How To Find A List Of Simple DOS Commands

By Michael Collins

It's easy to find a list of simple DOS commands - however most of them only list a few of the more popular commands - they are not complete. A complete DOS command list is quite extensive.

MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. DOS stands for Disk Operating System. It is software, and it was written to control hardware - being the IBM PC. It was introduced in 1981 before Microsoft Windows was barely even thought of. DOS runs with a command line user interface. The last update of DOS was in 1994 to version 6.22.

On the DOS command line, you will find yourself at the "command prompt". This will look something like "C:\>". This tells you that drive C (hard disk) is where DOS expects to find whatever command you are about to run. If your files resided on a different drive, then you need to change the DOS prompt eg D:. The command prompt will then look like this "D:\>"

There's been a range of versions of DOS released since it's original release. These are:

1. PC-DOS

2. MS DOS

3. DR-DOS

4. 4DOS version

DOS will run very happily within windows if need be. Sometimes, issuing a DOS command on the command line can be a quicker option than going through the attractive interface Windows presents us with. It is in this situation that it could be advantageous to have a list of simple DOS commands on hand.

DOS can be used particularly useful in today's day and age when Windows crashes, and you need basic commands to talk to you computer without having to go through Windows.

You can actually achieve most basic things you want to achieve by typing DOS commands on the command line at the DOS prompt. This is where a list of simple DOS commands can be very handy.

The main DOS commands used mainly deal with directory and file management. There are 71 DOS commands for the DOS command shell provided with Microsoft Windows XP.

If you have a DOS user manual, this will be your best source when you are searching for a list of simple DOS commands.

About the Author:

A DOS manual containing the main DOS commands is a must have for anyone serious about computing. If you can't locate your original user manual, try this great little book on for size - have a look at www.easycomputersolution.com