# Could you perform a very basic task in MS-DOS? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246 "2016-04-15T03:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/21 "2016-04-15T12:43:07Z")
Thanks. These answers make me so happy! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/22 "2016-04-15T13:01:53Z")
I remember when DOS was a new thing. Yeah, sure, I could do it. In fact, back in my temping days in the 1990’s I had an assignment which pretty much WAS that, using DOS to pull old shit off old computers and transfer it to newer models. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/23 "2016-04-15T13:04:20Z")
Sure. I still use command line once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/24 "2016-04-15T13:11:58Z")
yeah, I’m old enough where I remember plenty about DOS. although in recent years I’ve used the command line far more on Linux, so when I pop open a CMD session in Windows it takes a minute before I stop trying to use “ls.” ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/25 "2016-04-15T13:20:30Z")
I’d know to start with DIR and that I’d need to COPY; it would just take me a few tries to remember the exact syntax. I’d have it before too long. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/26 "2016-04-15T13:37:09Z")
format C: and “I quit.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/27 "2016-04-15T13:50:20Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The copy itself is easy. But if the folder structure is cluttered at all, I’d need/want to figure out how to search the drive using a built-in command, if possible. I don’t remember what the utility is for that. TREE, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/28 "2016-04-15T14:03:58Z")
Yes, I can. Of course, at first I’ll be typing “find” and “ls”, but then I’ll get over my momentary confusion and remember I have to use the ass-backwards slashes as well. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/29 "2016-04-15T14:12:05Z")
Mac user here, used other folks’ PCs occasionally and have had PC operating systems in emulation to play with, but never owned a PC. **All you have to do is locate a folder called "SOMEOLDSHIT,"** No idea how to locate a folder by name using DOS commands **open it** 😕 Not even sure what it means to “open” a folder from a command line ?!?? **find a file called "OLDFILE,"** just as I don’t know how to find folders by name from a DOS command line, I don’t know how to find files either; I assume it would be a similar command, but not always; I recall that copying a folder isn’t the same as copying a file, for instance **and copy it onto a disk** Finally 🙂 Yeah I can copy a file from a DOS command line. I might get it wrong the first time (I’m more often on a Unix command line due to MacOS X; one of “copy” the other is “cp”) \*\* “Knock only when you’re finished.”\*\* I sure as hell don’t know how to issue a DOS command that will knock on the boss’ door 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/30 "2016-04-15T14:20:21Z")
Yeah, it’s been mumbly-odd years since I last used the command prompt on anything approaching a regular basis. I _might_ be able to figure it out, but my first thought was the same as **Inner Stickler’s** : Step one, Google it. > [@wolfpup](#): > > I often go into the command prompt in Windows just because some things are easier than with the GUI or else you need to do something that’s actually impossible with the GUI. I gather you’re talking about typical user tasks, not sysadmin stuff or whathaveyou. If so, can you give me a ferinstance of a task that’s harder/impossible with the GUI? (I did Google it, but initial hits just say things like “There are some things you can do with the command line that you can’t do with a GUI.” Yes. Like…?) ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/31 "2016-04-15T14:57:12Z")
How much time do I have? Cause I could use a nap after that grueling minute. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/32 "2016-04-15T15:08:08Z")
Since a working computer with a floppy drive is provided for in the OP, there aren’t any further problems for me. Otherwise, I’d have to fine some computer museum. I miss DOS. Especially version 3.3, which IIRC was still compact enough to fit on one (or was it two?) disks. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/33 "2016-04-15T15:15:38Z")
I don’t think it would take me any longer to find and copy the file at a command line than it would with a GUI. The only difficulty I’d have is that I always mix up UNIX and DOS commands. So I’ll probably type _ls_ before I remember that _dir_ is what I want. Fortunately, there’s plenty of overlap, and I do know all the basics for both systems. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/34 "2016-04-15T15:21:21Z")
Oh, man, UNIX. If you’d asked me to perform a similar very basic task in UNIX, I might’ve been screwed. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/35 "2016-04-15T15:34:22Z")
The eight-year-old Torqueling was trying to install something from a CD the other day. She said, “All that comes up is a frowny face.” So I put the disc in, and I wait, and it mounts on the desktop as D:. “See?” she said, pointing to the D:, “frowny face.” I had to explain that D: was a drive letter before it was a frowny face. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/36 "2016-04-15T15:41:29Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > The eight-year-old Torqueling was trying to install something from a CD the other day. She said, “All that comes up is a frowny face.” So I put the disc in, and I wait, and it mounts on the desktop as D:. “See?” she said, pointing to the D:, “frowny face.” > > I had to explain that D: was a drive letter before it was a frowny face. Interesting – drive letters aren’t obsolete. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/37 "2016-04-15T15:47:23Z")
Everyone who thinks they’d never be able to do it–did you know that if you typed “help” you’d get a spew of commands you could use? And if typed “help copy” you’d get help about usage of the copy function? And if you looked over the first help spew carefully you’d notice something called DIR, and if you typed “help dir” you’d get a spew of dir usage? I think after a while you’d probably type “help”, even if you didn’t know that there was such a thing as help. And when you saw the spew you’d realize that while you didn’t know how to do the task you might be able to learn how to do the task from the help spew? Even if it took you a long time to figure it out, I think you could do it before you died of dehydration. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/38 "2016-04-15T15:50:01Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Since a working computer with a floppy drive is provided for in the OP, there aren’t any further problems for me. Otherwise, I’d have to fine some computer museum. > > I miss DOS. Especially version 3.3, which IIRC was still compact enough to fit on one (or was it two?) disks. If you really prefer to work with a command line, it’s still there. Just fancier–you can have file and folder names longer than 8 characters now, here in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/39 "2016-04-15T15:52:57Z")
I use DOS commands on a daily basis, so yes. The long folder or file name may be a minor problem but not a showstopper. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/40 "2016-04-15T15:57:04Z")
Just sitting here giggling at the number of us that would be apt to type _ls_ instead of _dir_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246.md?page=3)