WINDOWS DOS COMMANDS

What is a command prompt?

• Command Prompt is a command line interpreter application available
in most Windows operating systems. It's used to execute
entered commands.

• Command Prompt is officially called Windows Command Processor,

but it's also sometimes referred to as ​the command shell or cmd
prompt, or even by its filename, cmd.exe.
What is a command prompt?

Command Prompt can be found in the Start menu or Apps screen,

or use the Run command cmd.
Date command
• The date command can view or change the current date of the
system clock.

• Syntax

Simply type date on command prompt.

How to turn off user account control?
• Type regedit in run.

• Then Go to:
• Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Policies\System

• Go to Enable-LUA and type Value 0 and then click ok.

Time Command
• TIME with no parameters will display the current time
and prompt for a new value.

• Pressing ENTER will keep the same time.

• Syntax

• time

• time/t: Will not prompt for a new time to enter.

Help command
• Execute the help command without options to produce a list of
commands that are usable with the help command.

• The help command is a Command Prompt command that's used to

provide more information on another command.
Help command
• Syntax

• help

• help dir
md command
• Make Directory - Create a new folder/directory.

• Syntax

md [drive:]path [[drive:]path...]
md command
• Examples

• md fg

To make multiple directories with a single command

md alpha beta gamma

To create a subdirectory within a directory

md “a\b\c”
cd command
• CD (change directory) is a command used to switch directories in MS-DOS
and the Windows command line.

• Syntax

• cd Name of the new directory to be changed as present working directory.

• Example
• cd Desktop
rd command

• Remove (or Delete) a Directory.

• Syntax

RD pathname
Or RD /S pathname
Contt..

/S : Delete all files and subfolders in addition to the folder itself.

Use this to remove an entire folder tree.

/Q : Quiet - do not display Y/N confirmation

Examples of rd command
• rd /s a

It will first ask for yes/no confirmation and then delete directory
accordingly.

rd /s/q a
It will not ask for confirmation.
Path command
• If you enter the PATH command without options , the program will
display the currently set path designations.

• Syntax

• path
Chkdsk command
• Short for "check disk," the chkdsk command is a Command Prompt
command used to check a specified disk and repair or recover data on
the drive if necessary.
• Chkdsk also marks any damaged or malfunctioning sectors on the
hard drive or disk as "bad" and recovers any information still intact.

• Syntax

• chkdsk
cls
• The cls (clear screen) command allows users to clear all the contents
on the screen and leave only a prompt.

• Syntax

• CLS
Ver command
• Ver command prints the version of the Windows OS running on the
computer. This command does not have any options/switches.

• Syntax

ver
 Copy command

• Copy one or more files to another location.

• Syntax
COPY [options] [/A|/B] source [/A|/B] [+ source2 [/A|/B]...] [destination [/A|/B]]

COPY source1 + source2.. destination [options]

Example
• Copy from a different folder/directory:
COPY "C:\my work\some file.doc" "D:\New docs\newfile.doc“

• Create an empty (zero byte) file:

COPY NUL EmptyFile.txt

• Copy a file in the current folder

COPY source_file.doc newfile.doc
Example
copy “regedit.txt” “MSC IT SYNOPSIS”

This is the way when there is a need to copy in the current folder only.

copy "C:\Users\HP\Desktop\regedit.txt" "D:\My Content“

This is the way when there is need to copy the file from one drive to
another.
Type command
• In the Windows Command shell, type is a built in command which
displays the contents of a text file. Use the type command to view a
text file without modifying it.
• Syntax
• type [<drive>:][<path>]<filename>
 Type command
[<drive>:][<path>]<filename> Specifies the location and name of the file or files that
you want to view. If your <filename> contains spaces,
you must enclose it in quotation marks (for example,
"Filename Containing Spaces.txt"). You can also add
multiple filenames by adding spaces between them.
Type command
• Examples

• type “regedit.txt”

• This command will display the contents of the file “regedit.txt” on the
command prompt.
Type command
• If you display a binary file or a file that is created by a program, you
may see strange characters on the screen, including formfeed
characters and escape-sequence symbols.

• These characters represent control codes that are used in the binary
file. In general, avoid using the type command to display binary files.
find command
• FIND is a filter command (reads from input, transforms it, and outputs
it to the screen, to a file, or to a printer). FIND searches for a string of
characters you enter in the files you name.

• Syntax

• FIND [/V][/C][/I][/N] string [d:][path]filename[...]

Find command
• /V - Displays all lines not containing the specified string.
/C - Displays only the count of the number of lines that contained a
match in each of the files.
/I - Ignores the case of letters in the string search.
/N - Displays the found line preceded by the relative line number.
Examples : find command
find “g” xx.txt
Display those lines which contain “g”.

find /c "g" "xx.txt“

---------- XX.TXT: 10—Output

find /v "g" "xx.txt“

---------- XX.TXT--Output
Examples : find command
find /i "G" "xx.txt“
Ignore case

Output: ---------- XX.TXT

g
g
g
gg
g
g
g
g
g
gg
Echo command
• Display messages on screen, turn command-echoing on or off.

Syntax ECHO [ON | OFF]

ECHO [message]

ECHO /?
Echo command
• Type ECHO without parameters to display the current echo setting
(ON or OFF).

• Examples

• Echo hi
• Echo hello
Echo
• Command characters will normally take precedence over the ECHO
statement
•
e.g. The redirection and pipe characters: & < > | ON OFF
• To override this behaviour you can escape each command character
with ^

• Echo kind &beautiful

• This command will only display kind on the command prompt.
Echo
• Echo kind ^& beautiful

• This command will display both echo and beautiful on the command
prompt.

• Echo/?--- will display help

Echo text into a FILE
• The general syntax is:
Echo This is some Text > t1.txt

• Example

• Echo this is me>t1.txt

To create an empty (zero byte) file:

• Echo. 2>EmptyFile.txt

• To display a blank line

• Echo: hit enter

Set command

• Display, set, or remove CMD environment variables. Changes made

with SET will remain only for the duration of the current CMD session.

Syntax
SET variable=string
SET "variable=string"
SET "variable=" SET /A "variable=expression"
SET /P variable=[promptString]
 Conttt…

variable A new or existing environment variable

name e.g. _num
string A text string to assign to the variable.
/A Arithmetic expression .
/P Prompt for user input.
Examples of set command
• Type SET without parameters to display all the current environment
variables.

• Set

• Display variables that begin with 'P':

SET p
Examples of set command
• Type SET with a variable name to display that variable.

• Set a=hello

• Echo %a%

• Hello--output
Contt..
• Set /a b=70 + 8

• 78—output
• Set /p a=Enter value of a—prompts the user

• Enter the value of a

•3
• Echo %a%
•3