BASIC WINDOWS COMMANDS

(1)DIR (Directory) -- Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a

directory.

Syntax: DIR [drive:][path][filename] [/A[[:]attributes]] [/B] [/C] [/D] [/L]

[/N]
[/O[[:]sortorder]] [/P] [/Q] [/R] [/S] [/T[[:]timefield]] [/W] [/X] [/4]

Where: [drive:][path][filename] Specifies drive, directory, and/or

files to list.

The part of the syntax with forward slash ( / ) are called switches.
Switches:
/A Displays files with specified attributes.
attributes D Directories R Read-only files
H Hidden files A Files ready for archiving
S System files I Not content indexed files
L Reparse Points O Offline files
- Prefix meaning not
/B Uses bare format (no heading information or summary).
/C Display the thousand separator in file sizes. This is the default.
Use /-C to disable display of separator.
/D Same as wide but files are list sorted by column.
/L Uses lowercase.
/N New long list format where filenames are on the far right.
/O List by files in sorted order.
sortorder N By name (alphabetic) S By size (smallest first)
E By extension (alphabetic) D By date/time (oldest
first)
G Group directories first - Prefix to reverse order
/P Pauses after each screenful of information.
/Q Display the owner of the file.
/R Display alternate data streams of the file.
/S Displays files in specified directory and all subdirectories.
/T Controls which time field displayed or used for sorting
timefield C Creation
A Last Access
W Last Written
/W Uses wide list format.
/X This displays the short names generated for non-8dot3 filenames.
The format is that of /N with the short name inserted before the long
name. If no short name is present, blanks are displayed in its place.
/4 Displays four-digit years

Switches may be preset in the DIRCMD environment variable. Override preset

switches by prefixing any switch with - (hyphen)--for example, /-W.
( 2 ) CD (Change Directory) -- Displays the name of or changes the current
directory.
Syntax: CHDIR [/D] [drive:][path]
CHDIR [..]
CD [/D] [drive:][path]
CD [..]

.. Specifies that you want to change to the parent directory.

Type CD drive: to display the current directory in the specified drive.

Type CD without parameters to display the current drive and directory.

Use the /D switch to change current drive in addition to changing current directory
for a drive.

If Command Extensions are enabled CHDIR changes as follows:

The current directory string is converted to use the same case as the on disk
names. So CD C:\TEMP would actually set the current directory to C:\Temp if that is
the case on disk.

CHDIR command does not treat spaces as delimiters, so it is possible to CD into a

subdirectory name that contains a space without surrounding the name with quotes.
For example:

cd \winnt\profiles\username\programs\start menu

is the same as:

cd "\winnt\profiles\username\programs\start menu"

which is what you would have to type if extensions were disabled.

( 3 ) MD -- Creates a directory.
Syntax:
MKDIR [drive:]path
MD [drive:]path

If Command Extensions are enabled MKDIR changes as follows:

MKDIR creates any intermediate directories in the path, if needed. For example,
assume \a does not exist then:

mkdir \a\b\c\d

is the same as the following sequence of commands:

mkdir \a
chdir \a
mkdir b
chdir b
 mkdir c
chdir c
mkdir d

which is what you would have to type if extensions were disabled.

( 4 ) RD -- Removes (deletes) a directory.
Syntax:
RMDIR [/S] [/Q] [drive:]path
RD [/S] [/Q] [drive:]path

/S Removes all directories and files in the specified directory

in addition to the directory itself. Used to remove a directory
tree.

/Q Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to remove a directory tree with /S

( 5 ) COPY -- Copies one or more files to another location.

Syntax:
COPY [/D] [/V] [/N] [/Y | /-Y] [/Z] [/L] [/A | /B ] source [/A | /B]
[+ source [/A | /B] [+ ...]] [destination [/A | /B]]

source Specifies the file or files to be copied.

/A Indicates an ASCII text file.
/B Indicates a binary file.
/D Allow the destination file to be created decrypted
destination Specifies the directory and/or filename for the new file(s).
/V Verifies that new files are written correctly.
/N Uses short filename, if available, when copying a file with a
non-8dot3 name.
/Y Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
existing destination file.
/-Y Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
existing destination file.
/Z Copies networked files in restartable mode.
/L If the source is a symbolic link, copy the link to the target
instead of the actual file the source link points to.

The switch /Y may be preset in the COPYCMD environment variable. This may be
overridden with /-Y on the command line. Default is to prompt on overwrites unless
COPY command is being executed from
within a batch script.

To append files, specify a single file for destination, but multiple files for source
(using wildcards or file1+file2+file3 format).

( 6 ) DEL -- Deletes one or more files.

Syntax:
DEL [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names
ERASE [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names
 names Specifies a list of one or more files or directories. Wildcards may be
used to delete multiple files. If a directory is specified, all files within the
directory will be deleted.

/P Prompts for confirmation before deleting each file.

/F Force deleting of read-only files.
/S Delete specified files from all subdirectories.
/Q Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to delete on global wildcard
/A Selects files to delete based on attributes
attributes R Read-only files S System files
H Hidden files A Files ready for archiving
I Not content indexed Files L Reparse Points
O Offline files - Prefix meaning not

If Command Extensions are enabled DEL and ERASE change as follows:

The display semantics of the /S switch are reversed in that it shows you only the
files that are deleted, not the ones it could not find.

( 7 ) REN -- Renames a file or files.

Syntax:
RENAME [drive:][path]filename1 filename2.
REN [drive:][path]filename1 filename2.

Note that you cannot specify a new drive or path for your destination file.

( 8 ) TIME -- Displays or sets the system time.

Syntax:
TIME [/T | time]

Type TIME with no parameters to display the current time setting and a prompt for a
new one. Press ENTER to keep the same time.

If Command Extensions are enabled the TIME command supports the /T switch
which tells the command to just output the current time, without prompting for a
new time.

( 9 ) DATE -- Displays or sets the date.

Syntax:
DATE [/T | date]

Type DATE without parameters to display the current date setting and a prompt for
a new one. Press ENTER to keep the same date.
If Command Extensions are enabled the DATE command supports the /T switch
which tells the command to just output the current date, without prompting for a
new date.