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Intro To MS-DOS

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Intro To MS-DOS

Uploaded by

trizha2231
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MS-DOS

Introduction to MS-DOS
MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) was the Microsoft-
marketed version of the first widely-installed operating system in
personal computers. It was essentially the same operating system that
(Bill Gates's) young company developed for IBM as Personal Computer -
Disk Operating System in 1981. Most users of either DOS system simply
referred to their system as Disk Operating System. Like PC-DOS, MS-
DOS was (and still is) a non-graphical line-oriented commanddriven
operating system, with a relatively simple interface but not overly
"friendly" user interface. Its prompt to enter a command looks like this:
C:\>_
• MS-DOS does not care about anything called an icon, wallpaper or
screen saver. Rather than being considered as a Graphical User
Interface (GUI) MS-DOS is what is known as a command-line
interface. You type commands on what is called the command line.

• MS-DOS is a single-user, single-tasking computer operating system. In


spite of its very small size and relative simplicity, it is one of the most
successful operating systems that has been developed to date.
• In DOS, a file name consists of eight character followed by a 3
character file extension. The size of a file is restricted to a 4 byte file
descriptor, which limits a file’s maximum size to approximately 4
billion characters. The first release of DOS could not read or write to
disk drives so users could only read and write to a floppy disc.
The following is a list of DOS system files in the order that they are called during the
bootstrap process:

 IO.SYS - Located in the Root and defines basic Input/Output routines for the
processor.
 MSDOS.SYS
 CONFIG.SYS - This loads low level device drivers for hardware and memory
drivers such as HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE.
 HIMEM.SYS - Controls Extended Memory management in the extended
memory area. Located in C:\DOS and is not required for OS start-up.
 EMM386.EXE - Controls Expanded memory in the upper memory area.
 COMMAND.COM - This is the command specifier. It is responsible for the
command prompt and contains all the internal commands such as DIR,
COPY, and CLS.
 AUTOEXEC.BAT - Located in the Root and automatically executed at start-
up. Runs Programs (Prompt, WIN, CLS etc) and set commands (Path,
Comspec etc..). Also calls other batch files. This is not required for OS Start-
up.
The DOS interface is a command line prompt at which commands are
entered and can utilize wildcards such as the asterisk(*). Many of the
DOS commands are internal which means that they are stored in
COMMAND.COM.

DOS file names must be unique in the directory that they are located, can
be 8 characters or less and contain a 3 character extension. DOS names
cannot contain punctuation marks. The asterisk(*) and question mark(?)
can be used as wildcards in DOS. DOS includes a couple of keyboard
shortcuts that can be used. F1 will type in the previous command
entered 1 character at a time. F3 will enter the previous command with
one keystroke.
The Command Prompt
The command prompt - this is where you will see any output produced.
This screen, among being called a command prompt, is often referred
to as simply a DOS prompt, command line or a MS-DOS prompt.
All versions of Microsoft Windows have had an MS-DOS like
commandline interface (CLI).
How to get to a MS-DOS prompt / Windows command line Windows
OS users
1. Click Start.
2. Click Run.
3. Type cmd or command and press enter.
The standard window displays white text on a black background. This
color combination may make text difficult to read. To make the window
display black text on a white background, type the command: color f0
(that's the letter f followed by the digit zero 0). To go back to the
standard of white text on a black background, type: color

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.
TYPES OF DOS COMMANDS
• INTERNAL DOS COMMANDS These are commands located in the
random-access-memory (RAM) of the computer. Here are some of
the commonly used commands.

• EXTERNAL DOS COMMANDS Dos commands whose procedures are


read from the disk into the memory, executed from memory, and
then erased from memory when finished.
MS-DOS Commands
Viewing the Contents of a Directory (dir)
To view the contents of a directory Type the following at the command
prompt: C:\> dir

Make Directory (md)


Allows you to create your own directories in MS-DOS.
C:\>md test
The above example creates the "test" directory in the directory you are
currently in.
Change Directory (cd)
The cd command is an internal command used to switch directories in
MS-DOS
cd\ Goes to the highest level, the root of the drive.
cd.. Goes back one directory
cd Typing cd alone will print the working directory.
Remove Directory ( rd)
Removes empty directories in MS-DOS. To delete directories with files
or directories within them the user must use the deltree command.

IP Configuration ( ipconfig )
Useful for troubleshooting your internet connection. Displays the
current IP address of your computer and the DNS server address. If you
call your ISP (Internet Service Provider) for reporting a bad internet
connection, he will probably ask you to run
ipconfig.
To get your computers local network IP address, subnet mask, and
default gateway typing ipconfig alone will display this information as
shown below. Keep in mind this is only your local network information.
File Attributes (attrib)
attrib allows a user to change the properties of a specified file. Using
attrib, the user has the capability of changing the file to have any of the
below attributes.
attrib +r
Add the read-only attribute to a file so it cannot be modified until the
read only attribute is taken off.
attrib +h
Add the hidden attribute to the file causing it to be not be seen by the
average user.
attrib -h
This command will do the opposite of the above command. Instead of
hiding the file it will unhide the file if hidden.
copy
Allows the user to copy one or more files to an alternate location.
copy *.* a:
Copy all files in the current directory to the floppy disk drive.
copy myfile1.txt+myfile2.txt
Copy the contents in myfile2.txt and combines it with the contents in
myfile1.txt.

cls
Cls is a command that allows a user to clear the complete contents of
the screen and leave only a prompt.

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