Command Prompt Commands

MS-DOS and command line overview

Below is a listing of each of the MS-DOS commands currently listed on Computer Hope and a brief explanation of what each of the commands do. The below commands are all MS-DOS commands, which means not all the below commands will work in your version of MS-DOS and/or Windows command line. Clicking on the command will open the help page for that command with full detailslatency. about it. network pause

Command used in batch files to stop the processing of a command.

ping

Test / send information to another network computer or network device.

popd

Changes to the directory or network path stored by the pushd command.

power

Conserve power with computer portables.

print

Prints data to a printer port.

prompt

View and change the MS-DOS prompt.

pushd

Stores a directory or network path in memory so it can be returned to at any time.

qbasic

Open the QBasic.

rd

Removes an empty directory.

ren

Renames a file or directory.

rename

Renames a file or directory.

rmdir

Removes an empty directory.

route

View and configure windows network route tables.

runas

Enables a user to execute a program on another computer.

scandisk

Run the scandisk utility.

scanreg

Scan registry and recover registry from errors.

set

Change one variable or string to

DOS TOP 10 COMMANDS Below is a listing of the top 10 MS-DOS commands most commonly used and that you will most likely use during a normal DOS session. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

cd dir copy del edit move ren 7. (rename) 8. deltree 9. cls 10. format

additions, check out the Command Line Reference page at Microsoft TechNet. Joli Ballew is a full-time writer and author of several books, including Microsoft Windows XP: Do Amazing Things (Microsoft Press) and Windows XP Professional: The Ultimate User's Guide, Second Edition (Paraglyph Press). In addition to writing, Joli teaches classes at Eastfield Community College and is an artist and network administrator at North Texas Graphics. Top of page