These DOS commands are called internal commands because their code is included in COMMAND.COM, the DOS and Windows 9x command processor. Since COMMAND.COM is loaded into primary memory when DOS or Windows 9x is booted, the internal commands are always in memory andcan be executed at any time without first being fetched from disk (secondary memory).

Explanation, syntax, and examples of using common DOS internal commands. Includes usage of: TIME, DATE, CLS, DIR, COPY, TYPE, DEL, REN, RD, MD, CD, PATH, and SET PROMPT. Markdown is a plain-text file format. The extensions.md and.markdown are just text files written in Markdown syntax. If you have a Readme.md in your repo, GitHub will show the contents on the home page of your repo.

This is in contrast to the disk-bound external commands, which reside only in secondary memory until the moment they are commanded to launch. Then they are loaded intoprimary memory by the operating system, but only if it can find the program on disk.

The syntax for some frequently used internal commands follows.

TIME

Displays current time and allows it to be changed.
Syntax:TIME

DATE

Displays current date and allows it to be changed.
Syntax:DATE

CLS

Clears the screen.
Syntax: CLS

DIR

Shows directory information of a diskette: name, size, and thedate and time stamp of files.
Syntax: DIR [d:][path]
Optional switches:
/p Display dir info and pauses display when the screen is full
/w Display names and extensions only in five columns
To display a file directory listing for D:DATALETTERANNUAL from different current directories:
D:DATALETTERANNUAL> DIR
D:DATA> DIR LETTERANNUAL
C:WINDOWS> DIR D:DATALETTERANNUAL

COPY

Copies a file. Name of copy may be the same as original, or different.Syntax: COPY [d:][path][name.ext] [d:][path][name.ext]
Optional switches:
/v Verify, copies the file and compares it with the original
/b Binary file
To copy a file from D:BATCH to the root of A: drive A:> COPY D:BATCHCL.BAT (from A: drive)
D:BATCH> COPY CL.BAT A: (from D:BATCH) To copy a file from the root of C: to A: drive and change its name A:> COPY C:MSDOS.SYS MSDOSSYS.BAK (from A:)
C:> COPY MSDOS.SYS A:MSDOSSYS.BAK (from the root of C:) To copy all of the files from the root of A: to D:CCVENGCOMP A:> COPY *.* D:CCVENGCOMP (from A:)
D:CCVENGCOMP> COPY *.* A: (from D:CCVENGCOMP)

TYPE

Displays the contents of a file.
Syntax: TYPE [d:][path][name.ext]
To display the contents of the file MY.LET to the screen
A:> TYPE MY.LET

DEL

Deletes a file from disk.

Md Syntax Code

Syntax: DEL [d:][path][name.ext]
To delete one file: A:> DEL A:MY.LET To del all files in current directory A:> DEL *.*

REN

Renames a file.
Syntax: REN [d:][path][name.ext] [d:][path][newname.ext]
To change the name of the file D:LETANNUAL99.DOC to 1999.DOC D:LET> REN ANNUAL99.DOC 1999.DOC (from D:LET)
D:DATA> REN LETANNUAL99.DOC 1999.DOC (from D:DATA)
C:WINDOWS> REN D:LETANNUAL99.DOC 1999.DOC (from C:WINDOWS)

MD

Makes (creates) a new directory.
Syntax: MD [d:][path][dirname]
To create a directory named HERMIT in the root of D: drive D:> MD HERMIT (from D:)
C:> MD D:HERMIT (from C:)

RD

Removes an existing directory (directory must be empty).
Syntax: RD [d:][path][dirname]
To remove the HERMIT sub-directory: D:> RD HERMIT (from D:)
C:> RD D:HERMIT (from C:)

CD

Changes the current directory.
Syntax: CD [path][dirname]
To make D:HERMIT the current directory D:> CD HERMIT (from D:)
D:DATA> CD HERMIT (from D:DATA)
D:DATASOURCE> CD HERMIT (from D:DATASOURCE)
D:DATASOURCE> CD .. (from D:DATASOURCE)

PATH

The PATH command is used to help the command interpreter findexternal commands which are not in the current directory. Thecommand interpreter looks into theDOS environment for 'PATH=' and then searches thepaths (each separated from the next by a semicolon) that follow.
Syntax: PATH=[path;path;...]
To set the DOS PATH: PATH=C:DOS;C:PCW;C:BIN To display the current path: PATH

SET PROMPT

Used to specify the appearance of the DOS prompt.
Syntax: SET PROMPT= (from the command line)
PROMPT= (in a batch file)
To display current drive & current path followed by '>' as prompt SET PROMPT=$P$G To display the current date, time, and drive on separate lines SET PROMPT $D$_$T$_$N$G To redefine F9 to CDWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup SET PROMPT $e[0,67;'CDWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup';13p

Make Directory - Create a new folder/directory.

The path can consist of any valid characters up to the maximum path length. Command extensions, which are enabled by default, allow a single MD command to create all the intermediate directories in a specified path.

Directories are one type of folder, namely, folders which correspond to file system locations. There are other types of folders, such as Control Panel or Network Neighborhood or Printers. These other types of folders represent objects in the shell namespace which do not correspond to files.

Naming Restrictions

The set of CMD delimiters (Comma , Semicolon ; Equals = Space ' ' Tab ' ') can be used in a folder name, but they must be enclosed in quotation marks:
MD 'aa=bb' will create a folder called 'aa=bb',
MD aa=bb will create two folders 'aa' and 'bb'

Try to avoid using the following characters in folder names, they may cause problems when scripting: © ® ' & ' ^ @
The maximum length of a full pathname (folders + filename) is 260 characters, this is a limitation of Windows Explorer not NTFS.
You cannot create a folder with the same name as any of the following devices:
CON, PRN, LPT1, LPT2 ..LPT9, COM1, COM2 ..COM9
This limitation ensures that redirection to these devices will always work.

Errorlevels

Markdown Language

If the Directory was successfully created %ERRORLEVEL% = 0
If the Directory could not be created %ERRORLEVEL% = 1

MKDIR is a synonym for MD

Examples

Make several directories with one command:

will create
C:tempAlpha
C:tempBeta
C:tempGamma
Make an entire path
MD creates any intermediate directories in the path, if needed.
For example, assuming utils does not exist then:

for filenames with spaces or punctuation characters, add surrounding quotes:
MD 'utilsdownloadsSuper New Editor'

Discord Md Syntax

'We are American at puberty. We die French' - Evelyn Waugh

Related commands:

Md Syntax Cheat Sheet

RD - Delete folders or entire folder trees.
MKLINK / Linkd - Link an NTFS directory to a target object.
powershell: New-Item -path c: -name 'Demo Folder' -type directory.
What is the difference between a directory and a folder? - Raymond Chen.
Equivalent bash command (Linux): mkdir - Create new folder(s)

Md Syntax Link