Basic DOS Commands :-
| ATTRIB | displays or changes file attributes |
| CHDIR or CD | displays the name of the current directory or changes the current directory |
| CHKDSK | checks the status of a disk and displays a status report; it can also fix disk errors |
| CLS | clears the screen |
| COPY | copies one or more files to a destination you specify |
| DEL | deletes the files you specify |
| DELTREIE | deletes a directory and all the files and subdirectories that are in it |
| DIR | displays the files and subdirectories that are in the directory you specify |
| DISKCOPY | copies the entire contents of one floppy disk to another floppy disk. It writes over the existing contents of the destination disk as it copies the new information on it. |
| ECHO | displays or hides the text in batch programs when the program is running. |
| EDIT | starts MS-DOS Editor, a text editor you can use to create and edit ASCII text files. |
| DEL or ERASE | deletes the files you specify |
| EXIT | quits the MS-DOS command interpreter and returns to the program that started it, if one exists. |
| FASTHELP | displays a list of all MS-DOS 6 commands and gives a short explanation of each. |
| FIND | searches for a specific string of text in a file or files |
| FORMAT | formats a disk for use with MS-DOS |
| HELP | starts MS-DOS Help |
| MKDIR or MD | creates a directory |
| MEM | displays the amount of used and free memory on your computer |
| MORE | displays one screen of output at a time |
| MOVE | moves one or more files to the location you specify |
| MSBACKUP | backs up or restores one or more files from one disk onto another |
| MSD | Provides technical information about your computer |
| prints a text file while you are using other MS-DOS commands | |
| QBASIC | starts MS-DOS Qbasic |
| RD or RMDIR | deletes a directory |
| REN | changes the name of the file or files you specify |
| RMDIR or RD | deletes a directory |
| SCANDISK | starts a disk analysis and repair tool that checks a drive for errors and corrects any problems that it finds. |
| TREIE | graphicaly displays the structure of a directory |
| UNDELETE | restores files that were deleted previously by using the DEL command |
| VER | displays the MS-DOS version number |
| XCOPY | copies directories , their subdirectories, and files except hidden and system files. |
DOS commands
| Command and Usage | Examples |
| ATTRIB Change file attributes. + adds an attribute, – removes it. Attributes are: A=archive; R=read only; S=system; H=hidden. | ATTRIB -R -A -S -H <VIRUS.EXE> All these attributes will be removed from virus.exe. |
| C: Go to the C: drive. Similarly A: and D: etc. | C: |
| CD Change directory. When you change the directory, the prompt changes, showing the path of the directory you are currently in. Note, the directory is the term used by DOS for what Windows calls a folder. | CD\ takes you to the top of the directory tree (typically to C:). CD.. moves you one level up the directory tree (i.e. up towards the root directory). CD <DIRECTORYNAME> takes you to that directory. You can use one or more subdirectory names, separated by \ e.g. CD WINNT\Media takes you to the directory C:\WINNT\Media To change to another path, type the full path with slashes. e.g. CD \WINDOWS\SYSTEM |
| CLS Clear the screen. | CLS |
| DEL Delete one or more files in the current directory. Can be used with the * and the ? wildcards. DEL *.* will delete ALL files in the current directory, USE WITH CAUTION. (Note: DEL cannot be used to delete directories. Use RD to remove a directory.) | DEL <VIRUS.EXE> deletes virus.exe DEL *.JPG will delete all files with the extension JPG. DEL MY*.* will delete all files beginning with MY and with any extension. DEL MY??.* will delete files that are 4 characters long and begin with MY and with any extension. |
| DIR Displays the contents of a directory (folder). Note, the directory is the term used by DOS for what Windows calls a folder. These switches can be combined, so DIR /W /P will return multiple rows listing a page at a time. You can use the * and the ? wildcards to search for a particular file. The ? character represents ONE character, and the * character represents multiple characters. DIR *.* lists all the files in a directory. | DIR displays all files and folders in the current directory. Folders are indicated in the list by <DIR>. Files are usually listed by name. DIR /P displays the contents a page at a time, i.e. as many as will fit in your command line window. Press any key to display the next page. DIR /W displays the files/folders in multiple rows. This view gives less information per file. DIR *.JPG displays all files with the extension JPG in the current directory and all subdirectories. DIR MY??.* displays all files beginning with MY, exactly 4 characters long, and with any extension. DIR /S lists the contents of all subdirectories. DIR /AH displays all hidden files. |
| EDIT Runs DOS EDIT (a simple text editor). Useful for editing batch files and viewing logs. This command requires QBASIC.EXE to be present. | EDIT <VIRUSLOG.TXT> opens the file viruslog.txt and allows you to edit it. EDIT <NEWFILE.TXT> creates a new file called newfile.txt and opens it up for you to edit. |
| HELP Displays DOS Help. For help on an individual command, type HELP then the command for which you want more information. | HELP DIR displays information on the DIR command. |
| MD Make Directory creates a new directory below the current one. (The command can also be written as MKDIR .) | MD <NEWDIR> creates a new directory called Newdir. |
| PRINT Prints the specified file (if the printer is supported in DOS – many are not). | PRINT <LOGFILE.TXT> Prints LOGFILE.TXT |
| RD Remove directory. Removes a sub-directory of the current directory. The directory you want to remove must be empty of all files. (The command can also be written as RMDIR) | RD <DIRECTORYNAME> |
| RENAME Rename a file. You must use the full file name including the suffix. | RENAME <OLDNAME.EXE> <NEWNAME.EXE> |
| TYPE Displays the contents of a file on the screen. If you use this command on a file that is not a text file, the display will be unintelligible. Use with MORE to display the text on a page-by-page basis, and prevent it from scrolling off the screen. | is a pipe character. | TYPE C:\README.TXT|MORE |
| > When you run a DOS command, the output is usually sent to the screen. Use > to redirect output from the screen to a file. It runs the command preceding the >, creates a file in the current directory with the name you specify, and sends the information/output returned by the command, to that file. | COMMAND > FILENAME.TXT e.g. SWEEP > REPORT.TXT The details of any infected files reported by SWEEP are sent to a file called REPORT.TXT. |