DOS For Dummies®, 3rd Edition
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 99-66373
ISBN: 0-7645-0361-8
Manufactured in the United States of America
15 14 13 12 11
Dan Gookin got started with computers back in the post slide rule age of computing: 1982. His first intention was to buy a computer to replace his aged and constantly breaking typewriter. Working as slave labor in a restaurant, however, Gookin was unable to afford the full “word processor” setup and settled on a computer that had a monitor, keyboard, and little else. Soon, his writing career was under way with several submissions to fiction magazines and lots of rejections.
The big break came in 1984 when he began writing about computers. Applying his flair for fiction with a self-taught knowledge of computers, Gookin was able to demystify the subject and explain technology in a relaxed and understandable voice. He even dared to add humor, which eventually won him a column in a local computer magazine.
Eventually Gookin’s talents came to roost as a ghostwriter at a computer book publishing house. That was followed by an editing position at a San Diego computer magazine. During this time, he also regularly participated on a radio talk show about computers. In addition, Gookin kept writing books about computers, some of which became minor bestsellers.
In 1990, Gookin and IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., connected on an outrageous book idea: a long overdue and original idea for the computer book for the rest of us. What became DOS For Dummies blossomed into an international best-seller with hundreds and thousands of copies in print and many translations.
Today, Gookin still considers himself a writer and computer “guru” whose job it is to remind everyone that computers are not to be taken too seriously. His approach to computers is light and humorous yet very informative. He knows that the complex beasts are important and can help people become productive and successful. Gookin mixes his knowledge of computers with a unique, dry sense of humor that keeps everyone informed — and awake. His favorite quote is, “Computers are a notoriously dull subject, but that doesn’t mean I have to write about them that way.”
Gookin’s titles for IDG Books Worldwide include the best-selling DOS For Dummies, 1st and 2nd Editions and the Windows 95 Edition; Real Life Windows 95; Word For Windows 95 For Dummies; Microsoft MS-DOS 6.2 Upgrade For Dummies; MORE DOS For Dummies; WordPerfect For Dummies; WordPerfect 6 For Dummies; MORE WordPerfect For Dummies; PCs For Dummies, 1st and 2nd Editions; Word For Windows For Dummies; Word For Windows 6 For Dummies; and all three editions of the Illustrated Computer Dictionary For Dummies. All told, he has written more than 30 books about computers and contributes regularly to DOS Resource Guide, InfoWorld, and PC Computing magazine. Gookin holds a degree in communications from the University of California, San Diego, and lives with his wife and three sons in the as-yet-untamed state of Idaho.
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Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development
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Composition
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Special Help Dwight Ramsey, Reprint Editor Suzanne Thomas, Associate Editor/Freelance
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
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Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher
Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies
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Composition Services
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Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Title
Introduction
About This Book
How to Use This Book
What You’re Not to Read
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I : The Absolute Basics
Chapter 1: Getting On with It
Turning the Computer On
Turning the Computer Off
Turning Off the PC in Windows 3.11
Turning Off the PC in Windows 95 and Windows 98
“I Want to Leave My PC on All the Time”
Snooze, Computer, Snooze!
Resetting
Chapter 2: The PC Hokey-Pokey (Or That’s What It’s All About)
Running a Program
Background Information Worth Skipping
DIR Command
Tech Tidbits to Skip
Looking at Files
Changing Disks
Changing Drives
Technical Background and Other Drivel
Changing Directories
Chapter 3: Life at the DOS Prompt
Names and Versions
The Prompt, or What Do You Want?
Prompt Error Messages
Typing at the Prompt
Beware of Spaces!
Beware of User Manuals and English Punctuation!
F3 Key
Canceling a DOS Command
Prompt Styles of the Rich and Famous
Additional, Worthless Information
Chapter 4: Easier DOS: The DOS Shell
Starting the DOS Shell
Do You Have a Mouse?
Quitting the DOS Shell
Changing the Display in the DOS Shell
Moving between Different Parts of the Shell
Working with Files
Finding a Lost File
Changing from One Drive to Another
Changing from One Directory to Another
Running Programs in the Shell
Chapter 5: The Way Windows Was
Starting Windows 3.11
The Beloved Program Manager
The Treasured File Manager
Running a Program in Windows
Using a Window’s Gizmos
Switching Programs
The General Commands
Getting Help
Stopping a Windows Program (Safely)
General Advice
Chapter 6: DOS in Windows 95/98
Summoning a DOS Prompt Window
Messing with a DOS Window
Important DOS-in-Windows Things to Remember
Part II : The Non-Nerd’s Guide to PC Hardware
Chapter 7: Your Basic Hardware: What It Is and Why
The Nerd’s-Eye View
The Microprocessor
Pentium Jokes
Disk Drives
What Are Ports?
The Date and Time
The Year 2000 Looms
Chapter 8: RAM (Or Memory, the Way We Were)
Don’t Forget Memory
Common PC Memory Questions
Memory Terms to Ignore
Conventional Memory
The 640K Barrier
Upper Memory
Expanded Memory
Extended Memory
Managing Memory
Upgrading Memory
Chapter 9: The Video Display (That’s the Computer Screen)
Your PC Graphics System
What Makes a Graphics Adapter?
Funky Text
Other Popular Questions You Don’t Have to Read
Chapter 10: Keyboard and Mouse (Or Where Is the “Any” Key?)
Keyboard Layout
So Where Is the “Any” Key?
The Keys of State
Slash and Backslash
Enter or Return?
Alt+S Means What?
Ctrl+S and the Pause Key
The WordStar Cursor- and Cursed-at Key Diamond
Controlling the Keyboard
My Keyboard Beeps at Me!
Having a Mouse
Using a Mouse
Mouse Terminology
Chapter 11: The Printer (Making the Right Impression)
Getting Connected
DOS’s Forgettable Printer Names
Serial Connection
Going Online
Form Feeding
Forcing a Page Out
The Page Didn’t Come Out of My Laser Printer!
In a Jam?
Printing on One Line or Massive Double Spacing
Printing the Screen
Print Screen Woes
Printing DOS
Printing a Directory
Why Does It Look Funny?
Those Funny Characters at the Top of the First Page
Chapter 12: More on Modems
What Does a Modem Do?
Communications Software
The Internet and DOS
Calling Another Computer
Doin’ the Online Thing
Online Attitude
Saying Bye-Bye
The Most Common Sources of Problems
Unzipping the ZIP File Mystery
Communications Terminology Explicated
Chapter 13: All You (Don’t) Want to Know about Disks
Why Are Disks Hardware?
Buying Disks
Formatting a Disk
Formatting a Low-Capacity Disk in a High-Capacity Drive
Which Disk Is This?
Label Your Disks!
What Kind of Disk Is This?
Using the CHKDSK Command to Check a Disk’s Size
Changing the Volume Label
Write-Protecting Disks
Reformatting Disks
Duplicating Disks (The DISKCOPY Command)
Part III : The Non-Nerd’s Guide to PC Software
Chapter 14: Basic Software Setup
Finding Compatible Software
Installation
Using Your New Software
Running and Using Software
Updating Your Software
About the Darn Command Formats
Chapter 15: Software Mystery Grab Bag
Black Box Program Rules
Basic Black Box Information
Using a Menu System
Batch File Menu Systems
dBASE — So Popular It’s Scary
Chapter 16: Playing with the Editor
Using the DOS Editor
Printing with the Editor
Printing Any Text File without Having to Bother with the Editor
Saving Your Stuff to Disk
Quitting the Editor
“It Tells Me to Edit My CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT File!”
Mired in the Past with EDLIN
Editing Your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT File with EDLIN
Chapter 17: The Hard Drive: Where You Store Stuff
What Is a Subdirectory?
The Root Directory
You Are Not Required to Know This Stuff
That Funny <DIR> Thing
What Is a Pathname?
Current Directory
Technical Background Junk about Disks and Drives
Changing Directories
The Tree Structure
“Is My Disk Okay?”
Backing Up
Forget about Disk Compression
Chapter 18: File Fitness (Stuff You Do with Files)
Duplicating a File
Copying a Single File
Copying a File to You
Copying a Group of Files
Deleting a File
Extra Verbiage about Why You Would Want to Delete Files
Deleting a Group of Files
The File! I Cannot Kill It!
Undeleting a File
Additional, Skippable Information
Moving a File
Renaming a File
Printing a Text File
Chapter 19: Files — Lost and Found
Name That File!
Use These Filenames — Go Directly to Jail!
Long Filenames in Windows 95 and Windows 98
Significant Filenames
How to Name a Directory (The MD Command)
Using the DIR Command
Finding a Lost File
Finding a Lost Subdirectory
Wildcards (Or Poker Was Never This Much Fun)
Part IV : Yikes! (Or Help Me Out of This One!)
Chapter 20: When It’s Time to Toss In the Towel (And Call a DOS Guru)
“My Computer’s Down, and I Can’t Get It Up!”
It’s Just Acting Weird
The Computer Has Lost Track of the Time
Gulp! The Hard Drive Is Gone!
Read This If You Care about Your Data
A Record of Your Hardware Setup Program
Steps to Take for a Locked-Up Computer
“I Had to Reset My Computer”
When to Scream for Help
“I Just Spilled Java on My Keyboard!”
Chapter 21: After You Panic, Do This
“Where Am I?”
“How Do I Get Back?”
“Where Is My File?”
“Where Is My Program?”
The Perils of DEL *.*
“I Just Deleted an Entire Subdirectory!”
“I Just Reformatted My Disk!”
Restoring from a Backup
Chapter 22: Diagnosing, Disinfecting, and Getting Help
What’s Up, Doc?
More Than Bugs: Viruses
Yes, You Can Believe It: DOS Has Lots of Help for You
Your Last Resort: Calling for Technical Support
Chapter 23: DOS Error Messages (What They Mean, What to Do)
Abort, Retry, Fail?
Access Denied
Bad Command or File Name
Bad or Missing Command Interpreter
Divide Overflow
Drive Not Ready Error
Duplicate File Name or File Not Found
File Cannot Be Copied onto Itself
File Creation Error
File Not Found
General Failure
Insufficient Disk Space
Internal Stack Overflow
Invalid Directory
Invalid Drive Specification
Invalid File Name or File Not Found
Invalid Media, Track 0 Bad or Unusable
Invalid Parameter, Invalid Switch
Non-System Disk or Disk Error
Not Ready, Reading Drive X
Overwrite FILENAME.HEY (Yes/No/All)?
Write Protect
Part V : The Part of Tens
Chapter 24: Ten Things You Should Do All the Time
Care for Your Files
Always Quit a Program Properly and Return to DOS
Keep Your Disks Away from Magnets
Keep Your PC in a Well-Ventilated Place
Buy Formatted Disks
Label Your Disks
Wait at Least 30 to 40 Seconds before Turning the Computer On Again
Change Your Printer’s Ink Source When It Gets Low
Buy Supplies
Buy More Books
Chapter 25: Ten Common Beginner Mistakes
Assuming That It’s Your Own Fault
Mistyping Commands
Buying the Wrong Thing
Buying Too Much Software
Assuming That It Will Be Easy (Just Because the Program Says So)
Incorrectly Inserting Disks
Logging to the Wrong Drive or Directory
Pressing Y Too Quickly
Reformatting an Important Disk
No Organization or Housekeeping
Chapter 26: Ten Things You Should Never Do
Don’t Switch Disks
Don’t Work from a Floppy Disk
Don’t Take a Disk Out of the Drive When the Drive Light Is On
Don’t Turn Off the Computer When the Hard Drive Light Is On
Don’t Reset to Leave an Application
Don’t Plug Anything into the Computer While It’s On
Don’t Force a Disk into the Drive
Never Format a Disk to a Different Capacity
Never Load Software from an Alien Disk
Never Use These Dangerous DOS Commands
Chapter 27: Ten Favorite DOS Commands
The CD Command
The CLS Command
The COPY Command
The DEL Command
The DIR Command
The DISKCOPY Command
The FORMAT Command
The MORE Command
The REN Command
The TYPE Command
DOS Command Reference
Glossary
W elcome to DOS For Dummies, 3rd Edition, a book that wastes no time and gets right to the point about the world’s most loathsome computer operating system, DOS.
The idea here is simple: You’re a smart person but a DOS dummy — and you have absolutely no intention of ever becoming a DOS wizard. You don’t want to learn anything. You don’t want to be bored by technical details or background fodder. All you need to know is that single answer to one tiny question, and then you want to close the book and be on with your life. This is the book you’re looking for.
This book covers 100 percent of the things you do with your computer. All the common activities, the daily chores, and the painful things that go on with a computer are described here — in English — and in a style that I believe you’ll find engaging, informative, and, at socially correct times, humorous.
This book isn’t meant to be read from front to back. It’s more like a reference. Each chapter is divided into sections, each of which has self-contained information about doing something in DOS. Typical sections include
Changing Disks
Typing at the Prompt
Deleting a Group of Files
“My Keyboard Beeps at Me!”
Formatting a Disk
Finding a Lost File
“Where Am I?”
You don’t have to remember anything in this book. Nothing is worth memorizing. You never “learn” anything here. The information is what you need to know to get by, and nothing more. If any new terms or technical descriptions are offered, you’re alerted and told to ignore them.
This book works like a reference: You start by looking up the topic that concerns you in either the table of contents or the index. That refers you to a specific section in the book. In that section, you read about doing whatever it is you want to do. Some special terms may be defined, but usually you’re directed elsewhere if you want to learn about the terms.
If you’re supposed to type something, it appears in the text as follows:
C> TYPE THIS STUFF
Always press Enter after you’re told to type something. In case you’re baffled, a description of what you’re typing usually follows (with explanations of the more difficult stuff).
Occasionally, you may have to type something specific to your system. When that happens, you’re told how to type the command particular to your situation, usually by replacing the bogus filename in this book with the name of a file on your disk. Nothing is ever harder than that.
If you need more information, you’re directed to that chapter and section. If anything goes wrong, you’re told what to do and how to remedy the situation.
At no time does this book direct you back to the DOS manual (yuck!). If you’re into learning about DOS, however, I recommend a good tutorial on the subject. Although this book helps you after the tutorial is done, the book is not meant as a substitute. (You definitely don’t need to read a tutorial before using this book. Just having to breathe the same air as a computer qualifies you!)
Several sections offer extra information and background explanations. (I just couldn’t resist — after writing 20-odd books about using computers, I can’t compel myself not to do this.) Those sections are clearly marked, and you can quickly skip over them, as you please. Reading them only increases your knowledge of DOS — and that’s definitely not what this book is all about.
I’m going to make only one assumption about you: You have a PC and you “work” with it somehow. Furthermore, I assume that someone else set up your computer and may have even given you a few brief lessons. It’s nice to have someone close by (or on the phone) who can help. But you know how unbalanced they can become when you ask too many questions (and don’t have enough M&Ms or Doritos handy).
Now you’re ready to use this book. Look over the table of contents and find something that interests you. Just about everything you can do with DOS is listed here. Primarily, you spend your time in what Chairman Mao called “the great struggle with the computer.” Do so. Toil, toil, toil. When you hit a speed bump, look it up here. You’ll have the answer and be back to work in a jiffy. (Or half a jiffy, if you’re a quick reader.)
Good luck! And keep your fingers crossed.
In this part . . .
You know the type: The person who tells a long story? They take longer to tell the story than it took for the story to happen in the first place. Some computer books are like that. They take so much time getting around to telling you what it is that you really need to know — and know right now — that you could get a Ph.D. in computer science by the time they got around to it. No, no, no. You want to know the good stuff now. Up front! Very obvious! With some cheer and fun tossed in.
Welcome to the book written just for you.