Learning MS-DOS Basics - A Tutorial

                                                                          

This tutorial gives you an opportunity to try basic MS-DOS commands. By following the

procedures in this section, you will learn to:

o View the contents of a directory

o Change from one directory to another

o Create and delete directories

o Change from one drive to another

o Copy files

o Rename files

o Delete files

o Format a floppy disk

The Command Prompt:

When you first turn on your computer, you will see some cryptic information flash by.

MS-DOS displays this information to let you know how it is configuring your computer.

You can ignore it for now. When the information stops scrolling past, you'll see the

following:

C:\>

This is called the command prompt or DOS prompt. The flashing underscore next to

the command prompt is called the cursor. The cursor shows where the command you

type will appear.

Typing a Command:

This section explains how to type a command at the command prompt and demonstrates

the "Bad command or file name" message.

• To type a command at the command prompt

1. Type the following at the command prompt (you can type the command in either

uppercase or lowercase letters ):

nul

If you make a typing mistake, press the BACKSPACE key to erase the mistake, and

then try again.

2. Press ENTER.

You must press ENTER after every command you type.

The following message appears:

Bad command or file name

The "Bad command or file name" message appears when you type something that MSDOS

does not recognize. Because nul is not a valid MS-DOS command, MS-DOS

displays the "Bad command or file name" message.

3. Now, type the following command at the command prompt:

ver

The following message appears on your screen:

MS-DOS version 6.22