A Concise

Introductio
to MS-DOS

eitgatiii.::.;Se:Wdes.6%*F:FE,,,:;:ii:::.A.A..,....:*:. ....Mr"..: ..::,.., ..:, ,.....,,, -

 A Concise
Introduction
to MS-DOS
 ALSO AVAILABLE
(by the same author)

BP243 BBC-BASIC86 on the Amstrad PCs and IBM

Compatibles Book 1 - Language

BP244 BBC-BASIC86 on the Amstrad PCs and IBM

Compatibles Book 2 - Graphics and Disk Files

BP250 Programming in FORTRAN 77

BP258 Learning to Program in C

BP259 A Concise Introduction to UNIX

BP260 A Concise Introduction to OS/2

 A Concise
Introduction
to MS-DOS

by
Noel Kantaris

BERNARD BABANI (publishing) LTD.

THE GRAMPIANS
SHEPHERDS BUSH ROAD
LONDON W6 7NF
ENGLAND
 PLEASE NOTE

Although every care has been taken with the production of this
book to ensure that any projects, designs, modifications anchor
programs etc. contained herewith, operate in a correct and safe
manner and also that any components specified are normally
available in Great Britain, the Publishers and Author do not accept
responsibility in any way for the failure, including fault in design,
of any project, design, modification or program to work correctly
or to cause damage to any other equipment that it may be
connected to or used in conjunction with, or in respect of any
other damage or injury that may be so caused, nor do the
Publishers accept responsibility in any way for the failure to
obtain specified components.
Notice is also given that if equipment that is still under warranty
is modified in any way or used or connected with home -built
equipment then that warranty may be void.

© 1987 and © 1989 BERNARD BABANI (publishing) LTD

First Published - August 1987

Revised Edition 1989
Reprinted - September 1989
Reprinted - March 1990
Reprinted - September 1990

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:

Kantaris, Noel
A concise introduction to MS-DOS
1. MS-DOS (Computer operating system)
I. Title
005.4'3 QA76.6

ISBN 0 85934 177 1

Typeset direct from disc by Commercial Colour Press, London E7.

Printed and Bound in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading
 ABOUT THE BOOK
To help the beginner, this concise guide to PC/MS-DOS,
has been written with an underlying structure based on
"what you need to know first, appears first". However, the
book is also circular, which means that you don't have to
start at the beginning and go to the end. The more
experienced user can start from any section.

This book does not seek to replace the documentation you

receive with the PC/MS-DOS operating system, but only to
supplement and explain it. The book covers all the latest
PC/MS-DOS versions, including the whole range of
versions 3.x and version 4.0, as implemented by IBM for
their microcomputers, and by Microsoft on behalf of
manufacturers of other 'compatible' personal computers,
including the AMSTRAD PCs. The book covers both floppy
disc -based systems and hard disc -based systems as
applicable to the PC, XT, AT, PS/2 and compatible
microcomputers.

A separate section of the book deals with the

enhancements to be found in the new PC/MS-DOS version
4.0, one aspect of which is substantially different to earlier
versions of the operating system. This is due to the
addition of a DOS shell, a menu -driven graphical interface,
which make this version easier to use by newcomers to the
world of DOS. The menus employed in the DOS she are
consistent with those used in Microsoft Windows which,
according to the designers of this version, will make it
easier for those who are familiar with it to migrate to the
OS/2's Presentation Manager - a more advanced operating
system which seeks to replace PC/MS-DOS. However, as
OS/2 can only run on PCs based around the 80286 and
80386 processors, the millions of users with machines
based on the 8086 and 8088 processors will be confined to
the PC/MS-DOS operating system. Thus, the DOS shell of
version 4.0 will provide the closest link, be it only an
artificial one, between DOS and OS/2.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Graduated in Electrical Engineering at Bristol University
and after spending three years in the Electronics Industry
in London, took up a Tutorship in Physics at the University
of Queensland. Research interests in Ionospheric Physics,
lead to the degrees of M.E. in Electronics and Ph.D. in
Physics. On return to the UK, he took up a Post -Doctoral
Research Fellowship in Radio Physics at the University of
Leicester, and in 1973 a Senior Lectureship in Engineering
at The Camborne School of Mines, Cornwall, where since
1978 he has also assumed the responsibility of Head of
Computing.
 TRADEMARKS
MS-DOC and Microsoft Windows are registered trademarks
of Microsoft Corporation

IBM, PC, XT, AT, PS/2, PC -DOS and OS/2 are registered
trademarks of International Business Machines corporation

8086, 8088, 80286 and 80386 are registered trademarks of

Intel Corporation

Concurrent DOS and C -DOS are registered trademarks of

Digital Research Corporation
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank colleagues at the Camborne School of
Mines for the helpful tips and suggestions which assisted
me in the writing of this book.
 CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1

Structure of MS-DOS 3
Booting up the System 5

FILES & THE DISC. DIRECTORY 7

MANAGING DISC FILES 11

DATE & TIME Commands 11
FORMAT Command 11
SYS Command 13
Compatibility between disc drives 14
COPY & DISKCOPY Commands 14
DISKCOMP & COMP Commands 15
DELETE Command 16
RENAME Command 16
CHKDSK Command 17
XCOPY Command 17
COMMAND.COM Processor 18
THE DIRECTORY TREE 19
Managing Directories 22
THE EDLIN LINE EDITOR 25
Insert Command on a New File 26
List Command 26
Edit Command 27
The Insert Command on an Existing File 27
Delete Command 28
Move and Copy Commands 28
Search Command 28
Search and Replace Command 29
Exiting edlin 30
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION 31
The CONFIG.SYS File . 31
The AUTOEXEC.BAT File 35
Simple Batch Files 36
Additional Batch -file Commands 39
MANAGING YOUR SYSTEM 41
Changing the Access Date of a file 41
The SET Command 41
The TYPE Command 41
The VER and VOL Corns 42
The MORE and SORT filter Commands 43
The PRINT and PRTSC Commands 43
The BACKUP and RESTORE Commands 44
DOS VERSION 4.0 47
Installation 48
DOS Shell 48
COMMAND SUMMARY 51

GLOSSARY OF TERMS 63
INDEX 65
 INTRODUCTION
Most 16 -bit microcomputers use Microsoft's Disc
Operating System (MS-DOS) as tele prime means of
interaction between user and computer. Owners of IBM
PCs know this operating system as PC -DOS or DOS, which
is IBM's implementation of MS-DOS. The name MS-DOS
will be used throughout this book to distinguish this
operating system from another popular one, namely
Digital Research's Concurrent DOS (or C -DOS).
Since its inception in 1981, PC/MS-DOS has been the
standard operating system for personal computers and by
now is being used by more than 12 million people. As the
number of users increased over the years, so too has the
complexity of applications run on their PCs. To meet these
ever increasing demands, PC/MS-DOS has also increased
its functionality several times in the form of new versions,
as shown in the table below.
Version Date Main changes in functionality

1.0 1981 Original Disc Operating System

1.25 1982 Support for double -sided d scs
2.0 1983 Support for sub -directories
2.25 1983 Support for extended character set
3.0 1984 Support for 1.2MB floppy disc and
larger capacity hard disc
3.1 1984 Support for PC networks
3.2 1986 Support for 31/2" floppy disc
3.3 1987 Support for PS/2 range of computers
4.0 1988 Support for extended memory (EMS),
hard disc partitions beyond 32MB and a
graphical interface DOS shell

One aspect of version 4.0 of the PC/MS-DOS operating

system makes it different from earlier versions. This is the
result of the addition of a DOS shell - a menu -driven
graphical interface - which makes this version easier to
use for the newcomer to the DOS environment. The menus
employed in the DOS shell are consistent with those used
in Microsoft Windows which will make it easier for those
who become familiar with it to use the OS/2's Presentation
Manager at some later stage. Because of this substantial
difference between earlier versions of PC/MS-DOS and
version 4.0, the additional functions and advantages
gained by the latter's use are discussed in a separate
section of this book.
1
It is assumed here that the reader is familiar with handling
floppy discs, floppy and hard disc drives and that the
installation manual which comes with every
microcomputer has been read and complied with. What
this book tries to do is supplement the PC/MS-DOS
operating manual by explaining the various commands
with ample working examples which is something that
these manuals seldom seem to do. They are excellent as
reference purposes for those who already know, but
learning from them is almost impossible.
The MS-DOS operating system consists of a collection of
small, specialised programs that make up the working
environment which allows you to create and save
programs, copy or delete data files from disc or perform
other input and output (I/O) operations, such as finding a
program or a file on a particular disc or printing the
contents of that file on the printer. In general, MS-DOS is
the mirco's administrator and understanding the way it
works is very important. Running a computer without
understanding its operating system is similar to trying to
run a library without any knowledge of librar anship. Very
soon chaos will be the order of the day.
At first sight, the various commands within MS-DOS
might appear difficult to understand and remember,
particularly if the first encounter with them is made
through the operating manual which was designed, after
all, to act as a reference manual and was never intended to
be used to learn from it. However, there is a certain
simplicity in the way MS-DOS likes to receive instructions
and once this simplicity is understood, using its various
commands becomes natural.
This book seeks to bring to the forefront and exploit this
inherent simplicity in the MS-DOS operating system by
presenting, with examples, the principles of what you need
to know, when you need to know them. At the same time,
the book has been written in such a way as to also act as a
reference guide, long after you have mastered most
MS-DOS commands. To this end, a summary of the
commands supported by the MS-DOS operating system is
given in the last -but -one section of this book. The
commands are explained with relevant examples and, as
such, the section can serve as a quick reference guide.
2
The Structure of MS-DOS:
To understand how to use MS-DOS you must understand
its underlying structure. The various MS-DOS
administrative functions are contained in three, separate,
main files (later on, we will explain what files mean and
their naming convention). These are:
MSDOS.SYS
IO.SYS
COMMAND.COM
or IBMDOS.COM, IBMBIO.COM and COMMAND.CCM, in
the case of the IBM PC.
The first file is the core of the operating system, while the
second one, also called the Basic Input Output System
(BIOS), allows the core to communicate with the hardware.
It is the BIOS that is adapted by manufacturers of different
hardware so that the operating system can appear to
function in the same way, even though there might be
differences in hardware design. The last file,
COMMAND.COM, is the Command Processor which
analyzes what is typed at the keyboard, and if correct, finds
and starts execution of the appropriate command.
MS-DOS has over twenty built-in commands, normally
referred to as 'internal commands', instantly available to
the user as they reside in memory. In addition to these
internal commands, there are over forty 'external'
commands which are to be found on the System and
Utility discs supplied by the manufacturer of the operating
system. The machine program which makes up each of
these external commands is saved in a file under an
appropriate name with a .COM or .EXE extension to the
filename (more about this later). Collectively, these internal
and external commands make up the computer's Disc
Operating System. These commands will be examined in
detail in the following sections of this book.

3
Booting up the System:
To start up the computer, usually referred to as booting up
the system, the MS-DOS disc which contains the System
files (known as the System disc), must be in the A: drive for
a floppy disc -based system, or the files must have been
transferred on the C: drive for a hard disc -based system. It
is assumed here that you have followed the
manufacturer's instructions on how to format the hard disc
and transfer the System and all other files from the System
and Utility discs onto it. If this is not the case, then do so
before going on any further.
In short, when you receive your new computer, you need
to run a utility called FDISK (which stands for Fixed Disc)
which allows preparation of the hard disc to run DOS or
any other operating system. The utility allows you to
partition the hard disc in such a way as to allow more than
one operating system to reside on it. Normally, you'll be
using the hard disc to run MS-DOS only, on one partition.
Be very careful with this utility, because proceeding any
further with it will format your hard disc automatically,
without any warning, with consequent loss of all data that
might reside on it. Nonetheless, on formatting the hard
disc, the utility transfers onto it the two hidden system files
and copies the COMMAND.COM file onto it, but does not
copy the rest of the MS-DOS operating system files. To
achieve this, and assuming that the MS-DOS system disc is
still in the A: drive, type
A>COPY A:*.* C:
repeating the command with the second (utility) disc, if
there is one, inserted in the A: drive. However, before you
start using the FDISK utility, make sure that your computer
dealer has not actually done all this for you, is which case
FDISK is best left alone. Also, before using this utility, make
absolutely sure that you have read and complied with your
manufacturer's instructions on the subject.
If, after successfully booting up the system (indicated by
the appearance of a prompt A> or C>, for booting from a
floppy or hard disc, respectively), you were to type DIR
(followed by 'Return') to find the contents of the disc,
neither of the first two System files (MSDOS.SYS and
10.SYS) would appear on the DIRectory as they are hidden
so that you can not delete them. Only tie third file
(COMMAND.COM) would be displayed.
4
In addition to these three special files, there are a number
of other files supplied by MS-DOS which perform various
important tasks. These files are collectively known as the
MS-DOS utilities and will be examined in detail later. To be
able to distinguish between disc drives, MS-DOS refers to
them by a letter followed by a colon, e.g. A: or C: for the
prime drive of the appropriate system. In a twin disc -based
system, there are two drives; A: and B:, with drive A: being
the leftmost or uppermost of the two, while on a hard disc -
based system there is a floppy disc drive, A: and a hard
disc drive, C:. Users on networked systems can access a
network hard disc by assigning it as another drive on their
micro, namely as E: or Z:
On booting up the micro from a PC/MS-DOS System
disc, the following tasks are performed:
(a) A self test on its Random Access Memory (RAM) is
performed
(b) A check is made to see if a floppy disc is in drive A:,
and if there is, whether it is a System disc. If it is, it
boots the system from the A: drive
(c) If no floppy exists in drive A:, an attempt is made to
boot the system from drive C:, if there is one,
otherwise in the case of the IBM, it goes into Read
Only Memory (ROM) based BASIC
(d) Configures the system by executing the CONFIG.SYS
file
(e) Reads the BIOS and the MS-DOS operating system
(f) Loads into RAM the COMMAND.COM file so that
internal commands can be made available instantly
(g) Executes the commands within the AUTOEXEC.BAT
file, if one exists, otherwise it asks for the Date and
Time which can be reset at this point. Pressing the
Return key, confirms what is displayed.
Should you receive any error message while these tasks
are being performed, you could restart the process, after
rectifying the error, by pressing simultaneously the three
keys marked Ctrl, Alt and Del. This will reboot the system.

5
MS-DOS has over twenty internal commands built into it
which are instarrly available as they reside in memory.
These are:
Command Meaning Command Meaning
BREAK Set Ctrl Ereak on/off CD Change directory
CLS Clear Screen COPY Copy tile(s)
CTTY Change I/O device DATE Display/set date
DEL Delete file(s) DIR Display directory
ECHO Set Echo on/off EXIT Exit Command level
MD Make directory PATH Search alternative
PROMPT Change prompt directories
REN Rename 'ile(s) RD Remove directory
SET Change parameters TIME Display/set time
TYPE Display a file VER Display DOS version
VERIFY Check disc writing VOL Display disc volume

These commands (to be explained later), together with the

rest of the operating system, occupy some 40 Kbytes of
RAM, as they are loaded into memory on bcoting up the
system.
However, MS-DOS provides over forty additional
commands which, to avoid eating up more of the
computer's memory, reside on the System disc. These are
known as external commands and can only be invoked if
that disc is inserted in either drive A: or B: (for a floppy
disc -based system). For a hard disc -based system, these
additional commands would have been trarsferred onto
drive C: and can, therefore, be accessed directly from that
drive.

6
 FILES & THE DISC DIRECTORY
To see what files are held on the System disc, you must
access the disc directory by typing DIR at the A> prompt,
as follows:
A> DIR (and press the Return key)
The A> prompt will be displayed on booting up the system
if you are using a floppy disc -based system, otherwise the
prompt will be C>. Amongst the many files to be listed will
be the following:
Filename Extension Size Date Tme
APPEND COM 1725 18-05-87 12:00
COMMAND COM 24844 10-07-87 12:00
MORE COM 2377 18-05-87 12:00
ATTR I B EXE 8776 18-05-87 12:00
BACKUP EXE 23230 18-05-87 12:00
CHKDSK EXE 10272 18-05-87 12:00
DISKCOPY EXE 4992 18-05-87
EDLIN EXE 8018 18-05-87
FORMAT EXE 14567 18-05-87
LABEL EXE 3646 18-05-87
PRINT EXE 11840 18-05-87
RESTORE EXE 21632
SORT EXE 2794
SYS EXE 5232
ANSI SYS 1902
CONFIG SYS 77
VDISK SYS 6221

Note that a filename consists of up to 8 alphanumeric

characters (letters and numbers only) and has a three etter
extension, separated from the filename by a period, i.e.
COMMAND.COM or CONFIG.SYS, without any spaces in
between, unlike the listing appearing on your screen,
where the periods have been omitted and the extensions
have been tabulated. Some of these files might have
different extensions from the ones shown above, i.e.
BUCKUP.EXE might appear as BACKUP.COM in your
system, as the extensions tend to differ for different
versions of PC/MS-DOS. The size of each file (in bytes) is
also given on the listing together with the date and time it
was created, which again might differ for different
versions.

7
The extensions .COM, .SYS and .EXE are the most
common extensions of the files which make up MS-DOS.
They contain instructions which are executed directly by
the computer. Other extensions commonly used by
programs or users are:
.BAK .BAS .BAT .DAT .DOC .TXT .TMP

which indicate "backup" files, "Basic" programs, "batch"

files, "data" files, "document" files, "text" files and
"temporary" files, respectively.
Returning to the result of issuing the DIR command;
what is more likely to have happened in your case is that
the listing of the first half of the files on your disc have
scrolled out of view. In all, there are approximately forty
utility files on the System disc and you can only see the last
twenty or so. To stop the scrolling of a long directory, use
the /P option after the DIR command, as follows:
A> DIR/P

which will page the directory, displaying twenty files at a

time. Alternatively, you could see all these files on your
screen by using the /W option, as follows:
A> DIR/W

which lists the files sideways, as shown below:

APPEND COM COMMAND COM MORE COM ATTRIB EXE
BACKUP EXE CHKDSK EXE DISKCOPY EXE EDLIN EXE
FORMAT EXE LABEL EXE PRINT EXE RESTORE EXE
SORT EXE SYS EXE ANSI SYS CONFIG SYS
VDISK SYS

Note that in this case the information relating to the size of

each file and the date and time of its crea-.ion has been
omitted from the listing.
The slash (/) options in MS-DOS commands, like the /P
and /W in the DIR command above, are also referred to as
switches. However, as this name could be confused with
physical switches, the name options will be used
throughout.
You can limit the information which appears on your
screen by being more selective with the use of wildcards.
For example, to list all the .EXE files on your disc, type

8
A> DIR *.EXE

where the wildcard character "*" stands for "all" files.

Note that spaces are very importan-. to MS-DOS. Had you
not included a space after DIR in the above command,
MS-DOS would have responded with its favoured error
message,
Bad Command or fi le name

which does not tell you very much, except that ME -DOS
does not understand you!
The wildcard character "*" can also be used as part of
the filename. For example,
A> DIR BAS*.*

will list all the files with all extensions on the logged drive
(in this case drive A:), starting with the three characters
BAS, irrespective of the ending of the filenames. The full
MS-DOS command should also specify which drive you
want to access, but can be omitted if the command -efers
to the currently logged drive. Thus,
A> DIR BAS*.* or
A> DIR A:BAS*.* will access the specified files on drive
A:, while
A> DIR B:BAS*.* will access the specified files on drive
B:.

Alternatively, you can change the logged drive by s mply

typing its identification letter at the prompt. For example,
A> B: willchange the logged drive, indicated
by changing the prompt, to

which indicates that the currently logged drive is now B:.

All further commands which do not specify a difierent
drive, will access drive B:. To revert back to the previously
logged drive, type A: at the B> prompt.
A more precise wildcard is the query character "?" which
can be substituted for a single character in a filename. For
example, assuming that there are several consecutively
9
numbered files on your disc with filenames TEXT1.DOC to
TEXT999.DOC, typing
A> DIR TEXT?.DOC
will list all files with the extension .DOC, frcm TEXT1 to
TEXT9, but not those within the range TEXT10 to TEXT999.
On the other hand, using two consecutive query characters
in the filename, such as
A> DIR TEXT??.DOC

will list all files with the extension .DOC, from TEXT1 to
TEXT99, but exclude those within the range TEXT100 to
TEXT999.
To list all the files from TEXT1 to TEXT999 you must use
the wildcard character "*" in place of the single query, as
follows:
A> DIR TEXT*.DOC

Finally, typing
A> DIR *.*

will display all fi es with all extensions which, of course,

has the same effect as typing
A> DIR

Nevertheless, the *.* is worth noting as it is the most

useful three -character combination in MS-DOS and will be
mainly used in housekeeping commands to be explained
later.
Should you ever want to find out whether a particular file
exists on a disc, just type its name after the DIR command.
If the file exists, MS-DOS will display it, otherwise the
message
Fi Le not found
will appear on your screen.

10
 MANAGING DISC FILES
MS-DOS provides several commanas which help you to
manage your disc files efficiently. Some of these
commands are internal and some are external. If the
commands under discussion are external commands, it
will be pointed out so you can insert the System disc n the
logged drive which is the drive indicated by letter on the
screen prompt.
The DATE Command:
Typing the command
A> DATE

at the prompt, evokes the response

Current date is dd/mm/yy
Enter new date:
at which point you can either type a new date or press
Return to indicate that date is not to be changed. The
above date format assumes that you have included the
command COUNTRY=xxx (or equivalent in the case of
PC -DOS 3.3), where xxx is a three digit code representing
your country, in your CONFIG.SYS file (to be discussed
later), otherwise the date will be shown in mm/dd/yy
format.
The TIME Command:
Typing the command
A> TIME
at the prompt, evokes the response
Current time is Hrs:Mins:Secs
Enter new time:
at which point you can either type a new time or cress
Return to indicate that time is not to be changed.
The FORMAT Command:
One of the first things you will need to do, as a new user, is
to make a working copy of your System disc, or favoured
software package, or ;ust a backup copy of your programs
or data. Such packages and/or data are far too valuable in
terms of money or time invested in producing them to be
11
used continually without the safeguard of backup copies.
Again, it is assumed that in the case of a hard disc -based
system, your hard disc has already been formatted
according to your manufacturer's instructions when
setting up the system, and that all the MS-DOS external
command files have been transferred onto it.
A new floppy disc must be formatted before it can be
used by your computer's operating system. A floppy disc
that has been formatted in one computer, can only be used
in another computer if they are compatible and use the
same operating system.
To format a disc, in the case of a twin floppy based
system, insert the System disc in the A: drive, as FORMAT
is an external command and needs to be loaded into RAM
from the System disc. Then insert the new floppy disc in
the B: drive and type
A> FORMAT B:/S/V
In the case of a hard disc -based system, the logged drive
will be C: and apart from the prompt being different, the
new floppy disc is inserted in the A: drive. In this case, the
command is:
C> FORMAT A:/S/V
Drive A: (or C: in the case of a hard disc) is accessed
momentarily, the FORMAT utility file is loaded into RAM
and executed. You are then given instructions to insert a
floppy disc in drive B: (or A: in the case of a hard disc
system), and press Return to begin. Be very careful never
to format an already formatted disc (particularly the C:
drive), as all files that might be on it will be lost.
The /S option instructs MS-DOS to copy the two
hidden system files and the COMMAND.COM file
onto the newly formatted disc. This will be required if
you intend to use the disc to boot up the system.
The N option allows you to give a Volume label to
your new disc, after formatting is completed.
There are some additional options that can be used with
the FORMAT command which, however, are dependent on
the type of disc drive being used and size of disc. These are
as follows:
12
Disc type Disc size Parameters
160/180 KB 5.25" /1, /8, /4
320/360 KB 5.25" /1, /8, /4
1.2 MB 5.25" /4, /N, /T
720 kB/1.44 MB 3.5" /N, /T
where
/1 formats only one side of the disc.
/8 formats 8 sectors per track.
/4 formats 40 tracks with 9 sectors per track for 360 Kbytes
using a 1.2 Mbyte high -capacity disc drive. This option
must be used if you are using double -density and not
high -capacity, double -density discs in a 1.2 Mbyte
drive.
/N specifies the number of sectors per track to format,
written as /N:9 for nine sectors.
/T specifies the number of tracks, written as /T:40 for forty
tracks. To format a 720 Kbytes double -sided disc in a
high -capacity 3.5" disc drive (1.44 Mbytes), use options
/N:9/T:80.
If options /N or /T are specified, then both parameters must
be entered. All other options can be used separately or
omitted altogether from the command. Omitting :he /S
option from the FORMAT command saves disc space.

The SYS Command:

Should you change your mind after you have formatted a
disc without the use of the /S option, you can use the
external SYS command to transfer the System files from
the logged disc drive onto a previously formattec disc,
inserted in another drive. The command takes the form:
A> SYS B: in the case of a floppy disc -based system, or
C> SYS A: in the case of a hard disc -based system.
To successfully transfer the operating system to a disc with
this method, the disc must either be newly formatted or
else have space on it for the transfer of the operating
system by perhaps already having a different version of it
on the target disc. Finally, note that the SYS command
13
transfers only the two hidden files of the operating system
which means that you must use the COPY command (see
next section) to transfer the COMMAND.COM and
CONFIG.SYS files.
Compatibility between 360 Kbyte and 1.2 Mbyte disc drives:
The PC, XT and compatibles have 360 Kbyte double -sided,
double -density disc drives. Discs are formatted with 40 tracks
per side, 9 sectors per track with 0.5 Kbyte of information per
sector, resulting in 360 Kbyte capacity. The AT, XT286 and
compatibles have 1.2 Mbytes high -capacity double -sided
disc drives. Discs are formatted with 80 tracks per side, 15
sectors per track with 0.5 Kbyte of information per sector
resulting in 1.2 Mbytes capacity. However, each track takes
the same physical space as that of the 360 Kbyte drive, the
difference being that the 1.2 Mbyte drive writes tracks that
are half the width of the 360 Kbyte drive. Discs formatted on
1.2 Mbyte disc drives with the /4 option use only one half of
the width of each of the 40 tracks. This information can easily
be read by a 360 Kbyte drive (as a result of tolerance in signal
level), provided the other half of the track is completely clear.
Should you now use the 360 Kbyte drive to write to the disc,
information is written to the full width of the track which can
still be read by the 1.2 Mbyte disc drive (again, as a result of
tolerance in signal level).
However, any subsequent writing to such a disc using the
1.2 Mbyte drive, results in changes to only one half of the
track width. The result is half a track containing the new
information with the corresponding other half of the same
track containing the old, half -overwritten information, which
makes it impossible for the 360 Kbyte disc drive to make any
sense of it.
There are no such compatibility problems arising from the
use of 3.5" discs which have been formatted in 720 Kbytes
capacity in a high -capacity (1.44 Mbytes) disc drive and
subsequently used to read or write to them by either a 720
Kbyte or a 1.44 Mbyte disc drive.
The COPY Command:
To copy all files on the disc in the logged drive to the
disc in the B: drive, type
A> COPY *.* B:
Note the most useful three -character combination in
MS-DOS, namely *.* which means "all filenames with all
extensions".
14
However, if you wanted to copy a set of files from drive B:
to drive A:, while being logged onto the A: drive, type
A> COPY B:*.DOC A:
which means: COPY from B: drive all files with extension
.DOC to the A: drive.
The N option can be used at the end of the COPY
command to force MS-DOS to verify that the file(s) it has
copied can be read. For example,
A> COPY FORMAT.COM B:/V
will copy the formatting utility file FOWAT.COM from the
logged drive to the B: drive and force verification that the
file can be read.
The DISKCOPY Command:
Both the formatting and copying can be done in one go by
using the DISKCOPY command, as follows:
A> DISKCOPY B:
which will copy all the files from the logged drive, in this
case A:, to the B: drive and format the disk in the B: dr ve at
the same time.
WARNING: It is preferable to use the FORMAT and COPY
commands than use the DISKCOPY command when
copying all files from one disc to another. The reason is
that bad sectors are frozen out when formatting a disc with
the FORMAT command and the subsequent use of COPY,
avoids these sectors. The DISKCOPY command on the
other hand, seeks to make an identical copy (sector by
sector) of the original disc which means that it attempts to
write on bad sectors, if any, with consequent loss of
information.
The DISKCOMP and COMP Commands:
These two external utilities are most y needed if you use
the DISKCOPY command. The first one compares the
contents of two discs, while the second one compares the
contents of two files. The commands take the following
form:
A> DISKCOMP A: B: compares the discs in the A: and the
B: drives
A> COMP B: DISKCOPY. COM compares the JISKCOPY.COM file to
be found in the A: and the B: drives
15
The DELETE Command:
Unwanted files on a disc can be deleted, as follows:
A> DEL EXAMPLE.TMP deletes EXAMPLE.TMP on the A: drive
A> DEL B: EXAMPLE. TMP deletes EXAMPLE.TMP on the B: drive
A> DEL *.* deletes all files on the logged drive!
Luckily, the use of the DEL *.* command evokes the
response
Are you sure? (Y/N)
which acts as a safety net. It is a good idea to always check
what you are about to DELete from your disc by first using
the DIR command. For example, say you intenc to DELete all
the .TMP files from your disc. First use DIR *.TMP and if what
is displayed on screen is what you want to DELete, then type
DEL and press the F3 function key. This has the effect of
displaying on the screen the last command yoi_. typed on the
keyboard, minus the characters you typed prior to pressing
the F3 key. Thus, DEL replaces DIR and the use of F3 displays
the rest of the command. In this way you avoid making any
mistakes by re -typing.

The RENAME Command:

The REN command is used to rename files. As an example,
let us assume that we want to rename a file on the disc in the
logged drive from its current filename OLDFILE.DOC to the
new filename NEWFILE.DOC. This can be done as follows:
A> REN OLDFILE.DOC NEWFILE.DOC
Note the importance of spaces after REN and in between the
two file names. The command can be interpreted as:
Rename from fi lenamel to f Lename2
To rename a file on a disc in a disc drive other than the
logged drive, the disc drive specification must also be
included in the command, as follows:
A> REN B:OLDFILE.DOC NEWFILE.DOC
Note that, if you intend to rename a file and give it a filename
that already exists on disc, you must first delete the
unwanted file before renaming, otherwise MS-DOS will
refuse to obey your command, informing you that the
filename you have chosen already exists on disc.
16
The CHKDSK Command:
This command checks a disc, reporting whether it is
formatted as single or double sided, how many files are
stored on the disc, how much space they take and how
much space is still available. The command also checks the
RAM, reporting on both the total memory available and the
number of bytes still free. The command takes the form:
A> CHKDSK which checks the disc in the logged
drive, or
A> CHKDSK B: which checks the disc in the B: d-ive.
The additional /F option, allows CHKDSK to also do some
routine maintenance, namely fixing lost clusters. A cluster
is the minimum amount of space (one or more sectors)
that can be allocated to a file on cisc. Each disc has a
file -allocation table (FAT) where a rote is kept of which
clusters have been allocated to which file.
However, with heavy disc use, the file -allocation table
can be corrupted and using CHKDSK will report "lost
clusters found". The /F option, converts these irro files and
gives them the general name FILExxxx.CHK, where xxxx
starts with 0000 and increments by 1. These files car then
be checked and perhaps deleted if found to be useless.
The XCOPY Command:
The XCOPY command allows us to copy files and
directories, including lower level sub -directories, if they
exist (see following section for a full explanation of these),
to the specified destination drive and directory. The
command takes the following form:
A> XCOPY source-filespec destination [options]
where source filespec specifies the source file or drive
and directory you want to copy and destination can be the
drive to which you want this source file to be copied to.
Some of the options available (for a full list see the
'Command Summary' section) are as follows:
/D copies source files which were modified or or after a
specified date
/P prompts the user with "(Y/N?)" before copying files
/S copies directories and their sub -directories unless they
are empty
N causes verification of each file as it is written
17
The COMMAND.COM Processor:
This command starts a new command processor that
contains all internal commands. This is loaded into
memory in two parts: the resident part and the transient
part which can be overwritten by some programs in which
case the resident part can be used to reload the transient
part. The command takes the form:
A> COMMAND [options]
with the following available options:
/E specifies the environment size in bytes, with a default
value of 160 bytes
/P prohibits COMMAND.COM from exiting to a higher
level

/C executes a following command

An example of usage of this command, consider the
following statement which might appear within another
program:
COMMAND /C CHKDSK A:
which starts a new command processor under the current
program, runs the CHKDSK command on the disc in the A:
drive, and returns to the first command processor.
The use of this command will become much clearer after
we discuss batch files, later on in this book. It will then be
possible to appreciate how this command can be used to
allow one batch file to run from within anothe- - something
that is only possible since the arrival of PC/MS-DOS version
3.3. However, for the sake of completeness, this procedure
is explained here, even though it might not be appreciated
that much at this point. Thus, assuming that a batch file
(which is an executable program each line of which could
be activating an MS-DOS command) by the name
FIRST.BAT is being executed and the line
COMMAND /C SECOND.BAT
is encountered within it, then a second command
processor is loaced and program control is passed to the
SECOND.BAT batch file. As soon as execution of this file
ends, program control passes back to the next statement
within the FIRST.BAT batch file.
18
 THE DIRECTORY TREE
If you are using a system with normal capacity disc drives,
then organizing the files you keep on discs is relatively
straightforward. The usual method would be to keep
similar applications on the same disc, so that one disc
might contain files on word processing, another on spread
sheets, and another on databases. MS-DOS keeps track of
all such files by allocating space on each disc, cal ed a
directory, in which such information as the name of each
file, its size, the date it was last amended, etc, is kept.
However, as you move up to systems with high capacity
disc drives (1.2 Mbytes) and especially to systems with
hard discs of 10, 20 or more Mbytes, the amount of
information you can store on them increases so much. that
unless you organize tne way you keep your files on such
discs, you could easily spend all of your time try ng tc find
one.
MS-DOS can help you to organize your files on disc by
providing a system of directories and sub -directories. The
key to MS-DOS' system is the "root" directory, indicated
by the back -slash sign (\), which is the main directory under
which a number of sun -directories can be created. In turn,
each sub -directory can have its own sub -directories, as
shown below.

Root
Directory

BASIC Database 701 Comms Spread

Shee-.
Word Proc. Graphics

WPfiles SSfiles I GRfiles

19
The root directory is shown here with five sub -directories
under it, while two of these have their own sub -directories
below them. For maximum efficiency, the root directory
should contain only the System and start up files, together
with information on its sub -directories, a kind of an index
drawer to an office filing system.
Files in different sub -directories can have the same name
because MS-DOS can be told which is which via a system of
PATH names. For example, a file in the SSFILES sub -
directory could have the same name, say SALARY87.TMP, as
one in the GRFILES sub -directory. Nevertheless, we can
instruct MS-DOS to fetch the file in the SSFILES sub -directory
by giving its path name which is:
\SPREADSH SSFILES\SALARY87.IMP
whereas that of the file in the GRFILES sub -directory is:
\SPREADSH\GRFILES\SALARY87.TMP
In the example shown previously, the contents of the
various sub -directories might be as follows:
The root directory which contains the two
hidden System files MSDOS.SYS and 10.SYS,
the Command Processor COMMAND.COM,
the CONFIG.SYS file, the AUTOEXEC.BAT file,
the names of all its sub -directories (five in our
example), and a number of batch files
(corresponding to the sub -directories) which
allow direct access to the sub -directories from
the root directory.
BASIC A sub -directory containing all the BASIC
programs which came on your System disc
and the MS-DOS examples disc. These are
files which either contain the letters BAS, for
example BASICA or GWBASIC, or have a .BAS
extension.
DATABASE A sub -directory containing a database with
built-in word processor. Below this, there are
two sub -directories; one for the database files
(DBfiles), and one for the word processor files
(WPfiles). The actual files in these two
different sub -directories will most certainly
have different extensions; perhaps .DBS for
the DBfiles and .DOC for the WPfiles, but the
exact extension will be dictated by the actual
software package.
20
DOS A sub -directory containing all the MS-DOS
files comprising the external MS-DOS
commands.
COMMS A sub -directory containing communications
programs, propriety backup software, etc.
SPREADSH A sub -directory containing an integrated
spread sheet and graphics package. Below
this, there are two sub -directories, one for the
spread sheet files (SSfiles), and one for the
graphics files (GRfiles). Again, the actual files
in these two sub -directories will have different
extensions which more than likely w II be
dictated by the software package.
MS-DOS provides three special commands for the creation
and management of sub -directories. these are:
Command Meaning Example
MD Make sub -directory C> MD \BASIC
CD Change directory C> CD \BASIC
RD Remove directory C> RD \BASIC
These will be explained in detail shortly, but before we go
any further, it will be extremely useful and prudent to have
a prompt which indicates in which directory we are at any
given time. We can do this by changing the prompt from
always being C>, to indicate the PATH. To achieve this,
type
C> PROMPT $P$G

which after pressing Return, will change the prompt to

C:,>_
indicating that the current directory is the root directory,
shown by the back -slash N.
This change of the prompt is imperative because without
it you could be copy ng files to the wrong sub -directory
without realising it. This command should be included in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that it can be executed on
booting up the system.

21
Managing directories:
Before a directory can be used, it must exist. f it does not,
you can make it with the MD command.
To make the sub -directory called BASIC, so that you
could transfer to it all BASIC programs and files from your
MS-DOS System and examples discs, type the following
line
C: \> MD \BASIC
C:\>_
which makes the BASIC sub -directory of the root directory
and waits for further commands. Note that the full path
was given after the MD command, by specifying first the
root directory with the use of the back -slash (\) and then the
sub -directory by its name.
To transfer files from a disc in the A: drive, first change
directory using the CD command by typing
C:\> CD ,BASIC
C:,BASIC>_
which causes the prompt to change, indicating that
MS-DOS has actually changed directory. Without the
prompt change, you would have had the typical "where
am I?" problem. Note that the moment we create a
sub -directory we tend to refer to its parent as directory,
even though itself might be a sub -directory to another
parent directory.
To copy all BASIC programs and files to this directory,
place in turn each MS-DOS disc in the A: drive and type
C:\BASIC> COPY A:BAS*.*
C:\BASIC> COPY A:*BAS*.*
C:\BASIC> COPY A:*.BAS
C:\BASIC>_
Alternatively, we could have issued these commands from
the root directory without first changing directories. As an
example, the first line of the three copy commands given
above, would have to be typed as
C:\> COPY A:BAS*.* C:,BASIC
which, however, involves more typing on your part.
22
Should you be dissatisfied with the name of a directory,
you will have to make another directory giving it your
preferred name, copy to it all files from the unwanted
directory, delete all files from the unwanted directory, and
then remove the unwanted directory from its parent
directory. This procedure is essential because:
(a) you can not rename directories, and
(b) you can not remove directories unless they are empty.
As an example of the above procedure, let as assume that
we have created, as discussed previously, a sub -directory
to the root directory, called DATABASE. To have created
such a sub -directory, we would have had to return to the
root directory from whichever sub -directory we were at the
time, by typing
CDC

at the prompt.
We now proceed to create a sub -directory to the
DATABASE directory, called DOCBASE.
To create sub -directory DOCBASE, first change directory
from the root directory to that of DATABASE, as follows:
C:'\> CD DATABASE
C:\DATABASE>_

then make a sub -directory called DOCBASE by typing

C: \DATABASE> MD DOCBASE

at the prompt. Note that we have omitted the back -slash

from in front of the sub -directory name which causes it to
be made in the currently logged directory. Had we included
the back -slash, the sub -directory DOCBASE would have
been created as a sub -directory of the root directory.
Alternatively, we could make DOCBASE without first
changing directory by issuing the MD command from the
root directory, but giving the full path specification, as
follows:
C:'\> MD \DATABASE\DOCBASE

Having made sub -directory DOCBASE, copy into it your

files from the A: drive, as discussed previously.

23
Let us now assume that for some reason the directory
name DOCBASE offends you and you would like to change
it to WPBASE instead. To do this you will hEve to type in
the following commands, assuming you are at the root
directory.
C:\> CD \DATABASE
C: \DATABASE> MD WPBASE
C: \DATABASE> CD \DATABP.SE\WPBASE
C:\DATABASE\WPBASE> COPY \DATABASE,DOCBASE,*.*
C:\DATABASE\WPBASE> CD ,DATABASE,DOCBASE
C: ,DATABASE\DOCBASE> DEL *.*
Are you sure? (Y/N)Y
C: DATABASE\DOCBASE> CD DATABASE
C:,DATABASE> RD DOCBASE
C: DATABASE>_
In order of appearance, these lines of commands do the
following:
(a) change directory to DATABASE
(b) make a sub -directory called WPBASE
(c) change directory to WPBASE
(d) copy from sub -directory DOCBASE all files to the
logged sub -directory
(e) change directory to DOCBASE
(f) delete all files from logged directory
(g) MS-DOS asks for confirmation
(h) change directory to DATABASE
(i) remove sub -directory DOCBASE.
As you can see, the procedure is cumberscme, so think
how you want to structure your hard disc before plunging
into it blindly.
Re -structuring directories and sub -directories, moving
files from one sub -directory to another, or making backups
of groups of files, can be made easy if you use certain
propriety software. Such utilities can save you hours of
effort and frustration and are well worth the very small
initial outlay.

24
 THE EDLIN LINE EDITOR
MS-DOS provides you with a simple line editor, called
EDLIN, and you should become familiar with its use. In
general, edlin allows the creation and editing of ASCII files.
These are text files which when sent to the screen or
printer are interpreted as text, unlike the .COM files which
are binary.
Edlin can also be used to create the source code of
various programming languages, such as Fortran and C. In
such cases, remember to give the file the appropriate
extension. For the two languages mentioned above, -.hese
will be .for and .c, respectively.
To invoke edlin, the MS-DOS System disc or a disc that
contains it must be in one drive, and the file you went to
create or edit must be specified. Thus, typing the
command:
C: > edlin test.txt

expects to find both edlin and the fictitious file test.txt on

the disc in the logged drive (in this case C:), while typing
C:,> edlin A: test. txt

expects to find edlin on the disc in the logged drive and the
file test.txt on the disc in the A: drive.
If the file does not exist on the specified disc, then edlin
responds with
New File

and waits for further commands, while if the file already

exists, then EDLIN loads the file into RAM and responds
with
End of input file
*

Note the "*" prompt which is characteristic of edlin. Let us

now create a text file, called test.txt, which we will use to
demonstrate the power of edlin. To start, type a-. the
MS-DOS prompt
C: > ecl Lin t es t txt

which should cause edlin to respond with

25
New File
*

if that file does not exist on your disc. If it does exist and
you do not want to spoil its contents, then type q (for quit)
and press the Return key.

The Insert Command on a New File:

To insert lines of text, use the command i (for insert) at the
prompt. In the case of a new file, as no lines of text exist in
the file, type 1i and then type in the short text given below.
*1i
1:*f i rst line of text
2:*second line of text
3:*

After typing 1i at the prompt, edlin responds by giving a

new line number (in this case 1:) with an asterisk after it to
indicate that this is the current line. At this point we type
'first line of text'. On pressing the Return key, edlin gives us
an additional line number, now 2:*, into which we type
'second line of text'. Again, on pressing Return, we are
offered a further line number, and so on. To end the
insertion mode, type Ctrl -C. The character "C is the two -key
depression Ctrl -C (hold the key marked Ctrl down and
press the C key).

The List Command:

To see what text is in the file, type I (for list) at the prompt,
as follows:
*1
1: first line of text
2:*second line of text

The line numbers are inserted by edlin so that you can

refer to the line you want to edit. The * in line 2 indicates
that this line was the last to be edited or inserted when
edlin was used last. Note that now there is only one current
line. Should the file you are listing be very long, listing in
this manner causes the current line to appear in the middle
of the listing.
26
To list specific lines, use the I command with line numbers.
For example,
*5,15L

will list lines from 5 to 15 inclusive. Note the syntax of the

command which is: "From line number to line number
Command". There must be no comma between the second
line number and the command letter.

The Edit Mode:

To change the current line, type the new line number and
press Return. This puts you in edit mode and will cause the
line whose number you typed to be displayed. Pressing
Return again, confirms that you are happy with the
contents of that line, otherwise you can either press the
right cursor key to reveal each letter of that line, or re- type
the entire line, making any necessary changes. In our case,
we want to change line 2 to
second line of text, edited

so enter the edit mode and change the line appropriately.

This is best done by using the right arrow cursor key to
reveal the whole of the existing line and then typing the
extra information at the end of it. The Ins and Del keys can
also be used to edit the text.

The Insert Command on an Existing File:

To insert lines of text, use the command i (for insert) at the
prompt. However, be warned. Using i by its own will insert
the new line before the current line (the one with the * after
the line number). To insert lines at any other point, give the
line number before the command.
In our case, we would like to insert two addit onal lines
after the existing two. To do this, type
*3i
3:*thi rd line of text
4:*f ourth Line of text
5:* "C

Again, insertion mode is terminated in line 5: by pressing

Ctrl -C. If we now list the contents of the file, we get:
27
*l
1: first Line of text
2: second Line of text, edited
3: third line of text
4:*f ourth Line of text

The last line to be inserted becomes the current line.

The Delete Command:

To delete unwanted lines of text, use the d command (for
delete) at the prompt. However, if you use the d command
without any number associated with it, you will delete the
current line (the one with the asterisk). Therefore, if you
want to delete line 13, say, type
*13d

or if you want to delete a group of lines, type

*13,15d
which is translated as "lines 13 to 15 to be deleted".

The Move and Copy Commands:

To move or copy text, use the m or c commands (for move
or copy). These commands must be preceded by three
numbers, as follows:
*13,15,8m
which is interpreted as "lines 13 to 15 to be moved to a
position before line 8".
Similarly, the c command will copy a block and insert it
before the given line. To move or copy a single line, the
first two numbers in the command will have to be the
same. After moving or copying lines, always use the list
command to force renumbering of the file's contents.

The Search Command:

To search for the occurrence of a word cr a specified
number of characters in a file you have created using edlin,
use the search command. Just as in the list and delete
commands, a line range is first specified, followed by the s
(for search) command. Thus, typing
28
*1,4s edited

evokes the response

2: second line of text, edited

which displays the line containing the word 'ecited'.

Note that the space between the command s and the
word 'edited' becomes part of the search string. Had we
been searching for the characters 'con' within the word
'second', we would have had to omit the space between
the command s and the string 'con'.
The search command finds only the first occurrence of
the specified string. To continue the search for further
occurrences of the same string, simply type s again. Thus,
typing
*1,4sir
1: first Line of text
*s
3: third line of text
*

causes edlin to first find the string 'ir' in the word 'first' of
line 1:, then by typing s again, it forces edlin to find the
same string 'ir' in the word 'third' of line 3:.
The Search and Replace Command:
This command is similar to the search command, except
that it requires a replacement string. Thus, typing
*1,4r edited "Z re-edited

will cause all occurrences of the word 'edited' to be

replaced by the word 're-edited' in all the specified liies of
text. Here, of course, it only occurs once in line 2: of the
text. The character "Z is the two -key depression Ctrl -Z
(hold the key marked Ctrl down and press the Z key), which
acts as a delimiter between the two strings. Again note that
the space in front of both words becomes part of both the
searching and the replacing strings.

29
Exiting edlin:
To end the current session and exit edlin at any point, type
*e
which saves a new file under the chosen filename.
However, if the filename already existed on disc prior to
using edlin, ending edlin has the following effect: First the
name of the old file on the disc is given the extension .bak,
then the new file you have created by editing the old one is
saved with the original extension. In this way you can
make mistakes w.thout disastrous effects since the system
makes a backup 'He of the original. If need be, you could
DELete the .txt file and then REName the backup file (.bak)
to its original name and extension.
Note that edlin is disciplined not to allow editing of
backup files so, should you want to start using edlin to edit
the contents of a .bak file, you must first rename it, by
giving it a different extension, before proceeding.
If, on the other hand, you realised that too many
mistakes were made during editing, you could use the q
command to quit. as follows:
*q

instead of using the e command as discussed above. Doing

this causes edlin to ask you whether you want to abort.
Typing y (for yes), leaves the name and contents of the
original file on disc unaltered.

The edlin line editor supports a wealth of extra commands

which were not discussed above. The commands
presented are more than adequate for writing and editing
all but the most difficult programs. If you intend to write
complicated programs which might require extensive
editing, then it is best to use a full screen editor or your
word processor, provided, of course, your word processor
can export files it ASCII format.
30
 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
The CONFIG.SYS file:
This file allows you to configure your computer to your
needs, as commands held in it are executed during booting
up the system. The easiest way to create or amend this
system file is with the use of the line editor edlin, as
discussed in the previous section.
Do remember that if you are setting up your system for the
first time, you will need to create/change the CONFIG.SYS
file that exists on your System disc. If your system has
already been implemented by, say, your computer staff, do
not edit this file or use edlin to look at its contents (use
instead the type command), unless you have to and you
know precisely what you are doing, as the file contains
entries that MS-DOS uses to define specific operating
attributes.
To use edlin to change the CONFIG.SYS file, type
edlin CONFIG.SYS
which will cause edlin to respond (if both the line editor,
edlin and the CONFIG.SYS file exist on the disc in the
logged drive) by
End of input file
*
To see what text is in the file, type I (for list) at the prompt,
which will display the contents of the file as follows:

1: FILES=8
2:*BUFFERS=2
*

The meaning of each of these statements is explained

below. Now edit each line in succession by typing its
number and changing it appropriately as given below, then
enter the insert mode, by typing 3i, to add the two
additional lines. The final contents of the file should be:
FILES=15
BUFFERS=25
BREAK=ON
COUNTRY=044

31
To end the insert mode, press Ctrl -C on the 5: line and then
exit edlin by typing e. This will save your changed file as
CONFIG.SYS and the contents of the old file as CONFIG.BAK.
Do refer below for the meaning of each and every statement
you have been asked to change or add in your CONFIG.SYS
file.
Following is a list of the commands that you can include
within the CONFIG.SYS file which MS-DOS supports.
However, do remember that any changes made to this file
only take effect after re -booting which can be achieved by
pressing the three keys marked Ctrl, Alt and Del
simultaneously. A brief explanation of the commands is also
given.
BREAK By including the command BREAK=ON in the
CONFIG.SYS file, you can use the key
combination Ctrl -C (hold the key marked Ctrl
down and press C) or Ctrl -Break, to interrupt
MS-DOS I/O functions.
BUFFERS MS-DOS allocates memory space in RAM,
called buffers, to store whole sectors of data
being read from disc. The default number of
buffers is 2, each of 512 bytes of RAM. If more
data are required, MS-DOS first searches the
buffers before searching the disc, which
speeds up operations. The number of buffers
can be changed by using:
BUFFERS=n
where n can be a number from 1 to 99.
However, as each buffer requiresan additional
0.5 Kbyte of RAM, the number ycu should use
is dependent on the amount of available
memory. Best results are obtained by
choosing between 10-30 buffers, the exact
number being dependent on the size of the
application package being used in relation to
the size of your micro's RAM.
COUNTRY MS-DOS displays dates according to the US
format which is month/day/year. To change
this to day/month/year, use the command
COUNTRY=044
where 044 is for U.K. users.
32
 Non U.K. users can substitute their
international telephone country code for the
044. The default value is 001, for the USA.
Users of a hard disc with PC -DOS 3.3 should
enter this statement as
COUNTRY=044,437,C: \DOS COUNTRY.SYS
where 437 is the code page of pre -3.3 versions
of DOS and COUNTRY.SYS is to be found in
the \DOS sub -directory. In PC -DOS 3.:3 the
extended IBM character set has been changed
to accommodate several versions of it by
offering several choices on the characters
displayed or printed. If you are a newcomer to
DOS then use the multilingual code page 850
in which many of the scientific symbols and
box graphic characters have been replaced by
international characters. This allows more
Europian languages to be supported.
However, using any other than code page 437
might cause problems with some application
programs as not all would have adapted to the
new codes. For more details regarding the
new code page numbers and the requirrnent
of using the DEVICE= statement it the
CONFIG.SYS file when the new codes are
being used, see your DOS reference guide. No
additional DEVICE= statements are required
with code page 437.
CODEPAGE This command is to be found in PC/MS-DOS
versions 3.3 and later. The table that DOS uses
to define a character set is called a code page.
Thus include the command
CODEPAGE=437
where 437 is the code page definition of
pre -3.3 versions of DOS.
DEVICE MS-DOS includes its own standard device
drivers which allow communication with your
keyboard, screen and discs. However, these
drivers can be extended to allow other devices
to be connected by specifying them in the
CONFIG.SYS file. Example of these are:
33
 DEVICE=ANSI.SYS

which loads alternative screen and keyboard

drivers for ANSI support - features of which
are required by some commercial software.
DEVICE=MOUSEAnn.SYS

allows the use of specific mouse devices.

DEVICE=VDISK.SYS n

allows you to specify the size n in Kbytes

(default 64) of RAM to be used as an extra very
fast virtual disc. With computers which have
more than 640 Kbytes of RAM, the option /E
can be used after n in the command to allocate
the specified memory size from the extra area
of RAM.
DEVICE=DRIVER.SYS

allows you to connect an external disc drive.

DEVICE=EGA.SYS

provides mouse support for EGA modes.

DEVICE=COMn.SYS

specifies asynchronous drivers for the serial

ports, where for n=01 specifies an IBM PC AT
COM device, and n=02 specifies an IBM PS/2
COM device.
FILES MS-DOS normally allows 8 files to be opened
at a time. However, some software such as
relational databases, might require to refer to
more files at any given time. To accommodate
this, MS-DOS allows you to change this
default value by using:
FILES=n

where n can be a number from 8 to the

maximum required by your application which
usually is 20, although the maximum
allowable is 99.

34
LASTDRIVE This command is used if additional drives are
to be connected to your system, or you are
sharing a hard disc on a network. The
command takes the form:
LASTDRIVE=x
where x is a letter from A to Z (default E).
SHELL Manufacturers of some micros provide a
"front end" or an alternative Command
Processor to COMMAND.COM as real -mode
command -line processor. To invoke this, the
command SHELL must be included within the
CONFIG.SYS file. The command takes the
form:
SHELL=FRONTEND.COM
where FRONTEND is the name of the
alternative Command Processor. The default
value of SHELL is COMMAND.COM.

The AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

This is a special batch file that MS-DOS looks for during the
last stages of booting up and if it exists, the commands held
in it will be executed. One such command is the KEYBxx
which configures keyboards for the appropriate national
standard, with xx indicating the country. For the U.K., the
command becomes KEYBUK, and you will need to execute it
if your keyboard is marked with the double quotes sign on
the 2 key and/or the C sign over the single quotes key and/or
the £ sign over the 3 key.
To create the AUTOEXEC.BATfile, use the edlin line editor
as follows:
C:\> edlin AUTOEXEC.BAT
which expects to find edlin on the disc in the C: drive. If
AUTOEXEC.BAT does not exist on this disc, then edlin will
respond with
New Fi le

at which point you enter the insert mode, type the :-,ommand
and save the created file, as follows:
35
*i 1
1:*KEYBUK
2:* "C
*e
C:
Users of a hard disc with PC -DOS 3.3 should enter the
KEYBUK statement as
1:*KEYBUK 437 C:\DOS KEYBOARD.SYS
where 437 is the code page of pre -3.3 versions of DOS and
KEYBOARD.SYS is to be found in the \DOS sub -directory. As
mentioned previously under the COUNTRY section, in
PC -DOS 3.3 the extended IBM character set has been
changed slightly to accommodate several versions of it by
offering several choices on the characters displayed or
printed. Each such version is referred to by a specific code
page number which defines the character set to be used. If
you intend to use any other code page than 437, then you
should refer to your DOS reference guide.
There are a lot of other commands that can oe included in
the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, such as setting the PATH, changing
directory or executing a program. Such commands will be
discussed in detail in the next section. However, in the mean
time remember to re -boot the system in order to activate the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file after you have created it.
Simple Batch Files:
Naturally, we would like to be able to use the MS-DOS
external commands from anywhere within the directory tree
without having to specify where the commands are kept (in
this instance, we have transferred them into the DOS
directory). The same could be said for the programs kept in
the COMMS directory. This can be achieved by the use of the
PATH command, as follows:
PATH C:\;C:\DOS;C:\COMMS
which should be included in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Note
the repeated reference to the C: drive which a lows the path
to be correctly set even if the user logs onto a drive other
than C:.
By now you must have noticed that every time you boot up
the system, the commands within your AUTOEXEC.BAT file
are echoed (displayed) onto the screen. To clean up the
screen of such echoes, change your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to
include:
36
ECHO OFF
CLS
PATH C:\;C:\DOS;C: COMMS
KEYBUK
PROMPT $P$G
ECHO HELLO ... This is your
VER

which has the following effect. First echoing is switched off,

but only after executing the ECHO OF= command and thus,
to clear the screen of the displayed command, we employ
the CLS command (for v3.3 users these first two commands
could be replaced by @ECHO OFF which eliminates the
echoing of the command). Then, the path, keyboard and
prompt commands are executed unseen, until echo is
re -activated by executing the ECHO command with a trailing
message which is displayed on the screen, followed by the
version (VER) of your MS-DOS.
To complete the implementation of :he hard disc, we need
to create a few batch files in the root directory which wi I help
to run the system efficiently. For example, we might require
to know the exact name of a DOS or a COMMS command.
This can be arranged by creating a batch file for each to
display the corresponding directory, whenever the
appropriate name is typed. As an example, we will use the
edlin line editor to create the DOS.BAT file in the root
directory, as follows:
C:\> edlin DOS.BAT
New File
*1i
1:*ECHO OFF
2:*CLS
3:*CD \DOS
4:*DIR/P
5:*CD
6:*
*e
C:\>_

In line 3:, the directory is changed to that of DOS and line 4:

causes the contents of the DOS directory to be displayed
using the paging (/P) option. Finally, line 6: eturns the
system back to the root directory.
Thus, typing DOS, displays the DOS directory,whiletyping
any external MS-DOS command, invokes the apprcpriate
command.
37
A similar batch file can be built for displaying the COMMS
directory, the only difference being in line 3: of the file, so that
the correct directory is accessed and displayed. Furthermore, it
is most likely that the software packages you will be using in
place of our imaginary DATABASE and SPREADSH packages
(included as sub -directories to the root directory), require you
to type their name in order to activate them. However, most
packages also include a second file which is loaded from the
first when its name is typed. In such cases you cannot use the
PATH command within the AUTOEXEC file to point to the
particular package, as MS-DOS will search for the second file in
the root directory. To overcome this, you must use the
APPEND command, as follows:
APPEND C:\;C:\DATABASE
and you must include it within the AUTOEXEC.BAT file after
the PATH command.
However this command is not implemented in the IBM
PC -DOS versions discussed here. Instead, you will have to
write a special batch file to do the same job. As an example, let
us create the DATABASE.BAT file, again using the edlin line
editor, as follows:
C:> edlin DATABASE.BAT
New File
*1i
1:*ECHO OFF
2:*CLS
3:*CD\DATABASE
4:*DATABASE
5:*CD\
6:*C "
*e
C:>
which when activated by typing DATABASE, changes the
directory to that of DATABASE and loads the file DATABASE.
Any other files called from within that file will be found in the
correct directory.
Finally, it would be ideal if the language BASIC could be
accessed direct from the root directory. However, we can not
include the BASIC directory in the PATH command of the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, as we have done with the DOS and
COMMS directories, because there are three main versions of
the Basic language, two of which are included in the IBM
PC -DOS System disc (BASIC and BASICA; A for advanced),
and GWBASIC (which is Olivetti's implementation of the
language).
38
Instead, we have to create a rather special batch file in the
root directory, again using the EDLIN line editor, as
follows:
C:\> edlin BAS.BAT
New Fi le
*li
1:*ECHO OFF
2:*CLS
3:*CD \BASIC
4:*%1
5:*CD
6:* "C
*e
C:\>_
Note the variable %1 in line 4: which can take the name of
any of the three Basic languages mentioned above,
provided the appropriate variable name is typed after the
batch file name. For example, typing
C:\> BAS GWBASIC
at the prompt, starts executing the commands within the
batch file BAS.BAT, but substituting GWBASIC for the %1
variable. Thus, line 4: causes entry into GWBASIC,
provided it exists in the BASIC directory. Similarly, typing
C:\> BAS BASICA
causes entry into BASICA, again provided it exists in the
BASIC directory.
Additional Batch -file Commands:
Apart from the batch -file commands discussed already,
there are a number of additional commands which can be
useful when writing batch files. These are presented
below.
Command Action
FOR Repeats the specified MS-DOS command for
each 'variable' in the specified 'set of items'.
The general form of the command is:
FOR %%variable IN (set of items) DC command
where 'command' can include any DOS
command or a reference to the %%var. For
example,
39
 FOR %X IN (F.OLD F.NEW) DO TYPE %%X

will display F.OLD followed by F.NEW

GOTO label Trarsfers control to the line which contains
the specified label. For example,
GOTO end

:end

sends program control to the :end label

IF Allows conditional command execution. The
generaal form of the command is:
IF CH)T] condition command

where 'condition' can be one of

EXIST fi lespec
string1==string2
ERRORLEVEL=n

Each of these can be made into a negative

condition with the use of the NOT after the IF
command.
REM Displays comments which follow the REM
SHIFT Allows batch files to use more than 10
replaceable parameters in batch file
processing. An example of this is as follows:
:begin
TYPE %1 MORE
SHIFT
IF EXIST %1 GOTO begin
REM No more files

If we call this batch file SHOW.BAT, then we

could look at several different files in
succession by simply typing
SHOW fi lel fi le2 fi le2

as the SHIFT command causes each to be

taken in turn.
40
 MANAGING YOUR SYSTEM
MS-DOS provides several commands which help you to
manage and control your system's environment. Some of
these commands are internal MS-DOS commands and
some are external. First we discuss the internal
commands.
Changing the Access Date of a file:
If your computer is not fitted with a battery backed clock
and you have not been entering the correct time and date
on booting up the system, then all your saved 'iles will be
showing the default date 1/1/80 in the directory entry. To
change this date for a given file, set the current TIME and
DATE and type
C:,> COPY filespec + filespec

where filespec stands for drive, path, filename and

extension. Ignore the message "Content of destination file
lost before copy" given by MS-DOS when this command
has been executed.
The SET Command:
To find out what parameters have been set up, type
C:\> SET

at the prompt which would evoke the response

COMSPEC=C:,COMMAND.COM
PATH=C:\;C:DOS;C:\COMMS
PROMPT=SP$G

COMSPEC shows which Command Processor is being

used by the system, while PATH and PROMPT display the
corresponding commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
The TYPE Command:
This command allows you to see on screen the contents of
text files. The command takes the form:
C:\> TYPE filespec

This command is useful because it only lets you have a

look at the contents of files without changing the
environment in any way.
41
For example, if you ever wanted to find out what is held in
either the CONF.G.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files, then use
this command rather than the line editor edlin.
If the text file you are looking at is longer than one screen
full, then use Ctrl -S key sequence (while holding down the
key marked Ctrl, press the S key once) to stop the scrolling
of the display. Any key will start the display scrolling again.
Using TYPE on other than ASCII files (such as a .COM or
.EXE file) could cause your system to "hang" as a result of
attempting to display certain sequence of machine code
that might be contained in the file. If that happens, use the
Ctrl, Alt, Del key sequence to re -boot the system.
The TYPE command could be used to direct text files to
the printer by typing
C:\> TYPE EXAMPLE.TXT >PRN

where PRN stands for "printer" which is connected to the

parallel printer port.

The VER Command:

To find out which version of MS-DOS/PC-DOS you are
currently using, type
C:\> VER

at the prompt.
The VOL Command:
To find out the volume label of the disc in the logged drive,
type
C:\> VOL

at the prompt. If the disc was not labelled during

formatting, then the computer will respond with
Volume in drive B has no label
otherwise the appropriate label will be displayed.

42
The MORE filter Command:
This external filter command allows you to view text files a
page (23 lines) at a time - you are prompted to press a key
to display the next page. As such, it can be combined with
other commands to control scrolling of long ASCII files. For
example,
C:\> TYPE EXAMPLE.TXT MORE

or even used by itself (giving quicker response) as

C:\> MORE<EXAMPLE.TXT

can help you with viewing long text files if you are not used
to or quick enough to use the Ctrl S key sequence to halt
scrolling, after issuing the TYPE command.

The SORT filter Command:

One of the ways in which this external command can be
used is to sort and display alphabetically the contents of a
directory. For example,
C:\> DIR 1SORT

will sort the contents of the logged directory, including the

header and footer information, and display the result. For
long directories, use this command together with the
MORE filter, as follows:
C:\> DIR 1SORT MORE

to display the sorted directory a pace at a time.

A hard copy of the sorted directory of a disc could be
obtained by typing
C:\> DIR 1SORT >PRN

which re -directs output through the parallel printer port.

The PRINT Command:

The first time this command is used it has to be loaded into
memory as it is an external MS-DOS command. However,
from then on it resides in memory and can be used without
having to re -load it.

43
The PRINT command provides background printing, that
is, it can print long files while you are doing something else
with your computer. In fact, using this command provides
you with a print spooler which allows you to make and
control a queue of several files for printing. The command
takes the form:
C:\> PRINT fi lespec adds filespec to print queue
C:\> PRINT f i lespec /C cancels printing that file
C:\> PRINT /T terminates all printing
C:\> PRINT displays files in queue
The PRINT command assumes that you have continuous
paper in your printer. There is no facility to pause printing.
To print the two text files TEXT1.DOC and TEXT2.DOC,
type
C:\> PRINT TEXT1.DOC
C:> PRINT TEXT2.DOC
Wildcard characters can also be used in the command, as
follows:
C:'\> PRINT TEXT*.DOC
which will spool all the files starting with the characters
TEXT and having the extension .DOC to the printer.
The PRTSC Command:
Text which is displayed on the screen can be sent to the
printer by pressing the Print Screen (Shift-PrtSc) key.
On the other hand, pressing the Ctrl and Print -Screen
keys simultaneously causes re -direction of output to the
printer. To cancel the effect, repeat the same key stroke.
The BACKUP and RESTORE Commands:
The external BUCKUP command allows you to archive files
from the hard disc. Since your disc contains valuable work,
you must make additional copies of all your important
files. The BACKUP utility allows you to generate those
backup copies on floppy discs. If you have a hard disc, you
should use this utility often; daily if necessary. The
command takes the form:
BACKUP source destination options
where source is the drive/path/files to be backed up,
destination is the drive to backup to, and
options are:
44
 /A to add the files to a disc in the destination drive
/D: date to backup only files from the specified
date onwards
/M to backup only files modified since they were
last backed up
/S to also backup sub -directories of the source
path.
Thus, to backup, for the first time, all the wore processor
files whose path is \DATABASE\WPFILES, we type
C: > BACKUP C:\DATABASE,WPFILES*.* A:

while to backup only files modified since they were last

backed up, we type
C:\> BACKUP C: DATABASE WPFILES *.* A:/M

In both cases, the wildcard characters *.* ensures that all

files with all their extensions in the WPFILES sub -directory
are backed up.
The RESTORE external command allows you to de -
archive files. It is the only utility which can restore to the
hard disc files previously copied to floppy discs using the
BACKUP utility. The command takes the form:
RESTORE source destination options
where source is the drive to restore from,
destination is the drive/pathifiles to restore, and
options are:
/P to prompt Y/N? before restoring, and
/S to also restore files from sub -directories.
Thus, typing
C: > RESTORE A: C: DATABASE,WPFILES,*.*/P

restores selected files from the floppy disc in the A:: drive
to the sub -directory WPFILES in the C: drive.

45
 ***
MS-DOS has many more commands which can be used to
control a micro in special ways. However, this is an area
which lies outside the scope of this book. What was
covered here, together with the summary of the DOS
commands given in the last -but -one section of this book, is
more than enough to allow effective control of a
microcomputer.
***

46
 DOS VERSION 4.0
DOS version 4.0 ends the limit of 32MB partition on hard
discs by employing a 32 -bit File Allocation Table (FAT),
instead of the previous 16 -bit employed in earlier versions,
with the limit of single partitions now being stretched to 4GB.
If one of these partitions is less than or equal to 32MB, then it
would be possible to boot up the system from that drive with
DOS v3.x, otherwise not. The SHARE program is
automatically installed if a hard drive with greater than 32MB
is set, so programs that will not work with SHARE installed
will not run under DOS v4.0 on a large hard disc.
It also supports the expanded memory specification
(EMS), as developed by Lotus, Intel and Microsoft, which
breaks the 640kB barrier by exploiting the expanded memory
boards to store data associated with the BACKUP,
FASTOPEN and VDISK commands. These are made possible
with the use of two expanded memory drivers -
XMA2EMS.SYS and XMAEM.SYS. The first is for use with
systems based on the 8086, 8088 and 80286 processors,
while the second is for use with the 80386 processor.
Other improvements include extra video mode settings to
support displays of greater than 25 lines, as provided by
enhanced (EGA) and video (VGA) cards, and graphic screen
printing for EGA and VGA graphics adaptors. The GRAPHICS
program now allows the 'PrtSc' key to perform a graphics
dump from EGA and VGA screens to a variety of IBM
printers. The commands required to perform these can be
modified for other non -IBM printers. You specify your printer
during installation, but make sure that the printer is switched
on before booting up the system with DOS v4.0, otherwise
you'll be told by the installation program that the printer of
your choice is not supported!
Further additions or modifications to DOS commards are
described in the section 'Command Summary' with v4.0
commands being marked with a superscripted asterisk (*).
Perhaps it is worth mentioning that the resident parts of v4.0
require an additional 15kB of memory above and beyond the
requirement of v3.3, with an additional 300kB of memory for
loading the DOS shell which however is overwritten when
programs are loaded. The use of the DOS shell, which is
optional, will be discussed shortly. Finally, error messages
have been enhanced so as to at least give an indication as to
what might be wrong - a vast improvement on previous
versions of the operating system.
47
Installation:
To install DOS v4.0, you can use the SYS command on discs
with a previous installation of DOS, but newcomers or those
who want to redefine a drive with more that 32MB will have
to format their disc. A new menu -driven program, called
SELECT, can guide the user through installation and
automatically creates AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files.
After the introductory information screens in which it is
explained that in order to install DOS v4.0 one requires a
blank floppy disc, DOS asks the user to choose between
three levels of installation: minimum, balanced and
maximum DOS functionality, all of which are dependent on
the amount of memory available. Choosing any of these only
varies the amount of information that the installation
program writes to the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
files, with the maximum DOS functionality choice requiring
about 7kB more memory. However, since the files thus
created are unlikely to fit the needs of users with already
implemented systems, the choice of DOS functionality
becomes irrelevant. Such users can continue to use their old
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files.
SELECT then asks the user about the type of keyboard,
printer and the drive and directory onto which r.o install DOS
v4.0, at which point various configuration choices are offered
regarding the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. Once
accepted, the program first installs DOS on the blank floppy
disc, and then on the hard disc without any further
intervention on the part of the user. The installation process
creates two new files on the hard disc: AUTOEXEC.400 and
CONFIG.400 which contain all the options selected during
installation. Renaming these files with their appropriate
extensions provides bootable files. Users with already
implemented systems must be very careful before renaming
these files, as they will loose their existing ones.
DOS Shell:
One aspect of v4.0 of the operating system makes it
substantially different to earlier versions. This is the result of
the addition of a DOS shell into v4.0, a menu -driven graphics
interface, which makes this version easier to use for
newcomers to the DOS environment; the experienced user
can continue to use the command line. The menus employed
in the DOS shell are consistent with those used in Microsoft
Windows which will make it easier for those who become
familiar with it to migrate to the OS/2's Presentation Manager
- a more advanced operating system which seeks to replace
PC/MS-DOS.
48
However, as OS/2 will only run on PCs based around the
80286 and 80386 processors, the twelve million users with
machines based on the 8086 and 8088 processors will be
confined to the PC/MS-DOS operating system. Thus, the DOS
shell of v4.0 will provide the closest link, be it only an art ficial
one, between DOS and OS/2.
When the program first loads, normally as a result of the
last entry in the AUTOEXEC.BAT in the name of DOSSHELL,
the user is presented with the Start Program screen (see
Fig.1). Along the top and below the date and time bar, there
is an action bar with three pull -down menus with the
captions Program, Group and Exit. This action bar can be
accessed with use of the F10 function key, with Fl providing
help. The first two of these options allow the user tc add
applications to the program list, change their information, or
create more than one list. However, to achieve these the user
must be capable of writing short code -eminiscent to that of
batch files.

06-10-00 Start Programs 11:55 an

Pro9an Group Exit
Main Group
To select an iten, use the up and down arrews.
To start a program ur display a new group, press Enter.

Cuomond Prompt
File Systen
Change Colors
DOS Utilities...

flO=Metions ShiftP9-Gormand Front

Fig. 1. The Start Program screen with a rhenu of options.

49
On the main part of the screen is a menu of options, the first
of which is Command Prompt. Choosing this option quits
DOSSHELL and returns the user to the command line
indicated by the C> prompt. The second menu entry is the
File System which is similar to the one supplied with
Presentation Manager. It displays the user's sub -directories
on the screen, together with their files (see Fig.2). Selecting
this option causes a divided screen to be displayed; on the
left is a directory tree, while on the right is a list of files within
the currently logged directory. Each of the files has an icon
alongside it that indicated whether it is an executable file.
The option also allows the user to add sub -directories and
files, copy, delete or rename them.
06-10-09 File Sy cm 12:00
File gptiums tIrrenge Exit
Ctrl.letter selects a drive.
cri_ILA at:3B [al

Directol

VC:\ aa-AGENDA .887 45 13-09-88

-AGENDA Irk:AUTOEXEC.BAT 196 29-04-88
-BASIC _BAS .001 37 20-01-67
4001i ,'511ASIC .BAT 30 03-04-67
-4-77
-BIN 16-12-87
-CRYSTAL 17-03-87
DOS 16-08-88
LIR 07-01-87
LOT123 07-09-87
L -DATA 27-10-87
SFORT 05-10-88
LTROGS 18-03-67
ROTOR 17-03-87
26-09-87
TUTOR CotweI P11Inde 27-06-87
-DOCS 16-08-138
-FILES ,e 03-04-87
-REELONE .BAT 37 20-01-86
-SAGE .BAT 47 21-04-138
-TRAGIC * FaBSAGE .BAT 41 18-02-88
rnp OP.DTB .BAT 36 12-04-88 a
r run

Fig. 2. Choosing the File System from the Start Program.

The third option allows the user to change screen colours,
while the fourth allows access to the DOS Utilities such as
XCOPY, BACKUP and RESTORE. The three dots following
the menu option indicate the existence of a sub -menu.
Selection of these options is either by a double click with the
mouse, or by using the cursor keys and pressing 'Return'.
No doubt new users will find DOSSHELL very helpful,
while experienced users will continue to use the command
line.
50
 COMMAND SUMMARY
The following is a summary of the commands supported
by the MS-DOS operating environment. Fcr a fuller
explanation of both commands and options, consult your
system's PC/MS-DOS reference manual. The various
commands are labeled internal or external, with external
commands being accessible to the user only if the full
filespec (drive and path) is given to were the appropriate
command file resides. Improvements or additions in v4.0
are marked with a superscripted asterisk (*).
Command Explanation
append* External - sets a path that MS-DOS
will search for files when they are
not in the current directory. In v4.0 it
can be told not to search already
defined paths
Example: append c:\wproc\docs
sea rchesthe \wproc\docs directory on
drive c: for files.
assign External - ass gns a drive letter to a
different drive.
Example: assign a=c
allows all references to drive a: to go
to the c: drive.
attrib [options] External - sets or resets the 'read
only' attribute and archive bit of a
file, and displays the attributes of a
file.
Options:
+r sets read-only mode of a file
-r disables read-only mode
+a sets the archive bit of a file
-a clears the archive bit
Example: attrib +R filespec

51
backup [options]* External - backs up one or more
files from one disc to a pother. In v4.0
it can also automatically format the
destination disc
Options:
/s backs up sub -directory files to file
in current directory
/m includes files that have been
changed since last backup
/a adds files to be backed up to those
already on the backup disc
without erasing old files
/d backs up only those files which
were modified after a given date
/I makes a backup log entry in a file
called BACKUP.LOG
Example: backup c:\ a:/s
backs up all files on the c: drive onto
the a: drive.
break Internal - sets the Ctrl -C or Ctrl -
Break option.
Example: break ON
cd (or chdir) Internal - changes the working
directory to a different one.
Example: cd\wproc\docs
chcp [nnn] Internal - selects current code page
for as many devices as possible.
Omitting 'nnn' displays the current
code page.
chkdsk (options)* External - analyses the directories,
files and File Allocation Table on the
logged or designated drive and
produces a disc and memory status
report. In v4.0 it also reports the
volume, serial number and disc
allocation units
Options:
/f fixes any problems found during
the check
52
 /v causes the display of filespecs as
they are being processed
Example: chkdsk a:/f/v
cls Internal - deers the screen.
command [options] External - starts the command
processor. This is loaded into
memory in two parts: the resident
part and the transient par which can
be overwritten by some progrEms in
which case the transient part is
reloaded.
Options:
/e specifies the environment size in
bytes (defaut = 160 bytes)
/p prohibits command.com from
exiting to a higher level
/c executes a following command
Example command /c chkdsk a:
starts a new command processor
under the current program, runs the
chkdsk command on the disc in the
A: drive, and returns to the first
command processor.
comp External - compares two files and
reports any differences.
Example: comp filet filet
copy [option] Internal - copies one or more files
to specified disc. If preferred, copies
can be given different names.
Option:
/v causes the verification of data
written on the destination disc.
Example: copy *.exe a:/v
copies all files with the .exe
extension to the a: drive with
verification.
53
ctty Internal - changes the standard I/O
console to an auxiliary (aux)
console, and vice versa.
Example: ctty aux
moves all input/output from the
current device (console) to an aux
port such as another terminal. The
command 'ctty con' moves I/O back
to the console.
date InternIal - enters or changes the
current date.
del [option]* Internal - deletes all files with the
designated filespec.
Option v4.0 only:
/p displays filenames to confirm
deletion
Example: del a:*.txt
deletes all files which have the
extension .txt from the a: drive.
dir Internal - lists the files in a
directory.
diskcomp External - compares the contents of
the disc in the source drive to the
disc in the destination drive.
diskcopy External - copies the contents of
the disc in the source drive to the
disc in the destination drive.
dosshell* External - a new v4.0 command
which activates the front-end
graphical interface
exe2bin External - converts .exe files to
binary format.
exit Internal -
exits the command
processor and returns to a previous
level.
54
fastopen [option]* External - store in memory the
location of directories and recently
opened files on a specified drive.
Option:
/x allows use of expanded memory.
If this option is used, then /x option
must also be used with the buffers
command.
fdisk* External - sets up and partitions the
fixed disc for use with MS-DOS and
other operating systems. This
command is also used to display
and change the current active
partition. V4.0 supports an 80 -
column screen. It also has improved
user-friendly commands to allow
disc partitioning in megabytes or
percentages instead of cylinders
fdiskoff External - could have another
name, but it use is to park the fixed
disc heads. This should be done
before moving a computer equipped
with a hard disc to prevent disc
damage.
find [options] External - searches for a specific
string of text in a specified ASCII file
or files.
Options:
/v displays all lines not containing
the specified string
/c prints the count of lines containing
the string
/n precedes each occurrence with
the relative line number in the file.
Example: find "lost words" chapl
searches for the string 'lost words'
(which must appear within full
quotes) in the named file (chapl ).
55
format [options]* External - formats the disc in the
specified drive.
Options:
/8 formats with 8 sectors per track
/4 formats a double -sided disc with 40
tracks, 9 sectors per track for 360 kB
in a high capacity (1.2 MB) disc
drive per track
/n specifies the number of sectors per
track, i.e. /n:9 for nine sectors
/t specifies the number of tracks, i.e.
/t:40 for forty tracks
/v allows a volume label to be given to
the disc
/s copies the system files from the
logged drive
V4.0 also uses:
/f:size to specify disc capacity
/v:label to allow specification of 'label'
without prompting after
formating
Example: format a:/4/s
graftabl* External - loads a custom designed,
colour graphics font table into
memory. In v4.0, the multilingual
code page 850 is now supported
graphics* External - v4.0 now supports EGA
and VGA graphics modes to provide
screen dumps to IBM Grapgics,
Proprinters and compatibles
install* External - a new v4.0 command
which provides an improved method
of loading memory -resident pop-up
programs in addition to certain DOS
commands
join External - joins a disc drive to a
specific path.
keyb [xx] External - selects a special keyboard
layout. Omitting xx returns the
current status of the keyboard.
56
label External - creates or changes the
volume identification label on a disc.
and (or mkdir) Internal - creates a new directory on
the specified disc.
mem* External - a new v4.0 command
which reports the amounts of
conventional, expanded and
extended memory that are available
mode [options]* External - sets the mode of
operation on a display monitor,
parallel/serial printer or the RS232C
port. In v4.0 the keyboard repetition
and autorepeat start delay time can
be set. Also, it allows the setting of the
number of rows to any of 25, 43 or 50
on the screen, and there is a wider
range of serial -port configurations
Options:
Display: mode in]
40 sets display width to 40
characters per line
80 sets display width to 80
characters per line
bw40 sets screen to black and white
display with 40 characters
bw80 sets screen to black and white
display with 80 characters
co40 sets screen to colour display
with 40 characters
co80 sets screen to colour display
with 80 characters
mono sets screen to monocl-rome
with 80 characters
Printer: mode LPTi: [n][,[m][,p]]
i sets printer number with legal values
from 1 to 3
n sets number of characters per line
with legal values of 80 or 132
m sets the number of lines per inch
with legal values of 6 or 8
p allows continuous reentries on a
time-out error
57
 Example: mode LPT1: 132,8
sets the printer in the fist parallel port
to 132 characters per line and 8 lines
per inch
Serial printer: mode LPTi: = COMj
This command redirects all output
sentto one of the parallel printer ports
to one of the serial (RS232C) ports.
Before using this command, the serial
port must be initialised using the 'p'
option of the printer mode command
i sets printer numberwith legal values
from 1 to 3
j sets the serial port with legal values
of 1 or 2
more External - reads data from the
standard I/O and sends output to the
console one screen -full at a time
Example: type read.me more
displays the contents of the read.me
file one screen at a time
nIsfunc External - provides support for
extended country information and
allows the use of chcp command to
select code pages fcr all devices
defined as having code page
switching support.
now External - displays the current date
and time
path Internal - sets and displays the path
to be searched by external
commands or batch files
Example: path c:\;c:\dos;c:\comms
will search the root directory as well
as the dos and comms sub -directories
for files
58
print [options] External - can be used to print text
files in background mode, while other
tasks are being performed. Using the
command without options displays
files already in the print queue
Options:
/d specifies the print device such as
PRN or AUX
/b sets size of internal bufferwith legal
values from 512 to 16384 bytes,
speeding up printing
/q specifies the number of files in the
print queue, normally 10, with legal
values from 4 to 32
/t allows cancellation of files in print
queue
prompt Internal - changes the command
prompt
Example: $p$g
which allows the path of the current
working directory to be displayed as
the prompt
rd (or rmdir) Internal - removes the specified
directory
recover External - recovers a file or an entire
disc containing bad sectors
ren (or rename) Internal - changes the file name
Example: rena:\docs\merr o1memo2
will rename the memol file, which is
to be found in sub -directory docs on a
disc in the a: drive, to memo2
replace [options]* External - allows easy updating of
files from a source disc to a target disc
of files having the same name
Options:
/a also adds files that exist on the
source disc but not on the target
disc
59
 /d replaces files in the destination disc
only if the source files are newer
/p prompts the user before replacing
/r replaces read only files
V4.0 also uses:
/u updates files with a time and date
on the source disc more recent than
those on the destination disc
restore [options] External - restores one or more files
that were backed up using the
'backup' command
Options:
/s restores files in the specified
directory and all files in any sub -
directories of the specified directory
/p prompts user before overwriting an
existing file by restoring
select* External - sets the formats for date
and time, currency sign and decimal
point convention. In v4.0 there are
full -screen installation and help
routines
set Internal - sets strings into the
command processor's environment.
The general form of the command is:
set [name=[parameter]]
Set by itself displays the current
environment
share External - installs file sharing and
locking
sort [options] External - reads data from the
console or a file, sorts it and sends it
to the console or file
Options:
/r sorts in reverse order
60
 Example: dir sort
sorts the output of the 'dir' command
in alphabetical order
subst External - allows substitution of a
virtual drive for an existing drive and
path
Example: subst e: a:\wproc\dots
will cause future reference to drive d:
to be taken as replacement to the
longer reference to a:\wproc\docs
switches* External - a new v4.0 command
which forces the conventional
keyboard layout on to an enhanced
keyboard
sys* External - transfers the PC/MS-DOS
system files from the logged drive to
the disc in the specified drive. V4.0
allows the specification of source
drive and path commands to transfer
system files across a network
time* Internal - displays and sets the
system time. In v4.0 a 12- or 24 -hour
format is supported
tree* External - displays the directory
structure. In v.40 the display is shown
graphically
type Internal - displays the cortents of a
file on the console
vdisk External - allows the setting up of
RAM memory as a virtual disc. In v4.0
the /x option can be used to allow the
virtual disc to -eside in expanded
memory
ver Internal - displays the PC/MS-DOS
version number
verify Internal - allows the verify switch to
be turned ON or OFF
61
 Example: verify OFF
vol Internal - displays the disc volume
label, if it exists
xcopy [options] External - copies files and
directories, including lower level sub -
directories, if they exist, to the
destination drive and directory
Options:
/a copies source files that have their
archive bit set
/d copies source files which were
modified on or after a specified date
/e copies sub -directories even if they
are empty - use this option in
conjunction with the /s option
/m copies archived files only, but also
turns off the archive bit in the
source file
/p prompts the user with "(YIN?)"
/s copies directories and their sub -
directories unless they are empty
/v causes verification of each file as it
is written

62
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS
ASCII It is a binary code representation of a
character set. The name stands for
"American Standard Code for
Information Interchange".
AUTOEXEC.BAT A batch file containing commands
which are automatically executed on
booting up the system.
BASIC A high level programming language.
The name stands for "Beginner's All-
purpose Symbolic Instruction Code".
BIOS The Basic Input/Output System. It
allows the core of the operating system
to communicate with the hardware.
Buffer RAM memory allocated to store data
being read from disc.
Byte A grouping of binary digits (0 or 1)
which represent information.
Cluster A unit of one or more sectors. It is the
minimum amount of space that can be
allocated to a file on disc.
COMMAND.COM The Operating System's Command
Processor which analyzes what is typed
at the keyboard and causes execution
of appropriate commands.
CONFIG.SYS A special file that allows the system to
be configured closer to requirement.
Directory An area on disc where information
relating to a group of files is kept.
DOS The Disc Operating System. A
collection of small specialised pro-
grams that allow interaction between
user and computer.

63
FAT The File Allocation Table. An area on
disc where information is kept on which
space on disc has been allocated to
which file.
File The name given to an area on disc
containing a program or data.
Filespec File specification made up of drive,
path, filename and a three letter
extension.
FORTRAN A high level programming language. It
stands for FORmula TRANslation.
Memory Part of computer consist ng of storage
elements organised into addressable
locations that can hold data and
instructions.
Prompt The System prompt displayed on
screen (usually A> or C>).
RAM Random Access Memory. The micro's
volatile memory. Data held in it is lost
when power is switched off.
ROM Read Only Memory. The micro's non-
volatile memory. Data are written into
this memory at manufacture and are
not affected by power loss.
Root Directory The main disc directory under which a
number of sub -directories can be
created.
Sector Disc space, normally 512 bytes long.
SHELL A front end to MS-DOS or an alternative
Command Processor.
SYSTEM A BASIC command which causes exit
from BASIC and return to MS-DOS.
System Short for computer system, implying a
specific collection of hardware and
software.
System Disc A disc containing MS-DOS' three main
files and other Utilities.
64
 INDEX
ANSI.SYS 34
APPEND command 38, 51
ASCII files 25
AUTOEXEC.BAT file 5, 21, 35
ASSIGN command 51
ATTRIB command 51
BACKUP command 44, 52
BASIC 9, 38
Batch
file commands 39
FOR 39
GOTO 40
IF 40
REM 40
SHIFT 40
files 36
use of KEYBUK 36
use of CLS 37
use of ECHO 37
use of PATH 37
use of PROMPT 37
use of VER 37
use of % 39
BIOS 4
Booting up 4
BREAK command 6, 31, 32, 52
BUFFERS 31, 32
Built-in commands 6
CD command 6, 21, 22, 52
CHCP command 52
CHKDSK command 17, 52
CLS command 6, 53
CODEPAGE command 33
COM.SYS 34
COMMAND.COM 3, 18, 53
Command processor 3
Commands, built-in 6
COMP command 15, 53
Comparing discs 15
Comparing files 15
CONFIG.SYS 5, 31
Configure the system 31
COPY command 6, 14, 53
65
Copy mode (EDLIN) 28
COUNTRY 31, 32
Ctrl -Alt -Del 5
Ctrl -C 31
Ctrl -S 42
Ctty command 54
Current line (EDLIN) 26
DATE command 6, 11, 41, 54
DELete command 6, 16, 54
Delete mode (EDLIN) 28
DEVICE 33
DIR 4, 7, 54
/P option 8
/W option 8
wildcard characters 9
Directing I/O 42
Directories 4, 19
Disc capacity 13
DISKCOMP command 15, 54
DISKCOPY command 15, 54
DOS
SHELL command 48, 54
Versions 1

v4.0 48
DRIVER.SYS 34
ECHO 6, 37
Edit mode (EDLIN) 27
EDLIN 25
EGA.SYS 34
EXE2BIN command 54
EXIT command 54
Exit EDLIN 30
FASTOPEN command 55
FAT 17
FDISK command 4, 55
FDISKOFF command 55
FILES 31, 34
Filenames 8
Filters 43
FIND command 55
FORMAT command 11, 56
GRAFTABL command 56
GRAPHICS command 56
IBMBIO.COM 3
IBMDOS.COM 3

66
Input/Output (I/O) 2
Insert mode (EDLIN) 26, 27
INSTALL command 56
IO.SYS 3
JOIN command 56
KEYB command 56
KEYBOARD.SYS 36
KEYBUK command 36
LABEL command 57
LASTDRIVE 35
Line editor 25
List mode (EDLIN) 26
MD command 6, 21, 22, 57
MEM command 57
MODE command 57
MORE filter command 43, 58
MOUSE.SYS 43
Move mode (EDLIN) 28
MSDOS.SYS 3
NLSFUNC command 58
NOW command 58
Options with
BACKUP 44
CHKDSK 17
COMMAND.COM 18
COPY 14
DEVICE 33
DIR 8
FORMAT 11
PRINT 43
RESTORE 44
XCOPY 17
PATH command 6, 37, 58
PRINT command 43, 59
PRTSC command 44
PRN redirection 42
Prompt 4
PROMPT command 6, 21, 37, 59
Quit EDLIN 30
RAM 5
RD command 6, 21, 24, 59
RECOVER command 59
67
Redirection 42
REName command 6, 16, 59
REPLACE command 59
Replace mode (EDLIN) 29
RESTORE command 44, 60
ROM 5
Root directory 19
Search mode (EDLIN) 28
SELECT command 48, 60
SET command 6, 41, 60
SHARE command 60
SHELL 35
SORT filter command 43, 60
Sub -directories 19
SUBST command 61
Switch 8
SWITCHES command 61
SYS command 13, 61
System disc 3

TIME command 6, 11, 41, 61

TREE command 61
TYPE command 41, 61
Text files 25
Utility disc 3

VDISK command 34, 61

VER command 6, 42, 61
VERIFY command 6, 61
VOL command 6, 42, 62
Wildcard characters 9

XCOPY command 17, 62

68
 A Concise
Introduction to MS-DOS
If you are a PC user and want to get the most out of your computer in efficiency and
productivity, then you must learn its PC/MS-DOS operating system. With this CONCISE
INTRODUCTION TO MS-DOS you will learn to do just that in the shortest and most
effective way.
The book was written with the non -expert, busy person in mind and, as such, it has
an underlying structure based on "what you need to know first, appears first". None-
theless, the book has also been designed to be circular, which means that you don't have
to start at the beginning and go to the end. The more experienced user can start from
any section.
The book explains:
How the DOS operating system is structured so that you understand what
happens when you first switch on your computer.
How to use the DOS commands to perform various house -keeping operations on
your disc files.
How to use the EDLIN line editor to fully configure your system by writing your
own CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
How directories and sub -directories can be employed to organize the way you
keep files on your disc so that your system's efficiency is maximized.
How to write batch files to automate the operation and use of your system.
How to manage your system's environment.
The book covers all versions of 3.x of both PC -DOS and MS-DOS as implemented by
and other manufacturers of "compatible" microcomputers, including the AMSTRAD
Cs. Coverage extends to both the floppy disc -based and hard disc -based systems. A
separate section deals with the DOS shell of version 4.0, which is a menu -driven graphical
interface making this version of the operating system easier to use. Familiarity with this
version of DOS will make migration to the new operating system OS/2 that much easier.

ISBN 0-85934-177 1

00295

£2.95

9 780 11 9 34 1776