# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/41 "2016-04-15T16:08:40Z")
I really felt old when I found out our graduate student (physics) didn’t know how to use a DOS/Windows command line, but could use Python. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/42 "2016-04-15T16:17:01Z")
Absolutely no way. I’m older than dirt and remember when DOS was a thing, but I didn’t even use a computer in undergraduate classes. I saw one once. I took a beginning DOS class in 1989 and the only thing I remember about it is which building it was in. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/43 "2016-04-15T16:27:34Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I haven’t used DOS regularly in 20 years. Give me a few tries; I’ll get it in the end. This ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/44 "2016-04-15T17:21:27Z")
Of the top of my gray head I recalled 4-5 commands like DEL and REM. With a bit of searching I could put something together. Now if we expand to FORTRAN… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/45 "2016-04-15T17:37:29Z")
I can do it, that’s for sure. Whether I could do it on the first try in a matter of seconds or after a few shots to get the syntax right, I’m not sure. I spent my formative years in DOS, those commands are still there and, IIRC, typing /? after a command usually gives some half assed instructions. And just for the record (becuase I saw some people not doing it this way), it would be way easier to CD a few times to get into the source files directory and then use the copy or move command than to try to type out the entire path in one shot. One last tip that I used a lot of, the up arrow recalls the last thing you typed. It’s helpful for making small changes when you’re trying to work something out (like getting the syntax just right, so you can use it to bring back the last command with that giant path and just adjust a space or the command after a slash etc) . ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/46 "2016-04-15T18:08:50Z")
Scenario more commonly referred to as ‘Tuesday’ ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/47 "2016-04-15T18:32:02Z")
My biggest issue is that post-college (which coincidentally was almost exactly the same time as the advent of Windows 95 and the decline of the command line on PCs), I’ve used UNIX/LINUX commands a lot more than Windows/DOS command line. And I haven’t used either in a long time, so my thoughts were some sort of weird mishmash of UNIX/LINUX commands and DOS commands. I’d have to play with it a bit to be sure, but I’m pretty sure **Happy Fun Ball** was on target first, except that you’d have to do the dir /s part for every attached drive, not just C: until you found your file. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/48 "2016-04-15T18:46:27Z")
At any given time I have about 4 command prompt windows open. So yeah. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/49 "2016-04-15T18:50:22Z")
I used to know. I learned on DOS. I wouldn’t have a clue now. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/50 "2016-04-15T19:13:36Z")
The answer is fdisk, right? Naw, I’d figure it out within a minute. I might mix up a UNIX and DOS command, but I’d figure it out without external help. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/51 "2016-04-15T19:31:42Z")
Yes. I’d have to play with it and it would take me a little while, but I did a lot of stuff on DOS, back in the day. Thanks to my ex, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/52 "2016-04-15T19:32:25Z")
Biggest pain in the ass is dealing with the ‘~’ for long file names in the post 8 character limit world. Other than that, I still write .bat and .sys scripts first before venturing into the dank basement of Visual Basic or C++ ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/53 "2016-04-15T20:50:18Z")
> [@Lowdown](#): > > format C: and “I quit.” When I worked phone support for a small software company, the support techs had a standard fix for all users’ problems large and small: FDISK That was always our solution of first resort! Never failed! (Actually, that was just our inside joke among ourselves. We didn’t really tell users to FDISK. Well, not all that often anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/54 "2016-04-15T20:53:01Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Just sitting here giggling at the number of us that would be apt to type _ls_ instead of _dir_. I set up my boxes way back when with all sorts of stuff like [Picnix](https://sourceforge.net/projects/picnix/) (which appears to have been updated as recently as 2013!), aliases, etc., so I could use Un\*x commands. While my memory of MS-DOS commands is hazy, at least I know enough to do the task in the OP (assuming the long file name was in error and a proper 8.3 name was intended). I’d be using the /? option a few times. Now, if I had PowerShell or, even better, Cygwin, then we’re talking. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/55 "2016-04-15T20:56:05Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Interesting – drive letters aren’t obsolete. UNIX has been around longer than DOS, and it NEVER had drive letters! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/56 "2016-04-15T21:17:32Z")
I’m pretty good at DOS, and this gave me a nice head-start when I first started learning UNIX. The two resemble one another (for obvious reasons) rather a lot. Love 'em both. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/57 "2016-04-15T21:21:42Z")
From memory, I know how to press \. Beyond that I have to copy written directions, painfully slowly, so nervous you’d think I was defusing a nuculer weapon. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/58 "2016-04-15T21:27:01Z")
I tend to use Dos (FreeDos, not MS-Dos, but it’s pretty close) as a quick and dirty boot loader for embedded system development, so I’m very comfortable hacking around on a dos prompt. ---
**Author:** ![Melisande](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dec6dc/32.png) [@Melisande](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melisande)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/59 "2016-04-15T21:53:37Z")
As a kid, yes, I could have done this. Doubt I would remember now. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246/60 "2016-04-15T22:50:05Z")
The hard part would be finding the directory, if there is a complicated directory structure. If it is a top directory, no sweat. Otherwise I would hope there was some sort of editor around and I would try dir c:\ /s \> dirlist and then edit the file dirlist to find the directory I was looking for. What, the version of DOS is too old for output redirection? In that case I would be screwed, but so would everyone else. I still use a command prompt for most of my work. A modern command prompt called TakeCommand which is a descendant of 4DOS. In that case, I would first index the directory tree (the command is cdd/s) and then type cd \someoldshit which would find it in the index and then the usual copy command copy oldfile a:. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-perform-a-very-basic-task-in-ms-dos/752246.md?page=4)