DOS OPERATION

DOS Operation

Before knowing the operations of DOS, we must know what DOS is. DOS stands for disk operatingsystem. The term DOS can refer to any operating system, but it is most often used as a shorthand for MS-DOS (Microsoft disk operating system). Originally developed by Microsoft for IBM, MS-DOS was the standard operating system for IBM-compatible personal computers.

DOS uses a command line, or text-based interface, that allows the user to type commands. By typing simple instructions such as pwd (print working directory) and cd (change directory), the user can browse the files on the hard drive, open files, and run programs.

Ms-Dos Interface

While the commands are simple to type, the user must know the basic commands in order to use DOS effectively (similar to Unix). This made the operating system difficult for novices to use, which is why Microsoft later bundled the graphic-based Windows operating system with DOS.

Here are some basic functions of DOS;

• Navigation - One of the aspects of MS-DOS that still survives in Windows is the drive and directory system. The OS uses letters to identify drives, and directories and sub-directories with eight-character names denoted by a backslash character. “C:\GAMES” represents one level down from root, while “C:\GAMES\CARDS” is one further sub-directory level down. You can move through these directory levels using the CD or “change directory” command, using “CD ..” to return to a higher level. The “mkdir” or MD command creates directories, while the “rmdir” or RD command deletes them. Since most tasks in MS-DOS take place in the current sub-directory, navigation is an important function of the operating system.
• File Manipulation - Files in MS-DOS use an “8.3” naming system, eight characters for the file name and three characters for an identifying suffix that tells the operating system what type of file it is. Wildcards are available for file manipulation, with “?” representing a single character and “*” representing any number of characters. For instance, the command “COPY *.* C:\GAMES” will copy all files in the current directory into the C:\GAMES directory. To move files from one folder to another in early versions of DOS, you would first copy them into the target directory and then delete the originals, as the "Move" command did not exist until DOS 6.0
• Running Programs - Running programs under MS-DOS simply requires you to enter the eight-character name of the program, if the file is a type that the operating system understands as an executable. Files with the .exe and .com suffixes are binary executable, while .bat files are text scripts that can trigger multiple programs in succession. These programs often allow you to perform more complex operations than MS-DOS would allow, as well as take advantage of more installed memory. Early versions of Windows required you to boot into MS-DOS and run WIN.EXE to load the graphic user interface
• Drive Utilities - MS-DOS also contains a number of utilities for disk and drive management. If a drive begins began showing symptoms of structural problems, the CHKDSK or “checkdisk” command scans for errors and, if possible, corrects them. The FDISK command allows you to “low-level format” a drive, altering its partition structure, while FORMAT wipes any disk and prepares it for re-use. In modern Windows operating systems, however, a set of more user-friendly tools replace these functions, helping prevent accidental data loss.

Below is a listing of 10 Most common (Good to know) DOS Commands based on my usage:

• Ping - Ping is my favorite command of all. I use it to check my internet connection when I find difficulty in connecting to the internet. What ping does is simple. It pings a website from your computer, i.e. this command sends a packet of data to a destination site and it is returned back to you, thus proving that you have established a connection.
• Ipconfig - This is a powerful MS-DOS command to view your network status and also perform operations on the same.
• Chkdsk - Chkdsk stands for ‘check disk’. It checks your disks drives and finds errors. You can also repair your affected disk drives with this command using the “/f “ options, which will fix your drive.
• TraceRT - This command will trace the path of packets to a particular server of a website or IP
• Netstat - This is another network command, unofficially short term for network statistics. It lists the status of your network, the number of active connections and open ports in your system currently along with their current states.
• Help - The help command all the available commands that you can use in the MS-DOS prompt. You can try out the various commands in that list, but make sure you know what you are doing
• Format - Formatting a drive is quite easy with the ‘Format’ MS-DOS command. You can try this command when you have a defective USB flash drive or when you need to format a particular drive on your computer.
• Dir - This command will list the contents of the current directory you are in. It takes a lot of parameters like /t and /p which will list the files according to a particular criteria.
• SystemInfo - This is one of my much loved and common dos command. It gives you a detailed description about your system components like processor, memory and much more. You can also use it to check whether your system is 32 bit or 64 bit.
• Taskkill - The taskkill command in MS-DOS kills or terminates a running process. It can become handy when some of your programs freeze or when they stop responding.