Welcome to Help Ü ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß Welcome to Free-DOS Help. In using Free-DOS, you will find many commands found in MS-DOS. Here is a list of commands found in Free-DOS. ANSI.SYS Append Assign Attrib BW-Basic Chcp Chkdsk Cls Command Comp Copy Ctty Date Debug Del Deltree Diskcomp Diskcopy Edit Emm386 Exe2Bin Fastopen Fasthelp Fc FCDEX Fdisk FDXMS.SYS Find Format Graphics Graftabl Help HTML Help Join XKeyb Label Loadhi Mem Mkdir Mode More Move NLSFunc Pause Print Recover Rmdir Scandisk Setver Share Sort Subst TDSK Time Tree Type Undelete Unformat Ver Verify Vol XCopy ANSI.SYS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: 3.3 COMPILER: LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Dan Kegel
Append ÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 16.Feb.1998 VERSION: 1.4 COMPILER: Micro-C 3.13, Borland C 3.1+ LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Steffen Kaiser Allows programs to access data files as if they were in the current directory. The specified directories are called appended directories because, for the the sake of opening data files, they can be found as if they were appended to the current directory. Syntax: APPEND [[drive:]path[/C...]] [/E] APPEND /C [drive:]path Specifies a drive and directory to append /E Stores a copy of the appended directory list in an environment table named APPEND. /E may be used only the first time you use APPEND after restarting your system Type APPEND /C to clear the appended directory list Type APPEND without parameters to display the appended directories
Assign ÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: 1.4 COMPILER: Micro-C 3.13, Borland C 3.1+ LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Steffen Kaiser
Attrib ÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 03.Sep.1998 VERSION: 0.63 COMPILER: Turbo C 3.0 LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Phil Brutsche Changes the attributes of a file. This command displays, sets, or removes the Read-Only, Archive, System, and Hidden attributes assigned to files or directories. Syntax: ATTRIB [filename] filename The name of the file whose attribute you want to change Example: C:\>attrib logon.exe Change to: (A)rchive (H)idden (R)ead Only (S)ystem r C:>_ That example changes the file LOGON.EXE's attribute to Read Only. You can type ATTRIB without parameters to display the attributes of all the files in the directory. Example: C:\>attrib A COUNTRY.TXT A NETWORKS.TXT R LOGON.EXE H EXDOS.SYS C:\>_
BW-Basic ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: Nov 1993 VERSION: 2.10 COMPILER: C LICENSE: Free MAINTAINER: Ted A. Campbell
Chcp ÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER:
Chkdsk ÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 27.Aug.1995 VERSION: 0.59 COMPILER: MS C LICENSE: public domain MAINTAINER: Dennis Cox Displays a status report about your system. Syntax: CHKDSK
Cls ÄÄÄ DATE: 25.Aug.1998 VERSION: 2.0 COMPILER: Borland C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jim Hall Clears the screen. Syntax: CLS
Command ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 07.Aug.1998 VERSION: 0.75 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Rob Lake and John Price Starts another instance of the command interpreter. A command interpreter is a program that lets you type commands. Use the EXIT command to stop the new command interpreter and return control to the old one. Syntax: COMMAND [[drive:]path] [device] [/E:nnnnn] [/Y [/C command| /K command]] In your CONFIG.SYS file, use the following syntax: SHELL=[[DOS-drive:]DOS-path]COMMAND.COM [[drive:]path][device] [/E:nnnnn] [/P [/MSG]] drive:path Specifies the directory in which the command interpeter is to look for the COMMAND.COM file when the transient part of the program needs to be reloaded. This parameter must be included when loading COMMAND.COM for the first time if the COMMAND.COM file is not located in the root directory. This parameter is used to set the COMPSPEC environment variable. device Specifies a different device for command input and output. DOS-drive:DOS-path Specifies the location of the COMMAND.COM file. /C command Specifies that the command interpreter is to perform the specified command and then ext. This switch must be the last switch on the command line. /E:nnnnn Specifies the environment size, where nnnnn is the size in bytes. The value of nnnnn must be in the range of 160 to 32768. Free-DOS rounds this number up to a multiple of 16 bytes. The default value is 256. /K command Runs the specified command, program, or batch program and then displays the Free-DOS command prompt. This switch must be the last switch on the COMMAND command line. /P Should be used only when COMMAND is used with the SHELL command in the CONFIG.SYS file. The /P switch makes the new copy of the command interpreter permanent. In this case, the EXIT command cannot be used to stop the command interpreter. If you specify /P, Free-DOS runs your AUTOEXEC.BAT file before displaying the command prompt. If there is no AUTOEXEC.BAT file in the root directory of the startup drive, Free-DOS carries out the DATE and TIME commands instead. If you do not have a SHELL command in your CONFIG.SYS file, COMMAND.COM is automatically loaded from the root directory with the /P switch. /MSG Specifies that all error messages should be stored in memory. Usually, some messages are stored only on disk. This switch is useful only if you are running Free-DOS from floppy disks. You must specify the /P switch when you use the /MSG switch. /Y Directs COMMAND.COM to step through the batch file specified by the /C or /K switches. This switch is useful for debugging batch files.
Comp ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 19.Sep.1995 VERSION: ? COMPILER: ASM LICENSE: Free MAINTAINER: Paul Vojta Compares two sets of files and displays the differences or similarities between them. Syntax: COMP filename1 filename2 filename1 The name of the first file to compare filename2 The name of the second file to compare Example: C:\>comp xbasic.exe drives.exe
Copy ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 16.Feb.1998 VERSION: 3.00 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Marty Peritsky Copies a file or files to another location. This command can be used to combine files. When more than one file is copied, Free-DOS displays each filename as the file is copied. Syntax: COPY source destination source The file(s) that are to be copied destination Where the files are going to be copied to. Source must consist of the path as well as the filename.
DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER:
Date ÄÄÄÄ DATE: Dec 1994 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: MS Quick-C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jim Hall Displays the date and prompts you to change the date if necessary. Free-DOS records the current date for each file you create or change; this date is listed next to the filename in the directory. Syntax: DATE [mm/dd/yy] mm/dd/yy The new month, date and year. The values must be separated using the '/'. mm 1 through 12 dd 1 through 31 yy 80 through 99 or 1980 through 2099 Type DATE without parameters to display the current system date. See also: Time
Debug ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 12.Oct.1997 VERSION: 0.95 COMPILER: ASM LICENSE: Free MAINTAINER: Paul Vojta
Del ÄÄÄ DATE: 27.Jul.1998 VERSION: 2.0 COMPILER: Borland C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jim Hall Deletes a file or files. Syntax: DEL filename [/P] filename The name of the file that is to be deleted /P Prompts you for confirmation upon deletion of the file You can use wildcards (*.*) to delete all of the files in the current directory.
Deltree ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 22.Aug.1998 VERSION: 1.0A COMPILER: A86 LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Charles Dye Deletes a directory tree as well as all files and subdirectories in it. Syntax: DELTREE [/Y] [/V] filename [filename...] [/?]',0d,0a /Y Delete specified items without prompting for confirmation',0d,0a /V Report counts and totals when finished',0d,0a /? Displays this help message',0d,0a You can also use DELTREE for deleting files.
Diskcomp ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 26.Sep.1998 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: Borland C/ASM LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jeremiah Gowdy
Diskcopy ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 28.Jun.1998 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Matthew Stanford
Edit ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 27.Jul.1998 VERSION: 0.2Beta COMPILER: Borland C 3.1 LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Shaun Raven Starts the Free-DOS Editor, an text editor that lets you edit ASCII text files. Free-DOS Editor is a full-screen text editor that allows you to create, edit, save, and print ASCII text files. Using Free-DOS Editor, you can choose commands from menus and specify information and preferences in dialog boxes. Free-DOS Editor includes extensive online Help about Free-DOS editor techniques and commands. Syntax: EDIT [drive:][path][filename] [drive:][path][filename] Upon starting the Editor, you can specify a filename to open instead of going to File³Open.
Emm386 ÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 09.Dec.1995 VERSION: 1.0? COMPILER: Borland C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Raevski Maxim
Exe2Bin ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Fastopen ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER: Starts the Fastopen program, which improves performance on computers with large directories. Fastopen decreases the amount of time that Free-DOS takes to open frequently used files. Fastopen tracks the location of files on hard disk and stores them in memory for fast access. Syntax: FASTOPEN drive:[[=]n] [drive:[[n][...]] [/X] drive: Specifies a hard disk drive for which you want Fastopen to track the opening of files. n Specifies the number of file Fastopen can work with at the same time. Valid values are in the range 10 through 999. The default value is 48. /X Creates the name cache in expanded memory instead of in conventional memory. The name cache is an area of memory in which Free-DOS stores (caches) the locations and names of the files that you open.
Fasthelp ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 15.Aug.1997 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: TP 7.0 LICENSE: Express Software Public License MAINTAINER: Joseph Cosentino Provides help information for Free-DOS commands. Syntax: FASTHELP [command] command A command you want help on Example: C:\>fasthelp cls Clears the screen. Syntax: CLS If you type FASTHELP without parameters, a list will be displayed of each of the Free-DOS commands with a brief description of each.
Fc ÄÄ DATE: 19.Sep.1998 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jeremiah Gowdy
FCDEX ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 12.May.1997 VERSION: 1.3 COMPILER: MASM/MSC LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Peter Fedorow
Fdisk ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 20.Sep.1995 VERSION: 0.4Alpha COMPILER: Micro-C LICENSE: Free MAINTAINER: Chris Stratford
FDXMS.SYS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 10.Nov.1995 VERSION: 0.1 COMPILER: ASM LICENSE: Free MAINTAINER: Till Gerken
Find ÄÄÄÄ DATE: Dec 1994 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: MS Quick-C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jim Hall Finds a text string inside of a file. Syntax: FIND string < filename string The string you want to find. It can be up to 128 characters long filename The file that is to be searched for the string Do not use this command with executable files. Example: C:>find Readme < readme.txt 2 README.TXT C:>_ Where 2 being the line number the text was found on and README.TXT bieng the line where the text was found.
Format ÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: ?.Jul.1998 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Robert Nordier Formats a disk or drive for use with Free-DOS. The FORMAT command creates a new root directory and file allocation table for the disk. It can also check for bad areas on the disk, and it can delete all data on the disk. In order for Free-DOS to be able to use a new disk, you must first use this command to format the disk. Syntax: FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/C] drive: Specifies the drive containing the disk you want to format. You must specify a drive parameter. If you do not specify an of the following switches, FORMAT uses the drive type to determine the default format for the disk. /V:label Specifies the volume label. A volume label identifies the disk and can be a maximum of 11 characters. If you omit the /V switch or use it without specifying a volume label, Free-DOS prompts you for the volume label after the formatting is completed. If you format more than one disk by using one FORMAT command, all of the disks will be given the same volume label. /Q Specifies a quick format of a disk. With this switch, FORMAT deletes the file allocation table (FAT) and the root directory of a previously formatted disk, but does not scan the disk for bad areas. Use the /Q switch to format only previously formatted disks that you know are in good condition. /C Retests bad clusters. By default, if a drive contains clusters that have been marked "bad," FORMAT does not retest the new clusters; it simply leaves them marked "bad." Use the /C switch if you want FORMAT to retest all bad clusters on the drive.
Graphics ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER:
Graftabl ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER:
Help ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 08.Sep.1998 VERSION: 2.0 COMPILER: Borland C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jim Hall
HTML Help ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 29.Sep.1998 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: Borland C LICENSE: Express Software Public License MAINTAINER: Joseph Cosentino
Join ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 16.Feb.1998 VERSION: 3.1 COMPILER: Borland C 3.1 LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Steffen Kaiser
Keyb ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 1992 VERSION: 1.10 COMPILER: TP LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Dietmar Hoehmann Installs a new keyboard. Syntax: KEYB
Label ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 19.Oct.1994 VERSION: 1.1 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Max Brante Creates, changes, or deletes the volume label of a disk. Syntax: LABEL [drive:][label] drive: The drive that you are going to label label The label that is to be assigned to that disk To delete the volume label: C:\>label Volume in drive C is EXDOS 1 Volume serial number is 230A-68D1 Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)? _ Delete current label (Y/N)? Y
Loadhi ÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 19.Nov.1995 VERSION: ? COMPILER: MS-C/MASM LICENSE: Free MAINTAINER: Svante Frey
Mem ÄÄÄ DATE: 04.Feb.1998 VERSION: 7.02 COMPILER: C LICENSE: Free/Open MAINTAINER: Mark Aitchison
Mkdir ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 30.Aug.1995 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: James Lynch Creates a directory. Syntax: MKDIR directory MD directory directory The name of the directory you want to create Example: C:\>mkdir TEST
Mode ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 05.Aug.1995 VERSION: 1.0.4 COMPILER: ASM LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Kris Heidenstrom Displays the mode Free-DOS is in. Syntax: MODE Example: C:\>mode Free-DOS is in Real mode
More ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 24.Aug.1998 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: Micro-C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Bill Weinman Displays output one screenful at a time. The MORE command reads standard input from a pipe or redirected file and displays one screen of information at a time. This command is commonly used to view long files. Syntax: MORE [drive:][path]filename MORE < [drive:][path]filename command ³ MORE [drive:][path]filename Displays the file to the screen and when the screen gets full, waits for the user to press a key to display the next screenful of output. command ³ MORE The command displays a screenful of information then calls MORE to wait for the user to press a key. Example 1: C:>more < readme.txt Readme.TXT ù ù ù --More--_ Example 2: C:>dir | more Directory of C:\>DOS ù ù ù --More--
Move ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 13.Apr.98 VERSION: 1.1 COMPILER: Turbo C 3.0 LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jeremy Parker Moves a file from one location to another. Syntax: MOVE source destination source The name of the file you want to move destination The place where you want to move the file
NLSFunc ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER:
Pause ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 08.Sep.1998 VERSION: 2.0 COMPILER: Borland C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jim Hall
Print ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER: Prints a file. This command can print in the background if you have an output device connected to one of your system's serial or parallel ports. Syntax: PRINT [filename] filename The name of the file you want to print Example: C:\>print intro.txt Printing...
Recover ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER:
Rmdir ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 30.Aug.1995 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: James Lynch Removes a directory. Syntax: RMDIR directory RD directory directory The directory that is going to be removed You cannot remove the directory you are currently in. Example: C:\>md TEST This example works. C:\>rd TEST C:\>md TEST This example does not work. C:\>cd TEST C:\TEST>rd TEST
Scandisk ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: TBD VERSION: 7.02 COMPILER: Turbo-C LICENSE: Free/Open MAINTAINER: Mark Aitchison
Setver ÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER:
Share ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: TBD VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: Borland C 3.1? LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Pat Villani Starts the SHARE program, which installs file-sharing and locking capabilities on your disks and network drives. Syntax: SHARE [/F] [/L] In your CONFIG.SYS file, use the following syntax: INSTALL=[[drive:]path]SHARE.EXE [/F:space] [/L:locks] drive:path Specifies the location of the SHARE.EXE file. /F:space Allocates file space (in bytes) for the Free-DOS storage area used to record file-sharing information. The default value is 2048. /L:locks Sets the number of files that can be locked at one time. The default value is 20.
Sort ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 23.May.1995 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: James Lynch Reads input, sorts data, and writes the results to the screen, a file, or another device. SORT acts as a filter, reading characters in a specified column and rearranging them in ascending or descending order. Syntax: SORT [/R] [<] [drive1:][path]filename1 [> [drive2:][path2] filename2] drive1:[path1]filename1 Specifies the location and name of the file whose data you want to sort. drive2:[path2]filename2 Specifies the location and name of a file in which the sorted output is to be sorted. command Specifies a command whose output is the data you want to sort.
Subst ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 16.Feb.1998 VERSION: 3.1 COMPILER: Borland C 3.1 LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Steffen Kaiser
TurboDisk ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 7.Jun.1996 VERSION: 2.2 COMPILER: MASM LICENSE: Public domain MAINTAINER: Ciriaco Garcia de Celeis
Time ÄÄÄÄ DATE: Dec 1994 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: MS Quick-C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jim Hall Displays the time and prompts you to enter a new one. Syntax: TIME [h:m:s] [h:m:s] Hours, minutes, seconds. To replace the time without being prompted, enter the new time after the text on the command line. Example: C:\>time Current system time is: 1:00:17a Enter new time: _ or C:\>time 5:27:07 C:\>
Tree ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 1995 VERSION: COMPILER: Micro-C LICENSE: Free MAINTAINER: Dave Dunfield
Type ÄÄÄÄ DATE: 08.Sep.1998 VERSION: 2.0 COMPILER: Borland C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jim Hall Displays the contents of files. Syntax: TYPE filename filename The name of the file you want to display. Example: C:\>type release.txt
Undelete ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: TBD VERSION: 0.9b COMPILER: C/ASM LICENSE: Free MAINTAINER: Paul Case
Unformat ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: VERSION: COMPILER: LICENSE: MAINTAINER:
Ver ÄÄÄ DATE: 27.Jul.1998 VERSION: 2.0 COMPILER: Borland C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Jim Hall Displays the Free-DOS version number. Syntax: VER
Verify ÄÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: 30.Jan.1995 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: MSC or Borland C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Peter Mikalajunas Tells Free-DOS whether to verify that your files are written correctly to a disk. You can use Verify to make sure data is not written to a bad sector on a disk. Syntax: VERIFY [on³off] on³off Specifies whether Free-DOS is to verify that write operations are done correctly. The ON value enables this verification process. The OFF value disables it. Example: C:\>verify VERIFY is on C:\>verify off VERIFY is off C:\>verify VERIFY is off
Vol ÄÄÄ DATE: 13.Sep.1998 VERSION: 1.0 COMPILER: C LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: John Price Displays the disk volume label. Syntax: VOL [drive:] [drive:] Specifies the drive that contains the disk for which you want to display the volume number. To cause Free-DOS to display the volume label of the disk in the current drive, use the vol command with no parameter.
XCopy ÄÄÄÄÄ DATE: TBD VERSION: 0.1 COMPILER: MASM LICENSE: GPL MAINTAINER: Stephen Hammond Copies directories, their subdirectories, and files (except hidden and system files). With this command, you can copy all the files in a directory, including the files in the subdirectories of that directory. Syntax: XCOPY source [destination] [/Y|/-Y] [/A|/M] [/D:date] [/P] [/S] [/E] [/V] [/W] source Specifies the location and names of the files you want to copy. Source must include either a drive or a path. destination Specifies the destination of the files you want to copy. Destination can include a drive letter and colon, a directory name, a filename, or a combination. /Y Indicates that you want XCOPY to replace existing file(s) without prompting for confirmation. By default, if you specify an existing file as the destination file, XCOPY will ask you if you want to overwrite the existing file. /-Y Indicates that you want XCOPY to prompt you for confirmation when replacing an existing file. Specifying this switch overrides all defaults and the current setting of the COPYCMD environment variable. /A Copies only source files that have their archive file attributes set. This switch does not modify the archive file attribute of the source file. /M Copies source files that have their archive file attributes set. Unlike the /A switch, /M turns off archive file attributes in the files specified in source. /D:date Copies only source files modified on or after the specified date. Note that the format of date depends on the COUNTRY settings you are using. /P Prompts for confirmation about whether you want to create each destination file. /S Copies directories and subdirectories, unless they are empty. If you omit this switch, XCOPY works within a single directory. /E Copies any subdirectories, even if they are empty. /V Verifies each file as it is written to the destination file to make sure that the destination files are identical to the source files. /W Displays the following message and waits for your response before starting to copy files: Press any key to begin copying file(s)...