Learning MS-DOS Basics - A Tutorial
This tutorial gives you an opportunity to try basic MS-DOS commands. By following the procedures in this section, you will learn to:
o View the contents of a directory
o Change from one directory to another
o Create and delete directories
o Change from one drive to another
o Copy files
o Rename files
o Delete files
o Format a floppy disk
The Command Prompt
When you first turn on your computer, you will see some cryptic information flash by. MS-DOS displays this information to let you know how it is configuring your computer. You can ignore it for now. When the information stops scrolling past, you'll see the following:
C:\>
This is called the command prompt or DOS prompt. The flashing underscore next to the command prompt is called the cursor. The cursor shows where the command you type will appear.
If your command prompt looks like the sample command prompt above, skip to the following section, "Typing a Command."
If your command prompt does not look like the example, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:
cd \
Note that the slash leans backward, not forward. You will learn more about the cd command later in the tutorial. If your command prompt still doesn't look like the example, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:
prompt $p$g
Your command prompt should now look like the example.
Typing a Command
This section explains how to type a command at the command prompt and demonstrates the "Bad command or file name" message.
• To type a command at the command prompt
1. Type the following at the command prompt (you can type the command in either uppercase or lowercase letters):
nul
If you make a typing mistake, press the BACKSPACE key to erase the mistake, and then try again.
2. Press
ENTER.
You must press ENTER after every command you type.
The following message appears:
Bad command or file name
The "Bad command or file name" message appears when you type something that MS-DOS does not recognize. Because nul is not a valid MS-DOS command, MS-DOS displays the "Bad command or file name" message.
3. Now, type the following command at the command prompt:
ver
The following message appears on your screen:
MS-DOS version 6.22
The ver command displays the version number of MS-DOS.
Continue to the next section, where you will use the dir command to view the contents of a directory.
Viewing the Contents of a Directory
In this section, you will view the contents of a directory by using the dir command. The dir command stands for "directory."
• To view the contents of a directory
1. Type the following at the command prompt:
dir
A list similar to the following appears:
Volume in drive C is MS-DOS_6.22
Volume Serial Number is lE49-15E2
Directory of C:\

WINDOWS <DIR> 09-08-92 10:27p
TEMP <DIR> 05-15-92 12:09p
CONFIG SYS 278 09-23-92 10:50a
COMMAND COM 53014 09-18-92 6:00a
WINA20 386 9349 11-11-91 5:00a
DOS <DIR> 09-02-92 4:23p
AUTOEXEC BAT 290 09-23-92 10:54a

7 file(s) 62931 bytes
8732672 bytes free
This is called a directory list. A directory list is a list of all the files and subdirectories that a directory contains. In this case, you see all the files and directories in the main or root directory of your drive. All the files and directories on your drive are stored in the root directory.
Changing Directories
Look at the list on your screen. All the names that have <DIR> beside them are directories. You can see a list of the files in another directory by changing to that directory, and then using the dir command again. In this case, you will change to the DOS directory.
Before you begin this section, make sure you have a directory named DOS by carrying out the following procedure.
o To make sure you have a directory named DOS
1. Look through the directory list on your screen for a line that looks similar to the following:
DOS <DIR> 09-02-92 4:23p
2. If you see a line like this, you have a directory named DOS. Skip to the next procedure, "To change from the root directory to the DOS directory."
If you do not see a line in the directory list indicating that you have a directory named DOS, type the following at the command prompt:
dir /s memmaker.exe
You will see a message that includes a line such as the following:
Directory of C:\DIRNAME