CSC 240 Personal Computing for Programmers


Summary of important MS-DOS commands

These are by no means the complete list but these are the most important ones you will use in your professional careers.  You will see this material again.  Please practice using them on your own but be careful of what you will be deleting.

MS-DOS wildcards are * for string wildcard or ? for a positional wildcard.

DIR [file.ext] Displays the contents of the current (default) directory.
DIR/S [file.ext] Displays the contents of the current (default) directory and all subdirectories below it.
MKDIR or MD path Create a subdirectory.  Stands for Make Directory.  If no path is given, it assumes the directory should be created under the current (default) directory.
RMDIR or RD path Delete a subdirectory.  Stands for Remove Directory.  If no path is given, it assumes the directory should be created under the current (default) directory.  Directory MUST be empty to be able to be deleted.
COPY sourcefile targetfile Copies a file (sourcefile) to a destination (targetfile).
CD [path] Changes the current (default) directory to the given path.
CD.. Changes the current (default) directory to the parent directory of the current (default) directory.
CD\ Changes the current (default) directory to the root directory of the current drive.
DEL [file.ext] Delete a specific file(s).
DOSKEY Loads the Doskey program into memory. The Doskey program recalls MS-DOS commands and enables you to edit command lines and create and run macros.  Use the UP ARROW to recall the list of previously entered commands one by one.
MEM Displays the amount of used and free memory on your computer.  You can use the MEM command to display information about allocated memory areas, free memory areas, and programs that are currently loaded into memory.
RENAME file.ext newfile.ext Renames a file (file.ext) to a new name and/or ext (newfile.ext).