Lab 1-2 The Command Line Prompt So, you thought you didn’t need to know anything about DOS or a command line? Think again, because your ability to type a command is more important than it has been for a long time. This lab will demonstrate the importance of being able to perform operations and run applications from the command line. Copyright © 2006 Heathkit Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Definition: DOS DOS is Disk Operating System DOS was the original operating system for the personal computer “DOS” is a text-based interface Before we proceed, we need to define a term. Although we might think of “DOS” as the operating system before Windows, it is actually a generic term that refers to a system for managing disks in a computer, or a Disk Operating System. One of the forerunners was a DOS called CP/M. Then, Microsoft developed MS-DOS. Later, IBM and Microsoft developed a similar operating system called PC-DOS. And there were others that never really caught on with the computing public. Just remember that DOS was a system that required you to type commands character-by-character. If you didn’t grow up using this interface, you will probably hate it at first. But, it is a very important part of every Windows operating system.

What’s it called? MS-DOS Prompt DOS Prompt Command Line Command Prompt Command-Line Interface “DOS” When you hear someone make a reference to one of these phrases, they all mean the same thing: typing commands from the keyboard. Even Microsoft isn’t always consistent with its terms, so don’t get confused by them

C:\> _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Regardless of what it’s called, this is the “command prompt.” And of course, you remember the C: represents the active disk drive, the forward slash represents the root directory, the side ways arrow serves to separate the prompt from the command text, and the underline represents the blinking cursor waiting for you to type something.

Translate mouse clicks into commands Graphical Interface Commands Copy Translate mouse clicks into commands Mouse Clicks Edit What’s so good about the command prompt? The Windows GUI only shows what it wants you to see. You have to click around to different places to makes things happen. Select an item, change it, click OK, click Next, and so on. This is simple, because you only have certain buttons to click, and sometimes instructions are provided. But sometimes it’s tedious and time consuming. The command line skips a step, taking you directly into the commands. In many cases the command line offers more options for a given command. If you type fairly well, it can also be much faster than the GUI. replace Command Line Input

MS-DOS Prompt Access to the DOS interface in Windows 9x In all the flavors of Windows 9x, you can access the DOS prompt on the Start menu. Here you can see the interface running in a window; if you press the Alt-Enter key combination you will get the interface in full screen mode, which looks like a real DOS environment.

Win 9x has DOS One more thing you can do in Windows 9x is restart the system into MS-DOS mode. This is a true real-mode DOS restart, not just a virtual DOS-world within Windows. Many people came to call this “DOS 7.” Although Microsoft officially denies the existence of a DOS 7, there has been much evidence that “DOS 7” was in fact used internally at Microsoft to describe this system. Many high-end games automatically restart the system this way to take advantage of the performance improvements that accompany the lack of a graphical user interface.

DOS and Windows Me… Windows Me is different from Windows 9x in many ways. One important change is that all the simple tools you might use to access a DOS prompt are gone. There is only one easy way to get at DOS in Me, and that’s to open COMMAND.COM in the Run dialog. And once you get there, many of the familiar DOS commands have been removed.

As an example, this is what has happened to the venerable FORMAT command…there’s no easy way to make simple bootable floppies in Windows Me. The SYS command is gone, and you can’t boot to DOS from the Start Menu, either.

“DOS” in Windows XP Now called “Command-Line Interface” More powerful then ever Enhanced commands and controls In some of the Windows XP documentation, the MS-DOS Command Prompt is called the “Command-Line Interface.” Even though Microsoft has removed a great deal of DOS support from Windows Me, Windows XP has many advanced tools that can only be used from the Command Line.

Although Microsoft refers to this as the Command-Line Interface, it’s called Command Prompt within both Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Both terms are referring to the same thing, just by different names.

There are actually two different command line interfaces in Windows 2000. The first is opened by typing command.com in the Run dialog. This environment is similar to what you’ll find in previous operating systems. Whether you run Command Prompt from the Start menu or type cmd in the Run dialog makes no difference. However, the cmd.exe environment is much more powerful than COMMAND.COM.

Why use the Command Prompt? Some commands have no graphical equivalent Some tasks are faster and easier from the command line You will be forced to use the command line eventually Why would you want to use the command prompt for anything? Isn’t everything available in a dialog box somewhere? Actually, there are several commands that cannot be completed anywhere else but at the command prompt. For instance, the IPCONFIG, PING, TRACERT, and NSLOOKUP have no graphical equivalents. But there’s one very good reason to learn about the command-line interface: at some point a problem will arise that can be fixed easily and simply, but only if you know how to use the commands.

So you thought DOS was dead and gone. Hardly So you thought DOS was dead and gone? Hardly. Here’s a partial list of the commands available in the Windows 2000 command-line interface, along with a brief description of what each command does. You’ll recognize most of these as standard commands that have been around since MS-DOS was king. But if you look closely, there are some new commands available. Notice that the “help” command generated this list.

Learning the CLI Practice performing common tasks at the command prompt. The CLI is faster, the GUI is easier. If you are serious about your career in IT…command-line proficiency is a requirement. Unless you are forced, learning to use the command prompt will be a chore. But the first time you can save the day for your boss, your friends, or your most important customer by typing madly at the keyboard, you’ll be convinced. Keep in mind that working at the keyboard has been shown to be much faster than working through a GUI. Even when you can click adeptly, you still waste time moving your hands between the mouse and keyboard. If you practice, there is little that cannot be done by using the keyboard exclusively. Finally, as your career horizons expand the need to have a variety of skills increases. Everybody can run the Windows GUI, but how many technicians can fix a problem in MSDOS.SYS without ever touching a mouse? That’s the type of skill that gets you hired before the others.