What is DOS??

MS-DOS is a "Disk Operating System". That means it is simply: "a System for Operating the Disks",

Functions of DOS
It enables the user: to organise data files, load and execute (run) program files, and control the input and output devices attached to the computer.

TYPES OF DOS COMMANDS

Internal commands External commands

INTERNAL COMMANDS

The DOS internal commands are so-called because their instructions are a part of COMMAND.COM, the DOS command line interpreter. COMMAND.COM is placed into memory each time the DOS is booted. Therefore, the internal commands are always in memory and can always be executed from any command line prompt.

COMMAND.COM is the filename of the default operating system shell for DOS operating system
A shell is software that provides an interface for users of an operating system command-line interpreter is a term for a certain class of programs designed to read lines of text entered by a user, thus implementing a command-line interface.. A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interaction with a computer program where the user issues commands to the program in the form of a line of text (a command line).

DOS SYSTEM FILES

The main portions of MS-DOS are the: IO.SYS MSDOS.SYS COMMAND.COM files.

The MSDOS.SYS file provides default support features for software applications The IO.SYS file moves the systems basic I/O functions into memory and then implements the MS-DOS default control programs, Command.com is already explained

How is DOS used?

When you type anything at the DOS prompt, and press enter, you are telling DOS to run a program. It will first look to see if there is an internal command program which has that name, and if it does not find one, then it will look to see if there is a file on disk with that name. If it finds an external file with the extension .COM (command), or .EXE (executable), then the program is loaded and run. At this point DOS looses control of the computer until the program has ended. However parts of it are still used by the programs as they are running, eg to load and save files etc.

How do you communicate with DOS?

DOS is an entirely text based system. All it provides for the user is a prompt: "C:>" or "A:>", where the user can type in commands from the keyboard. The system is entirely case insensitive: so either "ForMAt C:" or "format c:" would erase your hard disk

How to Open MS-DOS Command Prompt

first click the Windows Start menu (located at

the very lower-left corner of your computer's desktop) and select "Run...".
Then if you are using Windows XP or Vista or

Windows 7, type cmd into the Run box and click "OK". You could also type cmd.exe
Otherwise, if you are using an older version of

Windows, type command into the Run box and click "OK". You could also type command.exe

Step 2. The Window:

After you click "OK", an MS-DOS command prompt window will appear. Depending upon which version of Windows you are using, the MS-DOS command window will look similar to these images:

DOS Internal Commands

DATE: Syntax: Date (Month-Date-Year)

Time

Syntax:Time(Hours:Minutes:Seconds)

Volume

Its used to find the name/lable of the disk Syntax Vol

Version

Its used to find the version/model number of DOS Syntax:Ver

Cls

Its used to clear the screen Synatx: cls

Directory

Syntax:Dir Its used to see the list of files and directories on the screen In the first two lines volume of disk is displayed In the first two columns the date and time the directories were made is displayed At the end of the list of files. the total number of files ,used bytes, and the number of remaining bytes is displayed.

Dir/p

Its used to see all files slowly page by page On the screen twenty files can be seen at a time By using this switch, first twenty files will be seen. If you want to see more files then this message is displayed on the screen. (Press any key to continue)