20 Examples of Internal and External MS-DOS Commands

MS-DOS is the acronym for MicroSoft Disk Operating System (MicroSoft Disk Operating System) was one of the basic computer interaction systems with the user for computers compatible with IBM PC, from its invention in 1981 until the mid-1990s, when it was replaced by successive Windows systems, which offered the user a graphical interface, much friendlier than the paucity of DOS commands.

East OS required the user to enter their commands manually, based on a possible list of instructions called commands. There were two series of commands: internal and external. For instance: CHDIR, FOR, MEM, REN.

The first ones (also called residents) were loaded automatically when the operating system started, from a file called command.com, so it is possible to invoke them without having DOS present in the default unit from which they are executed. The external ones, on the other hand, are stored in temporary point files, which must be kept on hand to invoke the specific commands.

The MS-DOS it was used throughout the generation of x86 processor computers, extremely popular in its day until the advent of Pentium processor technology. Today much of its structure is preserved in the basic and essential processes of the Windows system.

Examples of internal MS-DOS commands

1. CD.. – Go down a rung in the hierarchy of directories or folders.
2. CD or CHDIR – Allows you to vary the current directory to any other.
3. CLS – Deletes all the information displayed on the screen, except the command prompt (prompt).
4. COPY – Allows you to copy a specific file from your current directory to a specific one.
5. DIR – Displays the entire content of the current directory. Allows you to control the way it is displayed by including additional parameters.
6. OF THE – Delete a specific file.
7. FOR – Repeat a command already entered.
8. MD or MKDIR – Allows you to create a specific directory.
9. MEM – Shows the amount of system RAM, the percentage occupied and the free.
10. REN or RENAME – Rename a file to another specified name.

Examples of external MS-DOS commands

1. APPEND – It allows to specify trajectories for data files.
2. BACKUP – Backup one or more specific files from the hard disk to a floppy disk.
3. CHKDSK – It performs a check on the status of the hard disk and corrects specific errors.
4. DELTREE – Deletes an entire directory with its subdirectories and contained files.
5. DYSKCOPY – Allows you to make an identical copy from one floppy disk to another.
6. FORMAT – Erases all the contents of a physical drive (floppy or hard disk) and creates the basic file structure to contain information again.
7. PRINT – Sends a one-time file to the printer.
8. LABEL – View or modify the label assigned to a disk drive.
9. MOVE – Change the location of a specific file or a specific directory. It also allows renaming subdirectories.
10. KEYB – Allows you to modify the language assigned to the computer keyboard.