Using Dos7 Commands - Introduction

These pages are designed to remind the occasional user of Dos commands just what is on offer. I realize that few people using Windows 95 are going to open a DOS window and most of those that do will be pretty familiar with the somewhat similar commands of previous MS-DOS versions. Nevertheless, there are some differences, and Dos can do things that are difficult, if not impossible, in Windows 95.

At present, the main focus is the syntax and use of the commands. In due course I look forward to discussing more on how to get the most from Dos using batch files, for example.

I hope to expand this list as time permits, but in the meantime I would be most grateful for any comments, especially with respect to:

• Mistakes. If I have got something wrong, or have obviously misunderstood how a command should work, PLEASE tell me!
• Omissions. If I have left out a switch (documented or not), again, please let me know.
• Mud. I have tried to make these notes make sense to the dabbler/intermediate user. If something doesn't make sense, let me know and I will try to clarify.

"Undocumented" Switches

Some of the command switches listed here are "undocumented" or, more accurately, "unofficial" . This means that they are recognised by the command, but MS does not support them and will not attempt to explain how to use them.

In most cases such commands do not provide the safeguards MS likes to see in the commands available to the general user: for example FORMAT c: /autotest will reformat the C: drive without any further ado - no warnings, nothing.

In other cases the function of the switches appears pretty harmless and it would seem that MS is reserving judgment - maybe the switch will be dropped in the next version of Dos (if there is one) and maybe not. For example, it is hard to see COMMAND's /Z switch (displaying the ERRORLEVEL number returned by external DOS commands) causing much grief.

Finally, it is possible that some of these switches are not 100% reliable on all systems - so: user beware!

However, undocumented commands have been around since the beginning of Dos and are an interesting, albeit minor, part of the game.

To avoid confusion, I have formatted undocumented commands to appear in grey (in those browsers supporting the font-color tags).