This tutorial is a third part of our sequel of tutorials MS DOS Tutorials – Learn MS DOS with an ease

So here we are, and today we are going to work with files in MS DOS. We are going to see how we can create files, view them and also how to move files and directories (just like your windows cut and paste commands )

How to Create, Append and View Files

How to create a file and write some data to it ?

echo your desired text > file_name

echo hello and welcome mygeekpal.com > file.txt

The above statement will write the part in bold to the file file_name

How to add text in a file later ?

In case of adding text to the same file at the end or in other words appending the same file, use the greater than symbol twice times like below

echo should be here >> file_name

echo its a pleasure that you read this blog >> file.txt

How to view a text file ?

Viewing a file’s content is very simple in MS DOS. All you need to do is write type followed by file_name

type file_name

To view the data inside a text file name file.txt below is an example

type file.txt

Some of the above tricks can be also used in Unix

How to Move Files and Directories

How to move a file?

move filename path

Now suppose you have a file named sam and got a sub directory inside the same folder as man, now for moving the file sam inside the folder man the command used should be as follows

move sam \man

How to print something on the screen in MS DOS ?

echo – mainly use for displaying or printing messages alternative use is to on/ off the prompt message
echo [message] -> will print the message

echo [on | off] -> will set the prompt on or off
you can check your echo settings by simply writing in the echo command in your prompt

How to create a directory in MS DOS ?
md techytuts
the above command will create a directory with the name techytuts

How to change the present working directory in MS DOS ?

MS DOS is a single taking operating system. You can work with only 1 file/folder at a time and to work with a particular file/folder you first need to open it as you do in Windows. This navigation is achieved through the CD command. However changing through drives don’t require any commands. By default you will be in C:\ drive in your my documents directory. To simply change to D Drive write in d: and press enter. Similarly write e:, f: for changing to e drive and f drives respectively..
cd [directory name]
(cd followed by 2 periods takes you one level up i.e to the parent directory)
cd..
(cd followed by backslash periods takes you to the top directory i.e directly under the drive)
cd\

How to delete an directory in MS DOS ?

To delete a directory
rd [directory name]

rd sample
The above command will delete the directory named sample from the present working directory if it exists

How to know the number of files and directories in the present drive ?
dir -> shows the number of directories in your present working directory

dir /d -> to display the output in column wise order

dir /w -> to display the output in page wise order asking for your requisition to continue
How to rename a directory or file?
ren [old name] [new name]-> used for renaming a file or directory

rename [old name] [new name] -> used for renaming a file or directory
for example if you got a file named one.txt, then to rename this file to two.txt write the below command
ren one.txt two.txt
How to create files and sub-directory in a directory ?

As we know, the command used for creating the directory is md. The same command applies for creating a sub – directory however in this case you need to change through the working directories to create sub directories.

cd [directory name] -> this command will enter into the directory which is present in you drive

The next tutorial will be on how to create a file how to move a file and how to add text in a file and finally how to view this text file in ms dos till then have a nice day. And please do write a comment. Your comments helps us improve.

The commands you need to memorize are like

command [ -options ]

command filename [ -options ]

command filename1 filename2 [ -options ]

The options part is optional where as the other 2 parts are required once. We will check the differences later.

Now lets start using it but before doing it lets us know how to open your Dos prompt, well below is one of the easiest way you can go to the Dos prompt whereas they are several ways you can go through with if you like

Go to START -> Click RUN ->

Type command or cmd and press Enter

The below over information in green can be avoided
We write command for opening dos in older versions of operating systems and cmd for new versions but its better you make an habit to use cmd because it works in every version, cmd works for latest versions of Windows those were released after 2001 i.e., windows 2003 or XP etc.

How to use title command ?

This command changes the title for the current prompt Window. To change the title as techytuts
simply write in and press enter (yes every command follows and enter key, so we dont need to remind you)

title TECHYUTS

Note: In Mircosoft DOS the command case is sensitive

How to change the font color and background color ?

In the previous tutorial how to change color in Dos prompt we studied how to change the font color if you missed that tutorial click on this link Changing Font color in Dos
Here in this tutorial we are going to show you how to change the background color too

color [background] [foreground or font color]

For example if you want to change the background as bright yellow and font as black which is my favorite write in

color e0

( E is the code for yellow and 0 is the code for black) Some of my favorite color combinations are

04, B9, f0, f4, f2, 0d

Enjoy this session and stick with us there is a lot more to come from techytuts. Dont forget to subscribe to our RSS Feeds by Email to know when we publish

This tutorial is a constituent of our sequel of tutorials MS DOS Tutorials – Learn MS DOS with an ease

This might be a beginner tutorial though but it is a part of fancy, DOS prompt or Command Prompt is an area where limitations are not given a place to learn a lot from Well lets come to the bottom line

These are the commands to write in for changing your color in Dos Prompt

color option changes the color of which the option is selected

like

0 – BLACK

1 – BLUE

2 – GREEN

3 – AQUA

4 – RED

5 – PURPLE

Just type in your dos prompt like below to change in for green color

color green

for more colors simply write in

help color

It will display you more color options

Good Luck Well Everyone needs it !!!!