12 Commands That Will Make You A 

Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) Expert*

Read How To Run Videos Used In This Tutorial First!

This tutorial was inspired by a tutorial provided by Richard Coubry.  See his original work at: http://www.demon.co.uk/ebc/.  This tutorial is meant to help a new CIS student come to grips with the command line.  Since this tutorial is for Bellevue University students, there are some specific references here to BU.  However, just about anyone can benefit.  This tutorial references the Shelly Cashman Discovering Computers 2002 book used by CIS 210 but that text is not needed to finish the tutorial.

Requirements For This Tutorial

 

1.  Read How To Run Videos Used In This Tutorial First!

2.  A fresh 1.44 Megabyte Floppy Disk. Get these at the Bookstore or at your local computer center.  Best Buy, Wal-Mart, or NFM are good places to buy them.

3.  A Windows 95, 98, or ME machine.  You can use a Windows 2000 or XP machine if you don't have one of the others. If you purchased your computer from a retailer or you are working with a BU lab machine, you are either running Windows 98, ME or XP. If you are running XP, you should not use the word 'command' to get to the command prompt - you should use the word 'cmd'.

4.  To see the videos, you must click on the links and run the executable in place (else download it and run it locally). See the instruction sheet at: How To Run Videos for specific information. This method of doing the videos was done to standardize the way the videos were viewed. .

5.  For the best results viewing the movies, run in 800 x 600 or higher mode with your monitor.

Why do I need to know about MS-DOS?   

MS-DOS was on the original IBM Personal Computers and it has remained an important part of all  PCs.  Over the years MS-DOS has been built upon to make it easier to use.  In the early 1990's, the first popular Windows interface was successfully developed and it was added onto (it extended) the MS-DOS operating system.  The Windows interface was developed so inexperienced people could enjoy using a personal computer.  However, subsequent improvements from (then) Windows 3.0 to our current Windows ME,  Windows 2000 and XP (Home or Pro edition) did not completely do away with the need for professionals to occasionally use MS-DOS. 

Anyone seeking employment in the computer industry should have a good basic knowledge of MS-DOS - his or her employers will expect it.   In addition, students need to understand MS-DOS to successfully pass several of the networking and programming courses at Bellevue University.  CIS 242, CIS 340, CIS 341a, CIS 347a, CIS 348a, CIS 349a, CIS 350, CIS 402, CIS 345, CIS 520, CIS 647, CIS 600E, the ISST program,  the CIS-TAP program, and to some extent CIS 240 and CIS 306  require students to know how to navigate the MS-DOS command line.   

At the conclusion of this tutorial, the student should have basic familiarity with DOS commands.  This introduction is meant to be a stepping stone to more specific uses for DOS in future classes.  As a minimum, the student who successfully finishes this tutorial should be able to:

1.  Explain how to get to MS-DOS on a Windows machine

2.  Explain what a file is and how a filename is constructed

3.  Explain and recognize what directories are

4.  Explain what a path statement does

5.  Explain what the autoexec.bat file does

6.  Add a path statement to the autoexec.bat file

7.  Log on to different drives (A: and C:)

8.  Explain and use the commands DEL (or ERASE), DISKCOPY, TYPE, COPY, EDIT, CD, MD, FORMAT, DIR,  PATH and EXIT.

First, let's get some background. You can use this stuff to really rivet your friends at your next cocktail party.  Trust me. Chicks and Dudes really dig this stuff:

* In technology, an expert is someone with two hours more experience on a product.