MS-DOS AND COMMAND PROMPT

History of MS-DOS

Who is the Founder of MS DOS?

Tim Paterson is know as the founder of MS DOS. The full name of Tim Paterson is Timothy Paterson.

What was the name of the Operating System (OS) that Tim Paterson designed and when was it designed by him?

The operating system that Tim Paterson designed was named QDOS and was designed by him in 1980. The full form of QDOS is Quick & Dirty Operating System.

What was the name of QDOS later renamed?

Later QDOS was renamed as 86-DOS. which was replaced by Seattle Computer Product. Because Team Paterson used to work for this company. Later it was also used by Intel company.

When did Microsoft purchase 86-DOS and what was its name?

Microsoft purchased 86-DOS in 1981 and It was named MS-DOS. Whose version was 1.0.

Versions of MS-DOS

1980 = Tim Paterson (QDOS)

1981 = DOS 1.0 (MICROSOFT) (Version start from here) – It was released for IBM.

1983 = DOS 2.0 (It was lunched to support Hard Disk and Drivers.)

1984 = DOS 3.0 (It was lunched to support larger Disk.)

1988 = DOS 4.0 (It was lunched to support Disk Shell introduced.)

1990 = DOS 5.0 (It was lunched to support Memory Management.)

1991 = DOS 6.0 ( It was lunched to support Disk Compression.)

1995 = DOS 7.0 ( This was support to windows 95. Which is used in memory optimization.

When was Windows 95 Lunch?

Windows 95 was lunched on 24 August 1995.

Parts of MS-DOS

DOS stored in = Floppy Disk

DOS Loaded in = RAM

3 Files of DOS are = 

• IO.SYS (Input Output System) – This is driver file.
• MSDOS.SYS – It is use for Kernel.
• COMMAND.COM – This is Command Line Interface (CLI).

Files in MS-DOS

• .C = Source File
• .ftn = Fortran File
• .pas = Pascal File
• .obj = Object File
• .exe = Executable File
• .bat = Batch File
• .bak = Backup File
• .dat = Data File
• .wav = Windows Sound File

File and Directory in MS-DOS

• File name in Dos = 8 Alphanumeric Characters + Dot + Extension
• Directory in DOS – Used to store files, 8 Characters used as file name in directory.

Directory Types in DOS

• Root Directory = C
• Current Directory = MithunInfotech
• Sub Directory = Computer
• C:\MithunInfotech\Computer

Wildcard Characters in MS-DOS

Wildcard Characters

• Two types of wildcard characters = (*) and (?)

1. * = It is use for Single Character Replacement.
2. ? = For search any numbers of characters.

Example – 

• C:\>del*.* = This command is use for delete all file and folder in this partition.
• C:\>dir??ch.C = This command is used to find all the files whose file name is coming last with ch.

PIPING in MS-DOS

Piping ( | ) = It is use to combine multiple commands on a single command.

MS-DOS COMMANDS

Two types of MS-DOS Commands.

• Internal Commands
• External Commands

1. Internal Commands = It is pre loaded commands. It is no external files required.
2. External Commands = It is not pre loaded commands. Its requires external files.

INTERNAL COMMANDS

1. CLS = Clear Screen
2. COPY CON = Create file + No modification
3. Copy = Copy the Content
4. CD or CHDIR = Change Directory
5. cd.. = Moves one level back to the parent directory.
6. Date = View system Date
7. DEL = Delete files (del*.* = Delete all files in directory)
8. DIR = Directory Listing (Size, Date & Time of files)
9. MD or MKDIR = Make Directory or Sub directory
10. Prompt = On/Off the Command prompt
11. RD/RMDIR = Remove a Directory.
12. REN = Rename file
13. TIME = Current System Time
14. Type = Display Content of file on screen
15. VER = Current Version of DOS

EXTERNAL COMMANDS

• External Commands are stored in external files.

• When external command executed, then external command loaded from secondary memory to primary memory.
• Extension of these files are .com, .exe, .bat.
• External Commands are format, move, attrib, more, chkdsk, tree, etc.

Commands:-

1. EDIT = Modify or change the data of a file.
2. XCOPY = Copy files and directory from one disk to another disk.
3. Label = create, change, or delete the volume label of a disk.
4. DISKCOPY = copies contents of A: to B: drive.
5. CHKDSK = Check a disk and display a status report.
6. TREE = View the list of directories and sub-directories.
7. DELTREE = remove a directory along with its contents.
8. DOSKEY = edits command lines and recalls commands.
9. FIND = searches for a specific text string in a file or files.
10. SORT = Arrange the data of a file in alphabetical order (A-Z, 0-9) or reverse alphabetical order.
11. FORMAT = Creates a new root directory and a File Allocation Table (FAT) for the disk.
12. BACKUP = Backs up one or more files from one disk to another. You can backup files onto either a hard disk or on a floppy disk.
13. RESTORE = Restores files that were backed up by using BACKUP command.

COMMAND PROMPT

How can Start Command Prompt?

Step-1

• Click on Start.
• Write CMD in search box.
• Click on Command Prompt.

Step-2

• Click on Start.
• Click on Windows System.
• Click on Command Prompt.

Step-3

• Press Windows Key +R
• Write CMD in Open box.
• Press Enter/Click on OK.

Step-4

• Double click on Desktop Icon of Command Prompt.

Step-5

• Click on Task bar Icon of Command Prompt.

WORKING ON COMMAND PROMPT

What is systeminfo Command?

It is use for know about System Information. It is displays machine specific properties and configuration.

Command = systeminfo

What is vol Command?

It is use to displays a current disk, volume, label and serial number.

Command = vol

What is ver Command?

It is use to displays the windows version.

Command = ver

What is date Command?

It is use to displays or sets the date.

Command = date

If we can see only day and date then we will use the command. 

Command = date /t

What is time Command?

It is use to displays or sets the system time.

Command = time

If we can see only time then we will use the command. 

Command = time /t

How to migrate from one drive to another drive?

It is use to migrate from one drive to another drive.

Command = write driver letter like as d, e, f, etc.

How to view the existed directories?

It is use to displays a list of files and sub directories in a directory.

Command = dir

What is change directory Command?

It is use to displays the name of or changes the current directory.

Command = cd folder name

How to change working directory to patent directory?

It is use to return the previews directory.

Command = cd.. (It is use to single step back)

Command = cd../.. (it is use to double step back)

How to create a new folder?

It is use to create a new folder/directory.

Command = mkdir folder name

If we can see this new folder then we can use dir command.

If we want to go to the this new folder and any other existing folder then we can use cd folder name command.

How to create a new file?

It is use to create a new empty file.

Command = type nul > filename.file extension (type nul > cmds.txt)

If we can see this new file then we can use dir command. 

How to rename the file?

It is use to rename the file name.

Command = ren existing file name with extension and then new file name with extension (ren cmds.txt cmd.txt)

If we can see this renamed file then we can use dir command.

How to write in a file?

It is use to write in any file.

Command = notepad file name (notepad cmd.txt)

After this command notepad will open there we can write anything and edit in this file.

What is copy command?

It is use to copy one file to another file.

Command = copy copy from file name space then copy to file name (copy cmd.txt demo.txt) if we want to overwrite then use command = y

What is delete command?

It is use to delete file.

Command = del file name (del cmd.txt)

What is move command?

It is use to move one or more files from one directory/Folder to another directory/Folder.

Command = move write file name which we want to move space then write folder name in which we want to move (move style.css css)

What is clear command?

It is use to clear the screen/ Clear the command prompt window.

Command = cls

How to view the content of an existing file?

It is use to displays the contents of a text file.

Command = type file name (type cmd.txt)

How to delete/remove a folder?

It is use to delete/remove a directory/folder.

Command = rmdir write folder name (rmdir css)

What is ping command?

It is use to check the network.

Command = ping google.com

What is ipconfig command?

It is use to check mac address and all other internet configure of our computer system.

Command = ipconfig /all