The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group
Some Useful Tips
Tom Coleman

Did you know that:
  • You can make a directory on another drive with 
     A:> MD C: \DOS\UTIL  
    this will make a subdirectory of your \DOS subdirectory called UTIL even if you are logged on to drive A: at the time. 
  • You can change directories before you log on to that drive thus:
     A:> CD C:\DOS\UTIL
    will change the default directory you will log onto when you subsequently enter C: to change drives.
  • DEL C:\DOS\UTIL would delete all the files in the UTIL subdirectory but leave the UTIL subdirectory intact. You would need RD to delete the directory once it is empty. 
  • DEL  is the same as DEL *.*
  • FORMAT A: /H 
    goes straight into executing the FORMAT command without any further prompting to put a disk in drive a: (or wherever)
  • Watch it!
    You must be sure that the disk you want to format is in the drive you nominate BEFORE you issue the command. There are no second chances because the first thing DOS does is to deformat the disk and everything on it is lost. 
  • DOS treats Subdirectory names like file names in many cases so you can always add a dot and extension thus
     \SUBDIREC.TRY\fileaame.ext 
    \MORELETT.ERS\fileaame.ext 
    These are quite acceptable to DOS as subdirectory names. 
  • ATTRIB/S P*.COM  
    will search the whole drive for COM files starting with P. Just like WHEREIS.COM. Handy when looking for a file whose whereabouts you have forgotten, or you cant remember if it is a COM or an EXE file. Of course you must have ATTRIB.COM available in the path or in the directory. The advantage is that everyone has ATTRIB but not everyone has WHEREIS.
Reprinted from the October 1990 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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