Computer 101: The DEL and the DELTREE DOS Command

Back in the early days of the DOS or Disk Operating System as the main operating system (OS) there is this two very useful command for erasing files and for erasing entire directory and its sub directories. They are the DEL for delete and the DELTREE for deleting the structure of the directories and all the files contains in it. They are both used to erase or delete items on your hard drive. The DEL command is very easy to use, we just type the command DEL and then press the space and then type the name of the file that we want to erase and press the enter key to execute the command. Presto we just deleted the name of the files indicated opposite the DEL command. But just like all DOS command if the name of the file does not match with the one we type there it will display an error like this " FILE NOT FOUND". To avoid this we have to make sure that every character of the file name that we need to delete must match the actual file name that we type after the DEL command.

DEL command option

The DEL command was used for deleting files or group of files in a single folder or directories. How about if one should delete entire directories and all it's sub directories, is the DEL command still applicable? Well yes it is still applicable but it would take to long do the process of going from one directories to another just to delete all the files they contain. We also have to remember that the DEL command was used only to delete files. Once we have clear out the files in a single directories then we cannot used the DEL command to delete the directory. To remove the specific directory then we need to used the RD DOS command to remove the specific directory. Yes RD stand for REMOVE DIRECTORY, so if a single directory have at-least twenty sub-directory then it would really take some time before we can delete the entire directory structure. This is were  the DELTREE command comes in handy.

But before we get excited about it, there one different between the two commands. The DEL is an internal command, meaning when the DOS OS is loaded we can use it at will. While the DELTREE.EXE command is an external command, meaning the it is not included in the DOS OS. We need to have the disk source where all the command is located and have it copied to the hard drive so that we can use I. Now from the DOS prompt we just need to type the DELTREE and the the name of the directory that we need to erase. Be very aware once we have executed the command all the deleted files and directories will be permanently deleted from the hard drive.

c:\deltree d:\Sample1

Any DOS command that you would like to share?

Computer 101: The Disk Operating System or DOS command.

In this time of the GUI or Graphical User Interface, everything the we do with our computer is click here and there or double click here ad there, also we drag items from one open window to another if we want to copy certain items or a whole folder. For some who uses the keyboard than the mouse using the shortcut key is very important. But still all the things that we do today is inside the advanced form of GUI whether it is Windows, MAC, Android, Symbian and Linux based to name a few operating system that run in all electronic  devices that we used today. Which kind of remind me of the old days wherein everything that we do with our computer involve a good basic knowledge of the command line based system we all called the DOS commands or the Disk Operating system.

The Personal Computer Disk Operating System or PC-DOS and Microsoft Disk Operating System or MS-DOS or both off just called the DOS there is a number of basic standard system commands were provided for many common tasks such as listing files on a disk we use DIR which stands for directory list or moving files. Some commands were built-in or is internal to the command interpreter, others existed as transient or external to the commands loaded into memory when required. Back then the good old floppy disk was the number own storage medium that function mush like a Flash drive of today, wherein we kind put almost anything on the floppy disk by typing a few DOS command that command prompt. Let’s take a closer look at the few internal or built-in command for the DOS. This command was the most commonly used command back then. 

First there was the DIR; it functions by listing the contents of the directory. Type it in its basic form and the screen will display the image below.

DIR command

                                                     

Add a few switches to the DIR command like /P and we get the image below. The /P option stand for PAUSE. If the directory is big and we need to see all the files and folder in the directory then we add the /P to pause the listing as it reaches the full length of the screen. As it reaches the full length of the screen the last line of the screen said “Press any key to continue” by pressing any key the next batch of contents of the directory will be display. 

Next we add the option /W which stands for a wide screen format. Please image below for the result of the DIR/W command.

To see all the complete option for the DIR command just type at the command prompt DIR/?, the question mark denotes the help function for all command, when added to any DOS command it will display the complete option of the requested DOS command.

Another most used DOS command are the following copy which is use for copying file, another is CD which stand for Change Directory, we just type the CD and then we type the name of the directory which we need to go to and press the enter key to execute the command. All DOS command are executed by pressing the enter key after each command has been typed. Another dos command that is use widely is the MD which stand for Make Directory, this one when executed create the directory with the file-name indicated, like MD FILE then we press the enter key to execute. The result is that the directory named FILE will be created. How do we know if the indicated directory has been created? To verify the command execution we simply type the DIR command to see the newly created directory. Another commonly DOS command back then is the CLS command which when executed will clear the content of the current screen. With only the command prompt displayed at the top part of the screen.

Over the several generations of DOS commands were added for the additional functions of the operating system. In the current Microsoft Windows operating system a text-mode command prompt window can still be used. Also DOS command is classified into two types, there the internal command as stated above and there is the external DOS Command which is located in a separate storage location such as a floppy disk. When we need to use some external DOS command we need to insert that particular floppy disk unlike a internal or resident DOS command wherein it is loaded into the memory and we do not need to use a floppy disk to execute.

How about you any DOS command that you know and would like to share it?