.
question
Unformat
answer
The unformat command is used to undo the formatting on a drive performed by the MS-DOS format command.
question
Ver
answer
The ver command is used to display the current MS-DOS version number.
question
Verify
answer
The verify command is used to enable or disable the ability of MS-DOS to verify that files are written correctly to a disk.
question
Vol
answer
The vol command shows the volume label and serial number of a specified disk, assuming this information exists
question
Vsafe
answer
The vsafe command is used to start Vsafe, a basic virus protection system for MS-DOS
question
Xcopy
answer
The xcopy command can copy one or more files or directory trees from one location to another
