This document provides an introduction and overview of MS-DOS commands and how to use the Windows command line interface. It discusses what MS-DOS is, how to open the command prompt in Windows 7 and 8, and provides examples of basic commands like navigating directories, viewing folder contents, creating and deleting files and folders, copying and moving files, launching applications, and getting help. The document also describes how to customize properties of the command prompt like fonts, colors, window size and buffers.

1. PROGRAMMING
INTRODUCTION
MS DOS COMMAND

2. What is DOS?
Short for Microsoft Disk Operating
System, MS-DOS is a non-graphical command
line operating system derived from 86-DOS that
was created for IBM compatible computers. MS-
DOS originally written by Tim Paterson and
introduced by Microsoft in August 1981and was
last updated in 1994 when MS-DOS 6.22 was
released.

3. Today, MS-DOS is no longer used; however,
the command shell, more commonly known
as the Windows command line is still used
by many users. In the picture to the right, is
an example of what a MS-DOS window
more appropriately referred to as the
Windows command line looks like under
Microsoft Windows.

4. WHAT WILL YOU
LEARN?

5. 1. How to Hide or Dismount a Partition in Windows
2. An Ode to the Command Prompt - the Most
Powerful and Least Used Windows Tool
3. Fix Issues with your Boot Records
4. Repair Missing or Corrupt Files
5. Advanced Commands for System Information &
Managing Active Tasks
6. Advanced Disk Management Commands
7. Advance Networking Commands
8. How to use Basic Commands
9. How to Customize the Command Prompt

6. HOW TO OPEN
COMMAND PROMPT IN
WINDOWS 7 AND
WINDOWS 8

7. 1. Launch the Command Prompt Using
Search.
Search is very helpful, both in Windows 7 and Windows 8.
In Windows 7, open the Start Menu and
type command or cmd.
Then, click the Command Prompt search result.

8. 2. Launch it from the Run Window
One of the quickest ways to launch the Command Prompt is
to use the Run window (press Win+Ron your keyboard to
open it).Then, type cmd or cmd.exe and press Enter or
click/tap OK.

9. 3. Launch it from the Start Menu/Screen
If you like clicking on stuff and you are using Windows 7,
open the Start Menu. Then, go to All Programs ->
Accessories.
There you will find the Command Prompt shortcut.

10. 4. Create a Command Prompt Shortcut
on the Desktop
If you prefer using your own shortcuts, then don’t hesitate
to create a shortcut to the Command Prompt.

11. 5. Pin it to the Start Menu/Screen or the
Taskbar
If you would rather have a clean Desktop, you might want
to pin the Command Prompt to the taskbar, the Start
Menu (in Windows 7) or to the Start screen (in Windows 8).

12. 6. Launch it from Windows/File Explorer
Last but not least, you can open Windows Explorer (in
Windows 7) or File Explorer (in Windows 8). Then, open
the partition where Windows is installed and browse
to Windows -> System32.

14. HOW TO CUSTOMIZE
THE COMMAND
PROMPT

16. WHAT IS COMMAND
PROMPT?
Before Windows came into the picture, the most common
operating system was DOS (Disk Operating System). It was
a text-based operating system, that enabled you to run
programs by manually typing in commands. The launch of
the Windows operating system simplified the whole
computing experience by making it more visual. Even
though DOS has not been included in Windows operating
systems for years, there still is the Command Prompt - the
text command-line interpreter, analog of the command shell
of its old DOS ancestor.

17. • This tool is generally used by more advanced
users such as system administrators to run
commands which might not be triggered from the
visual interface of Windows.
• Even though it may look a bit unfriendly, it does
not mean that you cannot learn how to use it. If
you will follow our mini-series you will see that
this tool is useful and can be used by anyone.

18. ACCESS THE
PROPERTIES OF THE
COMMAND PROMPT

19. To access the properties of the Command
Prompt and customize them, right click on its
window and select Properties.

20. You will notice four tabs with options that can be
configured: Options, Font, Layout and Colors.

21. CUSTOMIZE THE COMMAND
PROMPT CURSOR SIZE,
BUFFERS AND EDIT MODES

22. First, you have the Options tab. It has three
sections: Cursor Size, Command History and Edit
Options.

23. For the cursor you can choose its size by using one
of the available options: Small, Medium or Large.
Command History area you can customize how
many commands are retained in the buffer.
The buffer serves as a historical record of the
commands you have run and you can use the up
and down arrow keys to navigate through the
previously entered commands.

24. 'Number of Buffers' determines for how many
concurrent instances of the Command
Prompt you’re having separate buffers created.
'Discard Old Duplicates', allows Windows to
remove duplicate command entries from the buffer.
Edit Options area you have only two
options: Quick Edit Mode and Insert Mode.

25. A sample of how Quick Edit Mode works can be
viewed in the capture below. With the mouse, I
selected the text for copying. I pressed Enter and
the text was copied to the clipboard.

26. ADJUST THE FONT IN THE
COMAMND PROMPT

27. In the Font tab you will be able to select the Font
size and Font Type. Also, you can use the preview window
to see the effect of your settings before applying them.

28. CHANGE THE COMMAND
PROMPT WINDOW SIZE

29. The Layout tab has three simple sections where
you can configure the size of the Command
Prompt window and of the lines of text within it.
The available options are as follows:
• 'Screen Buffer Size' - allows you to configure the
number of characters that are displayed on a line
in the Command Prompt window. This is
achieved by adjusting the Width value, and the
number of lines that are stored in memory, by
adjusting the Height value;

30. • 'Window Size' - allows you to select
the Width and Height of the window.
• 'Window Position' - enables you to configure
the Command Prompt's window distance from
the left and top edges of the screen. This option
works only if the 'Let System Position
Window' check box is not checked.
• 'Let System Position Window' - if it's checked,
you won’t be able to configure the window
position settings.

32. HOW TO SET THE
COMMAND PROMPT
WINDOWS

33. • The Colors tab is easy to configure. There are
four items that can be customized:
• Screen Text - allows you to set the color of the
text displayed in the Command Prompt window;
• Screen Background - enables you to choose the
background color of the Command Prompt
window;
• Popup Text - allows you to set the color of the
text displayed in a pop-up window;
• Popup Background - permits you to set the
background color of a pop-up window.

36. HOW TO USE THE BASIC
COMAMNDS IN
COMMAND PROMPT

37. HOW TO NAVIGATE BETWEEN FOLDERS
The first command from the list is CD (Change
Directory). This command enables you to change
the current directory (or folder).
The command CD takes you to the top of the
directory tree.

39. Now you are working on the 'C:' drive. If
you need to go to a specific folder from this
drive just type CD DIRECTORYNAME.
The subdirectory names are separated by .
For example when you need to access
the System32 folder that is located
on 'C:Windows' just type cd
windowssystem32, and then press Enter.

41. When you need to go to one folder up, use
the cd.. command. Let's assume that you
want to go back to the Windows folder.
Type cd.. and press Enter. You will notice
that your current directory has changed
to 'C:Windows'.

42. HOW TO ACCESS A
CERTAIN DRIVE

43. To access another drive just type the drive
letter followed by ':'. For example, we
wanted to change the drive from 'C:' to 'D:'.
We have typed d: and then pressed Enter.

44. To change the drive and the directory at the
same time, use the cd command followed by
the /dswitch. The parameter is used to
change the current drive to a specific folder
from other partition. For example, now you
are on the 'D:' drive and you want to go back
to the 'C:' drive directly to
the Windows folder. Type cd/d
C:Windows and press Enter, as you can see
in the following image.

46. HOW TO VIEW THE
CONTENT OF A FOLDER

47. You can view the content of a folder by
using a simple command called DIR.

49. HOW TO CREATE A
FOLDER USING THE
COMMAND PROMPT

50. You can make a new directory using
the MKDIR (Make Directory) command.
The syntax of this command is MKDIR
directory name.
Let's say we need to create a new folder
called 7tutorials_v1 that will be placed in
the'd:7tutorials' folder. We will type mkdir
7tutorials_v1 and then we press Enter.

52. HOW TO RENAME FILES
AND FOLDERS

53. To test if it worked, we will use again
the dir command. The newly created folder
appears in the list.

54. To rename files and folders you need to
use the REN (Rename) command.
For folders just type ren foldername
newname.

55. ren 7tutorials_v1 7tutorials_final

57. COPY FILES AND
FOLDERS

58. The Copy command allows you to copy files
from one location to another. To use this
command you have to type
copy locationfilename.extension
locationnewname.extension.

60. To copy a folder and its content from a
location to another we will use
the XCOPY command followed by the /s /
i operators.

61. DELETE FILES AND
WORDS

62. The DEL (Delete) is used to delete files
within the directories you've created.
To delete all the files from a directory you
have to type del directory name.

63. If we need to delete a single file we will use
the DEL command followed by
the filename.

65. The DEL command cannot be used to delete
directories, therefore we will use another
command to remove any empty
directory: RD (Remove Directory).

66. LAUNCH AN APPLICATION
FROM COMAMND

67. To run a program from the Command
Prompt, you need only to navigate to the
directory that contains the executable and
simply type in the program name.

68. For example, if we want to launch
Paint using Command Line, we have to go
to C:WindowsSystem32 and there we will
find the executable called mspaint.exe. Let's
see how this operation can be done, if we are
on D:7tutorials. First off all we have to
change the working directory to the
application's folder by typing cd/d
c:windowsSystem32. Then we just
write mspaint.exe and press Enter. Both
commands can be seen in the capture below.

70. HOW TO USE HELP IN
COMMAND PROMPT

71. To access help in Command Prompt you just
have to type the help command and then
press Enter. A list off all available
commands will be displayed.

73. REPAIR MISSING OR
CORRUPT FILES

74. NOTE: When a corrupt or missing system
file prevents the operating system from
booting normally, you need to use the
Windows 7 setup DVD or a System Repair
Disc to start the Command Prompt and, from
there the System File Checker (SFC). If
Windows 7 boots, but you get messages
about missing system files, you will be able
to fix the problem by running the System
File Checker (SFC) in the Command Prompt

75. FIX MISSING OR
CORRUPT FILES WHEN
THE COMPUTER WON’T
BOOT

76. In the Command Prompt window, use
the sfc command with two additional
parameters:/offbootdir and /offwindir.
The parameter /offbootdir is used to specify the
boot partition - the partition that contains the boot
files needed for booting Windows 7.
The /offwindir parameter is designed to specify the
location of the Windows 7 directory.

78. FIX MISSING OR
CORRUPTED FILES