DOS COMMANDS
ATTRIB/AUTOEXEC.BAT/BACKUP/BUFFERS/CHDIR/CHKDSK/CLS/COMMAND/CONFIG.SYS/COPY/DEL/DIR/DISKCOPY/DRIVER.SYS/ECHO/FDISK/FILES/FIND/FOR/GOTO/HELP/INSTALL/LABEL/MKDIR/PATH/REM/RENAME/RMDIR/TREE/VDISK/VOL/XCOPY
Set or display the ARCHIVE or
READ-ONLY attributes on a file
See also
<BACKUP> <XCOPY>
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
3.0 and up
USE: ATTRIB [+R|-R][+A|-A][d:][path]
[filename][/S]
+R sets
the file attribute to READ-ONLY.
-R
removes the READ-ONLY file attribute, allows updating of the file.
+A sets
the archive bit.
-A
resets the archive bit.
d: path
filename specifies the file whose attributes will be changed.
(wildcards may be specified)
/S to
process all files in the specified directory and its
subdirectories. (This switch is valid for DOS 3.3 and later
versions).
EXAMPLE:
ATTRIB +R HELP.COM
The
above example sets the file 'HELP.COM' to a READ-ONLY status. The
archive
attribute is set whenever a file is modified, and is used by
<BACKUP>,
<RESTORE> and <XCOPY> to determine whether to process files based
on
their "modified" status.
Other non-MSDOS backup programs also may
examine
this attribute. Backup and copy
programs may or may not
remove
the archive bit, depending on settings.
Batch file run whenever the
system is booted
See also
<CONFIG.SYS> <SHELL>
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
1.0 and up
USE:
AUTOEXEC
If a
batch file named AUTOEXEC.BAT exists on the drive used to start
MSDOS,
then it is executed by the system when the boot procedure is
completed. It is also executed if a new primary command
processor is
loaded. The primary use of AUTOEXEC is to run
programs which are
required
whenever the computer is used, so that you do not have to
enter
them each time. For example, you may
wish to load <APPEND> and
<PRINT>. It can also be used to set <PATH> and
<PROMPT>, any other
environment
variables you usually use, and load any RAM-resident
software.
EXAMPLE:
PATH
C:\LOCAL\BIN;C:\BIN;C:\DOS C:\TC;C:\DBASE;C:\WP50
PRINT
/D:LPT1 /B:512
PROMPT
$e[s$e[1;69H$e[7m$t$h$h$h$e[0m$e[u$p$g
SET
COMSPEC=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM
VER
Backs up files from one disk
to another
See also
<RESTORE>
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: BACKUP d:[path][filename] d:[/S][/M][/A][/D:mm-dd-yy]
[/T:hh:mm:ss][/F:size]
[/L[:[d:[path]filename]]]
d:/path/filename
specifies the source drive (the drive that contains
the files that you want to back up).
The
second d: specifies the destination drive (the drive to back up
the
files to).
/S
includes all subdirectories in the backup.
/M
backs up files that have been modified since the last backup (files
with the archive bit set)
/A
backs up additional files to a diskette with back up files already
on it.
Without this option, all files on the backup diskette will
be destroyed.
/D:mm-dd-yy
backs up files that have been modified since a specific
date.
NOTE:
The following options /T, /F, and /L are new to DOS 3.3. Do not
try
them with earlier versions.
/T:hh:mm:ss
backs up files that have been modified on or after the
specified time on the date specified.
/F:size
formats the target diskette if it is not already formatted.
"size" indicates the type of disc
for the formatting program. The
following may be accepted:
160,180,320,360,1200 (kb - 5.25" discs)
or 720,1440 (kb - 3.5"discs)
/L
creates a log. If a file name is not
specified, the default is
BACKUP.LOG, and the file is stored in the
root directory of the
source drive. If a log file exists, the information is appended to
the end of that file. The first record of the file contains:
The date of the backup The time of the backup
Subsequent records contain:
Diskette number of the backed up file.
Full path and file name
of each backed up file.
Files
created using the <BACKUP> command must be <RESTORE>d to be useful.
EXAMPLE:
BACKUP C:/*.* A:/S
This
example will back up all files (in all subdirectories) on drive
C: to
drive A:.
NOTES:
Do not use on drives which have been <ASSIGN>ed, <SUBST>ituted or
<JOIN>ed.
Sets the number of disk
buffers allowed.
COMMAND
TYPE: System Configuration VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
BUFFERS = n[,m] [/x]
n must be a value from 1 to 99 specifying the
number of buffers to be
used.
The default value is two buffers.
MSDOS
4.x only:
m is is maximum number of sectors that can be
read or written in one
operation [1-8], default is 1
/x
places the buffers in expanded memory (the number of buffers may
then be up to 10000)
For
disk intensive applications such as a database, more buffers are
recommended. Adding more buffers can speed up certain
applications.
However,
if you set the number of buffers over 20 it may begin to slow
down
applications.
NOTE:
This command must be placed in the <CONFIG.SYS> file and is not a
normal
DOS command.
Displays or changes the current
working directory
See also
<MKDIR> <RMDIR>
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
CHDIR [d:][path]
or CD
[d:][path]
d: path
specifies the new drive and directory that will be made
current.
If no
parameters are used then the current drive and directory are
displayed. The root directory is represented by
"/". A path
beginning
with / is taken to be relative to the root directory, while
any
other path is relative to the current directory. The parent
directory
can be abbreviated to ".."
Analyzes the files and
directories on a disk
See also
<RECOVER>
CHKDSK
checks the disk directory for self consistency and displays the
total
and available disk and RAM memory.
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: CHKDSK [d:][path][filename] [/F][/V]
d: path
filename specifies a filename to check.
If a filename is
specified, CHKDSK will report the number of
non-contiguous areas
occupied by the file. Access to non-contiguous (fragmented) files
may be
significantly slower than to contiguous
files. Perform a <BACKUP>
and <RESTORE> to correct this
situation
/F
corrects errors found in the directory and in the file allocation
table. Other errors are noted, but not
corrected. The user is
prompted whether to allow each chain of
lost clusters to be
converted into a valid file. These files will be named with the
following naming convention:
FILEnnnn.CHK where nnnn is a four digit
number starting with 0000.
/V
displays all paths and filenames on the specified drive.
Clears the
screen.
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
CLS
Invokes a secondary command
processor
See also <SHELL>
<CONFIG.SYS>
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: COMMAND [d:][path][ctty-dev][/P] [/C
string][/E:nnnnn]
d: path
is the drive and path that DOS will look in for the COMMAND
processor.
ctty-dev
allows you to specify a different device (such as AUX) for
input and output.
/P
makes the secondary command processor permanent in memory. The
<AUTOEXEC.BAT> file is executed
following this command.
/C
string passes a string (a DOS command) to the command processor and
then exits automatically.
/E:nnnnn
is an integer that specifies the size (in bytes) of the
environment. The acceptable range of nnnnn
is from 160 to 32768.
(not available pre DOS 2.x). In DOS 3.1, the size is in paragraphs
(units of 16 bytes). Default size is 160 bytes.
EXAMPLE:
COMMAND /C CHKDSK B:
loads a
secondary command processor, runs the command <CHKDSK> on drive B
and
returns to the original command processor.
Setup system configuration and load
device drivers at boot time
See also <SHELL> <DEVICE>
<BREAK> <BUFFERS> <COUNTRY> <DRIVPARM>
COMMAND
TYPE: System configuration VERSION:
1.0 and up
If a
file CONFIG.SYS exists in the root directory of the disc used to
load
MSDOS, it is read by the system during the boot sequence and the
information
in it is used to customise the operating system. It is
also
used to specify DEVICE DRIVERS, which are programs used to access
external
devices on the computer. Device drivers
can only be loaded
when
the system is initialised and so must be listed in CONFIG.SYS.
IF no
config.sys file is found, no device drivers are loaded and all
of the
system default values are used for the variable parameters.
The
possible commands used in CONFIG.SYS are listed below:
<BREAK> set control-break checking
<BUFFERS> set number of disc buffers
<COUNTRY> set country specific defaults
<DEVICE> load a device driver
<DRIVPARM> define parameters for block devices
<FCBS> specify the number of FCBs that can be
open simultaneously
<FILES> set the number of open files that can
access MSDOS
<INSTALL> execute certain MSDOS commands during
CONFIG.SYS processing
<LASTDRIVE>
set the maximum number of drives you may access
<REM> add comments to CONFIG.SYS
<SHELL> specify file to execute on completion on
boot sequence
<STACKS> supports the dynamic use of data stacks
Copies a file (or group of files) to
the same or another disk
See also <XCOPY>
<VERIFY> <DISKCOPY>
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: COPY [/A][/B][d:][path] filename
[/A][/B][d:][path] [filename]
[/A][/B][/V]
or
COPY [/A][/B][d:][path] filename [/A][/B][+[d:][path] filename
[/A][/B]] [d:][path] [filename]
[/A][/B][/V]
or
COPY [/A][/B][d:][path] filename [/A][/B][+[[,,]d:][path]
filename [/A][/B]...]
[d:][path][filename] [/A][/B][/V]
The
first d: path filename specifies the source file.
The +
symbol will cause files to be joined together as they are
copied. For example: COPY FILE1+FILE2 FILE3 will copy the contents
of
FILE1 and FILE2 into FILE3. Multiple
files may be joined in one operation.
The
second d: path filename specifies the destination file.
When /A
(ascii) is used with the source filename, it will be copied up
to the
first end of file marker (Ctrl-Z). The rest of the file will
not be
copied.
When /A
is used following the destination file, an end of file marker
will be
added to the end of the file.
When /B
(binary) is used with the source filename, the entire file
will be
copied (including CTRL-Z). This is the
default.
When /B
is used following the destination filename, no end of file
marker
will be added to the end of the file.
/V
verifies that the data is copied correctly.
Wild
Card characters are allowed within or in place of filenames.
Wildcards
in the destination will be replaced by the corresponding
filename or part of
filename from the source file list.
Delete a file (or group of
files) from a disk.
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
DEL [d:][path] filespec /P
d: path
filespec specifies the file(s) to DELete.
wildcards are accepted.
/p
prompt before deleting each file. If
the filespec is *.*, DEL will
always prompt for verification.
ERASE
is a synonym for DEL
Lists the files in a
directory
See also
<TREE> <CHKDSK>
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: DIR [d:][path][filespec] [/P][/W]
d: path
filespec specifies the drive, path, and filenames to list.
wildcards * and ? are accepted.
/P will
PAUSE the listing each time a screen full of file names
appears.
You will be asked to press a key when you are ready to
continue.
This keeps the files from scrolling by faster than you
can read them.
/W will
list the files in a WIDE format. Only
the file names will be
listed and they will be listed five
across. You can fit a much
larger directory on the screen this way.
Copies the contents of one
diskette to another
See also <COPY>
<XCOPY> <BACKUP> <VERIFY>
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
DISKCOPY [d:[d:]][/1]
The
first d: is the source disk for the
DISKCOPY.
The
second d: is the destination disk for the DISKCOPY.
/1
copies only the first side of the disk.
If the
destination disk has not been formatted, then DISKCOPY will
format
as it copies (with the same number of sectors and sides as the
source
disc). If specified with no parameters,
DOS will perform a
single
drive copy on the default drive.
DISKCOPY
is for use on floppy disks only. An
attempt to use DISKCOPY
with a
fixed disk will not work.
DISKCOPY
makes a mirror image copy of a diskette on to another
diskette. As a result, any flaws or fragmented files
will also be
copied
over. The <COPY> or <XCOPY>
commands would work much better under
these
circumstances.
Device driver to allow access of
extra disk devices
See also <DEVICE>
<CONFIG.SYS>
COMMAND
TYPE: EXTERNAL VERSION:
3.2 and up
USE: DEVICE=DRIVER.SYS /D:ddd
[/T:ttt][/S:ss][/H:hh][/C] [/N][/F:f]
/D:ddd
specifies the physical drive number.
Value 0-127
/T:ttt
specifies the number of tracks per side.
Value 1-999 (default 80)
/S:ss specifies sectors per track. Value 1-99 (default is 9)
/H:hh specifies the maximum number of heads. Value 1-99 (default is 2)
/C specifies that changeline support is
available.
/N specifies that the disk is not removable.
/F:f specifies the device type.
0 = 160/180/320/360 kb 5.25"
1 = 1.2 Mb 5.25"
2 = 720 kb 3.5"
7 = 1.44 Mb 3.5"
NOTE:
The DRIVER.SYS device driver must be placed in the <CONFIG.SYS>
file and be used in
conjunction with the DEVICE = DRIVER command.
Control echoing of batch
commands to the screen
Enables
or disables the screen display of DOS commands during the
execution
of batch files.
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal (batch) VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
ECHO [ON] [OFF] [message]
or @ECHO OFF
ON turns ECHO on
OFF
turns ECHO off.
message
is a text message that will be displayed on the screen.
After
turning ECHO off, any batch file commands encountered by DOS
will
not be echoed to the screen.
(DOS
3.3, 4.x) When the @ symbol is used
before a REMark or before an
ECHO ON or ECHO OFF
command, that command will not be displayed.
Exit the command processor and
return to a previous one
See also
<COMMAND>
EXIT
explicitly quits the command processor and returns to the program
which
called it. This is usually used to
return to programs which
temporarily created a
secondary copy of command.com
Installs a partition on a hard
disk drive for MS-DOS
See also
<FORMAT>
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
FDISK
FDISK
is a menu driven program. If you have
any questions as to what
any
particular options do, you should refer to your MSDOS reference
manual. It should only be neccessary to use FDISK
when installing a
new
hard disc, or when modifying the partitions on an existing disc.
NOTE:
Be careful with this command because you will probably destroy
any data that is on your
disk.
Sets the number of open files that DOS
can access at any one time
See also
<CONFIG.SYS>
COMMAND
TYPE: System Configuration VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
FILES = nn
nn
specifies the number of files that can be accesssed via DOS system
calls
at one time. The acceptable values are 8 to 255 (default is 8).
Some
programs may open more files by bypassing the DOS system
services.
EXAMPLE:
FILES = 15
After
this command is placed in the <CONFIG.SYS> file, up to 15 files may be
open at
one time.
NOTE:
This command must be placed in the <CONFIG.SYS> file and is not a
normal DOS command.
Searches a file for a specific
string of text.
The
FIND command searches for a text string in a file or group of files.
If no
files are given, FIND reads standard input and can be used in a pipe.
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: FIND [/V][/C][/N]"string"
[[d:][path]filename...]
filename
is the file to be searched, with optional drive and path.
Several files may be listed, but no
wildcards are accepted.
/V
displays the lines that don't contain the requested string.
/C
displays the number of lines that contain a match of the string
/N
displays the number of each line that contains a match along with the
line of text.
"string"
is the string of text to search for. It
must be enclosed in
quotes. To include quotes in the string, use two
sets e.g. "this is a
""quoted
string"" "
If no
parameters are entered, all lines that contain a match of the
requested
string will be displayed. The string must be an exact match
(i.e the search is case
sensitive).
Repeats a command for several
variables in a batch file.
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal (batch) VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: FOR %%var IN (set) DO command
%%var
represents a variable that will be sequentially set to each value in
set. If the FOR command is used in a batch file,
%%var must be used, if
the FOR
command is used at the DOS level, only one % is required.
set
contains the actual values that %%var will represent when the command
is executed. willdcard file specifiers are allowed in
set.
command
is the DOS command that will be repeated.
In the command, %%var
will be
replaced by the value of the variable.
EXAMPLE:
FOR %%g IN(*.TXT) DO TYPE %%g
when
this command is encountered in a batch file, all files with the
extension .TXT will be
TYPEd (displayed on the screen).
Initializes a disk or partition to
accept MS-DOS files
See also <SYS>
<LABEL> <VOL>
FORMAT
checks for any defective tracks, and prepares the disk to
accept
DOS files. It creates the directory and
file allocation tables
(FAT)
and assigns a unique volume serial number.
It may also
optionally
copy the MSDOS system files to the new disc.
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: FORMAT d:[/S][/1][/4][/8][/B]
[/n:sectors][/t:tracks][/v:label]
[/f:size]
d: is the drive to be formatted.
/S copies the system files from the source disk
to the destination
disk and makes the disk bootable. There are three system files:
IBMBIO.COM IBMDOS.COM
COMMAND.COM
(these files may have different names
on non-IBM systems)
/1 formats a diskette on 1 side only making it
a single sided
diskette regardless of the drive type
used.
/4 formats a 360k (DSDD) diskette in a high
capacity drive. Such disks
may not always be read reliably by 360k
drives because of the narrower
tracks.
/8 formats a disk using 8 sectors per
track. (Obsolete - required to
remain compatible with version 1.1 of DOS)
/V will allow you to add a volume label to the
diskette being
formatted. Volume labels are a way to
identify individual
diskettes. The label (up to 11 characters) may be specified after /v
or will be prompted for when formatting is
complete.
/B formats a diskette using 8 sectors per track
and allocates space
for system files to be transferred later
(using the SYS
command). Using the /B option will allow
you to install any
version of the DOS system files.
(MSDOS
4.x extensions)
/t:tracks specifies the number of tracks to place on
the disc
/n:sectors
specifies the number of sectors to place on the disc
/f:size specifies the size of the diskette. MSDOS chooses the
appropriate number of tracks and
sectors. Allowable values are
160k 180k 320k 360k 720k 1200k
1440k (may be specified with
"k", "kb" or
neither). This cannot be used the /t or
/n
By
default, FORMAT will use the drive specification to determine the type
of disc
according to the the physical drive addressed by that letter. If
it is a
non-removable hard disc, FORMAT will request confirmation before
proceeding.
EXAMPLE:
FORMAT C: /S /V
FORMATS
drive C:, copies the SYSTEM files to drive C:, and prompts the
user
for a VOLUME LABEL.
NOTE:
FORMAT destroys any existing data on the disk, and ignores any
drive reassignments made
via the <ASSIGN> command.
Transfers control of a batch file
to a labelled line
The
command after the line containing the appropriate label is executed.
The
label cannot be on a line with any command.
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal (batch) VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
GOTO :label
In a
batch file, a label is a word preceded by a colon (:). These
lines
are ignored when the batch file is executed.
EXAMPLE: :begin
format a: /s
if errorlevel 0 goto end
echo An error occurred during
formatting
:end
echo End of batch file
KEY commands: Down arrow
Select next Topic
Up arrow
Select previous
Topic
Right arrow
Jump to next
Topic
Left arrow
Return to previous
Topic
SCREEN commands: Page control
PgUp/PgDn/Home/End
Scroll Up
- (minus key)
Scroll Down
+ (plus key)
OTHER commands: F1 Help (this screen)
Esc
Leave (program stays in
memory
Control Home
Main menu
Alt-T
Remove from memory
Hit the right arrow key to see a list of DOS
<COMMANDS>
Execute FASTOPEN, KEYB, NLSFUNC or SHARE
during boot processing
See also <CONFIG.SYS>
<FASTOPEN> <KEYB> <NLSFUNC> <SHARE>
COMMAND
TYPE: System configuration VERSION:
4.0 and up
USE: INSTALL=[d:][path]filename [parameters]
INSTALL
allows certain DOS commands to be executed during system
initialisation.
"filename" must be one of FASTOPEN.EXE, NLSFUNC.EXE,
KEYB.EXE,
SHARE.EXE, followed by any neccessary arguments. This is
useful
for ensuring that these commands are executed once only. If
they
were placed in <AUTOEXEC.BAT> they might be accidentally repeated
multiple
times.
NOTE:
This command must be used only in <CONFIG.SYS> and is not a normal
DOS
command.
Creates, modifies, or deletes a
diskette's volume label
See also <DIR>
<FORMAT> <VOL>
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
3.0 and up
USE:
LABEL [d:][volume label]
d: specifies the drive which contains the
diskette to be labeled.
volume
label specifies the label to be written on the disk. A volume
label can be up to 11 characters
long. If you do not specify a volume
label when using the LABEL command you
will be prompted for one.
The
volume label is reported by the <DIR> and <VOL> commands to show
you
which
diskette you are using. The label may
contain spaces, but not
tabs or
any of the following characters "*?/.,;:+=><[]()&^"
Creates a
subdirectory
See also
<RMDIR> <CHDIR>
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
MKDIR [d:]path
d:path
specifies the drive and path where the subdirectory will be
located. Path must be 63 characters long or less.
NOTE:
MKDIR and MD are identical commands
Sets the path of directories that DOS
will search for programs
See also
<APPEND>
The
current directory is always searched first.
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: PATH [[d:]path[[;[d:] path]...]]]
d:
path; d: path;... define the paths that DOS will search for
commands and programs. The paths are
separated by ";" and the maximum
length is 127 characters.
PATH with no arguments will report the current
path.
PATH
; will delete the current path.
COMMAND.COM
uses PATH to search for commands and programs.
The current
directory
is always searched first, followed by the directories in the PATH
command,
in the order specified. Executable
files have extensions .COM,
.EXE,
and .BAT . Within each directory the
search order is COM, EXE, BAT.
The
path is stored in the environment string PATH.
Displays a remark during the
execution of a batch file.
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal (batch) VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
REM [comment]
If ECHO
is on, the entire line is echoed to the screen during
execution
of the batch file. A comment is
generally used to display
messages
during execution or to remind the programmer what the parts
of the
batch files are for. Blank REM lines
can also be used in a
batch
file to improve readability.
EXAMPLE:
REM This is a test!
will
display the message:
REM This is a test!
(DOS
4.x and later) REM may also be used in <CONFIG.SYS>
Renames a file (or group
of files)
See also <COPY>
<REPLACE>
RENAME
changes the name of a file or group of files.
REN and RENAME are
the
same command. Wildcard characters
? and * are allowed in the
filenames.
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE: REN] [d:][path] filename filename
d: path
filename specifies the file(s) to be RENAMEd.
The
second filename is the new name for the file(s).
EXAMPLE:
REN *.C *.BAK changes the name of all
files ending with .C to
the
same name, but with .BAK as the extension.
NOTE:
RENAME may not move a file into another directory. There are
programs available which
can do this, without copying the file.
Remove a
subdirectory
See also
<MKDIR> <CD>
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
RMDIR [d:]path
d: path
specifies the subdirectory to remove.
The
subdirectory to be removed must be empty or RMDIR will not be
allowed. RD is identical to RMDIR.
Displays all directories and
subdirectories on a disk
See also
<DIR>
It can
also list all files in each directory and subdirectory, in a
tree
structured diagram.
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
TREE [d:][path] [/F] [/A]
d: is the drive whose directory paths will be
listed.
/F causes TREE to list the individual files in
each directory as
well as the paths
(DOS
4.x and later)
path
sets a starting path for the TREE command, rather than using the root
directory
/A tells TREE to use ascii characters instead
of the IBM extended
graphics characters. This is useful for printing on a printer
which
cannot handle the IBM graphics set. The older versions of tree
always used ascii characters only.
Sets up a virtual
(RAM) disk
See also <DEVICE>
<CONFIG.SYS>
Virtual
disks actually make your computers memory act like a disk
drive. As a result, a virtual disk will be much
faster than an actual
disk
drive. MSDOS supplies a device driver
to create this virtual
disc. Versions up to 3.3 were called
VDISK.SYS. Version 4 calls it
RAMDRIVE.SYS
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
3.0 and up
(DOS
3.0-3.3)
USE: DEVICE=VDISK.SYS[comment][bbb]
[comment][sss][comment][ddd] [/E[:m]]
comment
is a message containing normal text characters.
bbb is the size of the virtual disk in
kbytes. Values between 1K and
the memory available in your machine will
be accepted.
sss is the sector size in bytes. 128, 256, and
512 are the sizes that
will be accepted. A smaller sector size will utilize space
much
better, but a larger sector will improve
performance.
ddd is the number of files that the virtual disk
can hold. Values
between 2 and 512 are accepted.
/E will force VDISK to use the extended memory
(memory above 1
megabyte).
:m is the maximum number of sectors of data
that VDISK will transfer
at a time. The possible numbers for :m are 1 through 8.
EXAMPLE:
DEVICE=VDISK.SYS 200 256 64
sets up
a virtual disk with 200K storage space, 256 bytes per sector,
and 64
directory entries.
(DOS
4.0 and later)
USE:
DEVICE=RAMDRIVE.SYS [bbb] [sss] [ddd] [/E] [/A]
bbb is
the size of the virtual disk in kbytes.
Values between 16K and the
memory available in your machine will be
accepted. The default is 64k
sss is
the sector size in bytes. 128, 256, 512 and 1024 are accepted. The
default is 512. A smaller sector size will utilize space much better,
but a larger sector will improve
performance.
ddd is
the number of root directory entries that the virtual disk can
hold. Values between 4 and 1024 are
accepted. The default is 64
/E will place the virtual disc in extended
memory (memory above 1
megabyte). This cannot be specified with /A
/A will place the virtual disc in LIM expanded
memory. This cannot be
specified with /E
NOTE:
The VDISK.SYS or RAMDRIVE.SYS device drivers must be placed in the
CONFIG.SYS
file and be used in conjunction with the DEVICE = DRIVER
command.
NOTE:
The contents of a virtual disc will be lost when you reset or turn
off the computer.
Displays the VOLUME
LABEL
See also
<LABEL> <FORMAT>
COMMAND
TYPE: Internal VERSION:
2.0 and up
USE:
VOL [d:]
d: is
the drive whose VOLume label will be displayed. The default
drive is assumed if none is
specified.
Copies groups of files.
Subdirectories can be included
See also <COPY>
<VERIFY> <DISKCOPY>
XCOPY
copies groups of files based on various switches. It can copy
entire
subdirectory trees and is much more powerful than COPY.
COMMAND
TYPE: External VERSION:
3.2 and up
USE: XCOPY [d:][path]filename1
[d:][path][filename2] [/A][/D][/E]
[/M][/P][/S][/V][/W]
or XCOPY [d:] path [filename1] [d:][path][filename2]
[/A][/D][/E]
[/M][/P][/S][/V][/W]
or XCOPY d:[path] [filename1]
[d:][path][filename2] [/A][/D][/E]
[/M][/P][/S][/V][/W]
d: path
filename1 specifies the source drive, path, and filename.
d: path
filename2 specifies the destination drive, path, and filename.
/A copies only those files that have been
modified since the last
BACKUP /M or XCOPY /M.
/D copies files whose date is equal to or
later than the date
specified. If you wish to specify a date, the format is
/D:mm-dd-yy or whatever date format you
may have selected using
the <COUNTRY> or <SELECT>
commands.
/E causes XCOPY to create subdirectories on
the destination drive
as it copies.
/M copies only those files that have been
modified since the last
BACKUP /M or XCOPY /M. The /M option is identical to the /A
option except XCOPY /M will reset the
flags on those files that
have been modified since the last backup.
/P causes XCOPY to prompt you before copying
each file.
/S causes XCOPY to copy files in any
subdirectories below the
directory that XCOPY starts in.
/V causes XCOPY to <VERIFY> that the
data recorded was recorded
correctly.
/W causes XCOPY to wait for you to insert a disk
before beginning.
EXAMPLE:
XCOPY C:/ D:/ /S
will copy all files in all
directories from drive C: to drive D:.