The Hermit Hermit's Free Library  MS-DOS

Index to articles on MS-DOS

MS-DOS Index

MS-DOS Commands and Structure

DOS Structure
Description and functions of individual components of the Disk Operating System: Bios, Kernel, and Command interpreter.


Intro to PCs and DOS
An overview of DOS-based personal computers. Topics include: hardware components, operating systems, application software, user interface, booting, filing system, internal and external DOS commands, and how DOS finds commands.


The DOS Command Line
This article describes the essential characteristics of the DOS command-line user interface and contrasts it with a graphical user interface, including video modes.


DOS Internal Commands
The syntax and usage of selected DOS internal commands, including: TIME, DATE, CLS, DIR, COPY, TYPE, DEL, REN, RD, MD, CD, PATH, and SET PROMPT.


DOS External Commands
Description and usage of the FORMAT, CHKDSK, and DISKCOPY DOS external commands.


The DOS Environment
How to create, display, and use DOS environmental variables from batch files and the command line. Includes PATH, PROMPT, and PROMPT meta-strings as well as a technique to expand the DOS environment using SHELL.


MS-DOS Batch Files

DOS Batch Files
An introduction to writing and using DOS batch files which includes more advanced techniques such as redirection, replaceable parameters, branching logic (IF, GOTO), LOOPing, and concatenation.


DOSCOLOR.BAT
A batch file which will set the background and foreground colors in a DOS Session (or DOS Mode) to one of several pre-determined color schemes. Demonstrates several batch features, including IF and GOTO, PROMPT, and ECHO.


MS-DOS Memory Management

Types of Primary Memory under DOS
Explanation of conventional, upper, and high memory and memory management software under DOS. Includes descriptions of HMA, extended memory (XMS), and expanded memory (EMS 3.2, EEMS, EMS 4.0).


Using HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE
Using HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE DOS memory management software to conserve conventional memory by loading COMMAND.COM and device drivers into extended memory.


MS-DOS in Windows

MS-DOS Mode in Win98-WinXP
Starting and customizing the MS-DOS Mode in MS-Windows 98 through MS-Windows XP.


MS-DOS Sessions in Windows
Description and characteristics of DOS Sessions in MS-Windows 95, 98, and XP. How to start and customize the DOS Session.


Opening a DOS session from Windows Explorer
How to create a new action for the Windows Explorer context sensitive menu which will open a DOS session in the folder of your choice in MS-Windows versions prior to Win-7.