HackMind.Org MS-DOS Guide

Transcription

1 PREMISES This document when I am writing refers to the command prompt of Windows 8.1 which is the version of the operating system that I currently use. Despite the MS-DOS commands are the same for most of the windows operating systems is only right to remind you that may not necessarily be the same, and therefore I recommend to check on your operating system before performing the operations. As already indicated in my website and any actions or activities related to the material contained Within this file is Solely your responsibility. Do not insert the complete disclaimer because the document itself would become too long, but you can view it in the following link MS-DOS (short for Microsoft Disk Operating System) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid-1990s, when it was gradually superseded by operating systems offering a graphical user interface (GUI), in various generations of the Microsoft Windows operating system. INDEX PREMISES and INDEX Page 1 INTRODUCTION Page 2 MS-DOS OPERATIONS Page 1 to Page 6 CREATE AND USE BATCH FILES Page 7 NETWORK TROUBLESHOOTING WITH COMMAND PROMPT Page 8 MS-DOS COMMAND LIST Page 9 to Page 10 Pag. 1 of 10

2 INTRODUCTION MS-DOS is still used in embedded x86 systems due to its simple architecture and minimal memory and processor requirements. The command line interpreter of NT-based versions of Windows, CMD.EXE, maintains most of the same commands and some compatibility with DOS batch files. The way I prefer to open the command prompt (the interface from which to enter the MS-DOS command under Windows) is as follows: Windows + R you will see the following screen where you will have to write "cmd" and press ok: Now you will get the prompt from which you can enter all the commands to perform the operations you need. For completeness the end of this guide I have entered all the commands you can use with their description, but be careful, some commands that are generally used by the prompt to make network diagnostics, such as PING, NETSTAT and IPCONFIG are not dos commands. These applications that can be called from the command prompt, and don t worry I ll see you later ;) Pag. 2 of 10

3 MS-DOS OPERATIONS Commands can be typed in response to the network DOS prompt: C:\> (or like the previous example C:\User\Username\> this may vary by the version of the OS) Commands may be typed in upper or lower case. Here, they are specified in upper case to distinguish them from other input. Commands have a particular format. Some can be used simply by typing the command name only, as in: DIR which displays a listing of files in the current directory. Many commands can take extra information called parameters to make them more specific, For example, the COPY command can have a parameter specifying a file to be copied and a parameter specifying a file to which the copy is to be made. So the command would look like this: COPY filea fileb In this case, filea would be the name of a file to copy from and fileb would be the name of a file to copy to. Parameters can sometimes be omitted in which case a default action will apply. Commands can also be qualified by the use of options. Options are preceded by a / sign. A simple example of the use of an option is with the DIR command. DIR can be qualified by /P or /W. Thus the commands: DIR DIR /W DIR /P result in listings presented in a different format as detailed later. Make a copy of a file or merge files together. COPY original-file destination-file where original-file and destination-file are file names, separated by a space. The command can be used to merge several files into one file since the original-file parameter can be a list of filenames separated by the + symbol. For example: COPY file1 + file2 file3 would copy file1 and file2 into file3. Note that the file names used in the copy command must include the file extension if it exists. So if you were copying a fortran program called first.for, for example, you would need to include the.for extension in the filename. Delete a file. DEL filename where filename is the name of the file to be deleted. You are asked to confirm that you really want to delete the file. Note that the name must include the file extension. Pag. 3 of 10

4 The amount of space on a disk is limited and it is necessary periodically to tidy up unwanted files. It is possible to use a '*' character in a filename to match any sequence of characters. This feature is very useful when deleting unwanted files with identical extensions. For example, when developing programs, DEL *.obj will delete every binary (.obj) file in the current directory. Since an.obj file can always be recreated from the original source program, it is usually unnecessary to keep it. Obtain a list of the files stored in a directory. If used without options this command will give a list of files in the current directory, including any extension (e.g..for), and their size. If used with the option /P, that is: DIR /P The same information will be displayed page by page with the message: strike a key when ready at the end of each page. If it is used with the /W option, i.e. DIR /W the listing is of names and extensions only and in a more compact format across the page. Take a security copy of your working disk. It is very important to have a second copy of your programs and data in case you lose your disk or it becomes unreadable for some reason. Use the DISKCOPY command as follows: DISKCOPY A: A: where A: denotes the drive the disks will be loaded into. When a copy of your disk is generated in the computer's memory, the computer tells you to remove the first or source disk and insert the disk, which is to become the copy (the target disk). Insert the target disk and press ENTER. If the second disk is not formatted it will be formatted automatically. The source disk should be write protected using the tab in the corner in case you mistake it for the target disk (see the chapter on using disks). Obtain a printed listing of a file. LIST filename where filename is the file to be printed. If the printer is busy, or if you don't need a printed copy, you can use the TYPE command to view a file on the screen. You could also use an editor such as DOS Edit to display a file, in which case, as a bonus, you would then be in a position to correct any errors you might notice. Remember that the file name must include the file extension. So if you want to print your Pascal program called first you would need to use: LIST first.pas Change the name of a file. This command can be abbreviated to REN: Pag. 4 of 10

5 REN oldname newname where oldname is the file to be renamed and newname is the name it is to be given. Note that files on drives other than the current drive can be referred to by prefixing the filename by the relevant drive letter, for example: A:\filename where the \ refers to the root directory of the drive. Filenames can also include directories separated by the \ character as in: A:\dir1\dir2\filename View a file on the screen. TYPE filename where filename is the name of the file to be displayed on the monitor screen. If you are looking at a long file, you will need to press the PAUSE key to stop continuous scrolling. Press the space bar to continue scrolling when you have read the screen. To format a floppy disk, place the disk in the floppy drive and type: FORMAT A: Note that by default the disk will be formatted to hold about 1.44 megabytes of data. Warning: formatting will destroy any data on the disk so only do this once! DOS Command Listing In the following section, alternative options are separated by the! character. Arguments are optional unless in italics. cwd stands for Current Working Directory. DOS commands are not case sensitive. Some commands have switches; these must be preceded by a forward slash (/). Pathnames may be preceded by a drive letter as in X:pathname and if no drive or pathname is given the current directory is assumed. Full details of all DOS commands can be seen by following the command with the switch /? For example, DIR /? gives a listing of all DIR options. DOS commands are stored in a template and previous commands can be recalled, character by character enabling editing as required. The template is accessed by the following keys: F1 - get next character from template F2 C - get characters up to but excluding character C F3 - get remaining characters from template del - skip one character in template F4 C - skip characters up to but excluding character C ESC - clear command line INS - toggle overwriting of template F5 - copy command to template for re-editing F6 - put ^Z in new template The arrow keys may also be used to recall the previous command. All DOS commands may be used in batch files. Additionally, the following commands are useful for more advanced batch processes. Pag. 5 of 10

6 Arguments for batch files are accessed as %1 to %9. ECHO on!off!message display echo status, turn echoing on!off (default on) or display message FOR %%C IN (SET of items) DO command C is any character other than 0-9, SET is e.g. list of files GOTO LABEL LABEL is any line of text, usually preceded by colon (:) in first column, which makes MS-DOS ignore it other than as a label. Terminates if label not found IF ERRORLEVEL number command command executed if previous command returned exit code >= number IF string1 == string2 command command executed if strings match may be negated by NOT before condition IF EXIST filename command command executed if file exists may be negated by NOT before condition PAUSE comment comment displayed only if echo on REM comment remark - ignored by MS-DOS Several special characters may be used when referring to directories and files: \ = root directory or a directory separator. = current directory.. = parent directory Wildcard characters may be used in filenames or extensions:? = any character * = any tail or extension X: - switches to current working directory (cwd) on drive X. The FC command enables comparison of two files: FC pathname1 pathname2 compare two files, or two wildcarded sets of files /a - abbreviate output of ASCII comparison /b - force binary comparison (byte-by-byte) /c - ignore case /L - force ASCII comparison (lineby-line) /Lb# - use line buffer of # lines /n - display line numbers in ASCII mode /t - do not expand tabs - default expands to spacing of 8 /w - compress white space (tabs and spaces) to single space (leading or trailing white space always ignored) /# - # lines must match to re-synchronize else regarded different (default is 2) I/O Control DOS input and output may be controlled by the following control key sequences. (^ = the CTRL key). ^C - abort current command ^H - destructive backspace ^J - linefeed - physical newline to input long lines ^N - toggle copying of terminal output to printer ^P - toggle redirection of terminal output to printer ^S - suspend/restart terminal output ^X - cancel current line, and output \-CR-LF ^Z - end of file Input and output from commands or programs can be redirected by using the following symbols: > send output to... >> append output to... < take input from... pipe output to next input For example: pipe output from command a to input of command b: command a command b send a directory listing to file filename: DIR > filename DOS includes a full-screen editor invoked by the EDIT command (with or without a filename). To use this editor type: EDIT (filename) The editor provides pull-down menus, operated by the keyboard or mouse, and a help facility. Note that any changes made to a file overwrites the original, no backup is created. Pag. 6 of 10

7 CREATE AND USE BATCH FILES With batch files, which are also called batch programs or scripts, you can simplify routine or repetitive tasks. A batch file is an unformatted text file that contains one or more commands and has a.bat or.cmd file name extension. When you type the file name at the command prompt, Cmd.exe runs the commands sequentially as they appear in the file. You can include any command in a batch file. Certain commands, such as for, goto, and if, enable you to do conditional processing of the commands in the batch file. For example, the if command carries out a command based on the results of a condition. Other commands allow you to control input and output and call other batch files. If you want create a simple batch file that show files inside a directory, you can open notepad write inside it the command DIR (In this case I have inserted the PAUSE command to avoid that the window will automatically close) and save the file with the extension.bat like in the image shows below: When you want execute the batch file just double click on it and the prompt will show and execute the command that you have inserted on it, as the following image shows: Pag. 7 of 10

8 NETWORK TROUBLESHOOTING WITH COMMAND PROMPT As I tell before, if you need to do some network troubleshooting, you can use the command prompt and the following commands, and remember that if you need the command options just write the command followed by /?: Get MAC Address (Getmac.exe) Discovers the Media Access Control (MAC) address and lists associated network protocols for all network cards in a computer, either locally or across a network. Hostname (Hostname.exe) Displays the host name of the current computer. IP Configuration Utility (Ipconfig.exe) Displays all current Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) network configuration values, and refreshes Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and DNS settings. Name Server Lookup (Nslookup.exe) Displays information about Domain Name System records for specific IP addresses and/or host names so that you can troubleshoot DNS problems. Net services commands (Net.exe) Performs a broad range of network tasks. Type net with no parameters to see a full list of available command-line options. Netstat (Netstat.exe) Displays active TCP connections, ports on which the computer is listening, Ethernet statistics, the IP routing table, and IPv4/IPv6 statistics. Network Command Shell (Netsh.exe) Displays or modifies the network configuration of a local or remote computer that is currently running. This command-line scripting utility has a huge number of options, which are fully detailed in Help. PathPing (Pathping.exe) Combines the functions of Traceroute and Ping to identify problems at a router or network link. TCP/IP NetBIOS Information (Nbtstat.exe) Displays statistics for the NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) protocol, NetBIOS name tables for both the local computer and remote computers, and the NetBIOS name cache. TCP/IP Ping (Ping.exe) Verifies IP-level connectivity to another internet address by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) packets and measuring response time in milliseconds. TCP/IP Route (Route.exe) Displays and modifies entries in the local IP routing table. TCP/IP Traceroute (Tracert.exe) Determines the path to an internet address, and lists the time required to reach each hop. It s useful for troubleshooting connectivity problems on specific network segments. Here you have an example of a PING command execution that verify the connection between us and Google Web Server: Pag. 8 of 10

9 MS-DOS COMMAND LIST If you want see the complete list of the commands that you can use, on command prompt just write Help And press enter, you ll see the following list: ASSOC ATTRIB BREAK BCDEDIT CACLS CALL CD CHCP CHDIR CHKDSK CHKNTFS CLS CMD COLOR COMP COMPACT CONVERT COPY DATE DEL DIR DISKCOMP DISKCOPY DISKPART DOSKEY DRIVERQUERY ECHO ENDLOCAL ERASE EXIT FC FIND FINDSTR FOR FORMAT FSUTIL FTYPE GOTO GPRESULT GRAFTABL HELP ICACLS Displays or modifies file extension associations. Displays or changes file attributes. Sets or clears extended CTRL+C checking. Sets properties in boot database to control boot loading. Displays or modifies access control lists (ACLs) of files. Calls one batch program from another. Displays the name of or changes the current directory. Displays or sets the active code page number. Displays the name of or changes the current directory. Checks a disk and displays a status report. Displays or modifies the checking of disk at boot time. Clears the screen. Starts a new instance of the Windows command interpreter. Sets the default console foreground and background colors. Compares the contents of two files or sets of files. Displays or alters the compression of files on NTFS partitions. Converts FAT volumes to NTFS. You cannot convert the current drive. Copies one or more files to another location. Displays or sets the date. Deletes one or more files. Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory. Compares the contents of two floppy disks. Copies the contents of one floppy disk to another. Displays or configures Disk Partition properties. Edits command lines, recalls Windows commands, and creates macros. Displays current device driver status and properties. Displays messages, or turns command echoing on or off. Ends localization of environment changes in a batch file. Deletes one or more files. Quits the CMD.EXE program (command interpreter). Compares two files or sets of files, and displays the differences bet them. Searches for a text string in a file or files. Searches for strings in files. Runs a specified command for each file in a set of files. Formats a disk for use with Windows. Displays or configures the file system properties. Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations. Directs the Windows command interpreter to a labeled line in a batch. Displays Group Policy information for machine or user. Enables Windows to display an extended character set in graphics mode. Provides Help information for Windows commands. Display, modify, backup, or restore ACLs for files and directories. Pag. 9 of 10

10 IF LABEL MD MKDIR MKLINK MODE MORE MOVE OPENFILES PATH PAUSE POPD PRINT PROMPT PUSHD RD RECOVER REM REN RENAME REPLACE RMDIR ROBOCOPY SET SETLOCAL SC SCHTASKS SHIFT SHUTDOWN SORT START SUBST SYSTEMINFO TASKLIST TASKKILL TIME TITLE TREE TYPE VER VERIFY VOL XCOPY WMIC Performs conditional processing in batch programs. Creates, changes, or deletes the volume label of a disk. Creates a directory. Creates a directory. Creates Symbolic Links and Hard Links Configures a system device. Displays output one screen at a time. Moves one or more files from one directory to another directory. Displays files opened by remote users for a file share. Displays or sets a search path for executable files. Suspends processing of a batch file and displays a message. Restores the previous value of the current directory saved by PUSHD. Prints a text file. Changes the Windows command prompt. Saves the current directory then changes it. Removes a directory. Recovers readable information from a bad or defective disk. Records comments (remarks) in batch files or CONFIG.SYS. Renames a file or files. Renames a file or files. Replaces files. Removes a directory. Advanced utility to copy files and directory trees Displays, sets, or removes Windows environment variables. Begins localization of environment changes in a batch file. Displays or configures services (background processes). Schedules commands and programs to run on a computer. Shifts the position of replaceable parameters in batch files. Allows proper local or remote shutdown of machine. Sorts input. Starts a separate window to run a specified program or command. Associates a path with a drive letter. Displays machine specific properties and configuration. Displays all currently running tasks including services. Kill or stop a running process or application. Displays or sets the system time. Sets the window title for a CMD.EXE session. Graphically displays the directory structure of a drive or path. Displays the contents of a text file. Displays the Windows version. Tells Windows whether to verify that your files are written correctly. Displays a disk volume label and serial number. Copies files and directory trees. Displays WMI information inside interactive command shell. If you need more command details about options, you can write on the command prompt for example: DIR /? or XCOPY /? or VER /? (wherevercommand /?) and press Enter. Pag. 10 of 10