I believe some people may have many ideas on how to use these DOS utilities, but some may dont know what these really means so i will make this short and go straight to the point. DOS Utilities are simply your System Windows Utilities!!
here are some list of most useful DOS utilities:
Must Read: 3 TCP/IP Commands to Solve Common Network Problems
ATTRIB
The ATTRIB.EXE commands is critical for working with three types of files in a DOS environments hidden files, read –only files and system files. By following the ATTRIB command with a filename, a plus or minus sign, and the letter S, H, or R, you can add or remove the system, hidden, read only attributes from a file. For example, if you wanted to make every file in your current discovery visible, you could use the command below to remove the hidden attribute:
ATTRIB
If you wanted to hide a file that was presently visible, you’d enter the ATTRIB command followed by the file name, the plus sign and an H. the syntax for working with system files and read-only files is identical. The only difference is that you must substitute the H(hidden) with either R (read-only) or S (system). You can also use multiple switches in conjunction with each other. For example, if you wanted to remove all three attributes from a file named TEST.SYS, you’d enter the following command:
Must Read: 4 Common Causes of Files and Data Loss on Computer
ATTRIB TEST.SYS, you’d enter the following command:
ATTRIB TEST.SYS –S –H –R
CHKDSK
Although CHKDSK has never completely gone away, ScanDisk has overshadowed it. However, I believe the CHKDSK command is the quickest and easiest way to see how much disk space is available and if there are any problems with the disk. Issuing the CHKDSK command by itself generates a report, while entering the CHKDSK/F command repairs any errors that are found.
DISKCOPY
The diskcopy command is used to duplicate a floppy disk. To use this command type DISKCOPY followed by the source drive and the destination drive, then pres (Enter). For example, you might enter DISKCOPY A: A: after doing so, the DISKCOPY utility will prompt you as to when to insert the source disk (the original media) and the destination disk (the blank media), and will walk you through the copy process.
EXTRACT
If you’ve ever looked at the contents of your windows CD, you probably know that all the files that makes up windows are stored in a compressed format with CAB files, if you need to replace a damaged Windows file, you can use the extract command to decompress the file you need. Space doesn’t allow me to get into all of the particulars of using the EXTRACT command, but its important to know that the command exists. You can acquire the various syntaxes for the command by typing EXTRACT /?.
Must Read: How To Fix Missing Drivers on Your Computer
XCOPY
The xcopy command works just like the Copy command, but tere are some very useful switches that you can add to custom-tailor the copy process. For example, supllying /S switch will tell XCOPY to copy the subdirectories, too. For a complete list of all of the switches available for use with XCOPY,
enter the XCOPY/? Command.
SYS
The SYS command allows you to make any floopy disk or hard disk bootable. For example, if you were working on a computer that had a hard drive with a boost sector destroyed by a virus, you could boot from your emergency repair floopy or CD and run the command SYS C: this would add the IO.SYS, MSDOD.SYS and COMMAND.COM files to the damaged hard disk, making it bootable once again.
Keep in mind, though, that any time you use the SYS command on a disk, the boot files from the source disk (floopy, CD, or hard disk) will be copied to the target drive. So make sure that the target system is running the same operating system as the source disk. For example, you could use a repair disk created on a Window XP machine as the source disk for another window XP machine, but you wouldn’t want to use a Window 7 repair disk as the source for a window XP machine.
Some of this write up may be found at TechRepublic
here are some list of most useful DOS utilities:
Must Read: 3 TCP/IP Commands to Solve Common Network Problems
ATTRIB
The ATTRIB.EXE commands is critical for working with three types of files in a DOS environments hidden files, read –only files and system files. By following the ATTRIB command with a filename, a plus or minus sign, and the letter S, H, or R, you can add or remove the system, hidden, read only attributes from a file. For example, if you wanted to make every file in your current discovery visible, you could use the command below to remove the hidden attribute:
ATTRIB
If you wanted to hide a file that was presently visible, you’d enter the ATTRIB command followed by the file name, the plus sign and an H. the syntax for working with system files and read-only files is identical. The only difference is that you must substitute the H(hidden) with either R (read-only) or S (system). You can also use multiple switches in conjunction with each other. For example, if you wanted to remove all three attributes from a file named TEST.SYS, you’d enter the following command:
Must Read: 4 Common Causes of Files and Data Loss on Computer
ATTRIB TEST.SYS, you’d enter the following command:
ATTRIB TEST.SYS –S –H –R
CHKDSK
Although CHKDSK has never completely gone away, ScanDisk has overshadowed it. However, I believe the CHKDSK command is the quickest and easiest way to see how much disk space is available and if there are any problems with the disk. Issuing the CHKDSK command by itself generates a report, while entering the CHKDSK/F command repairs any errors that are found.
DISKCOPY
The diskcopy command is used to duplicate a floppy disk. To use this command type DISKCOPY followed by the source drive and the destination drive, then pres (Enter). For example, you might enter DISKCOPY A: A: after doing so, the DISKCOPY utility will prompt you as to when to insert the source disk (the original media) and the destination disk (the blank media), and will walk you through the copy process.
EXTRACT
If you’ve ever looked at the contents of your windows CD, you probably know that all the files that makes up windows are stored in a compressed format with CAB files, if you need to replace a damaged Windows file, you can use the extract command to decompress the file you need. Space doesn’t allow me to get into all of the particulars of using the EXTRACT command, but its important to know that the command exists. You can acquire the various syntaxes for the command by typing EXTRACT /?.
Must Read: How To Fix Missing Drivers on Your Computer
XCOPY
The xcopy command works just like the Copy command, but tere are some very useful switches that you can add to custom-tailor the copy process. For example, supllying /S switch will tell XCOPY to copy the subdirectories, too. For a complete list of all of the switches available for use with XCOPY,
enter the XCOPY/? Command.
SYS
The SYS command allows you to make any floopy disk or hard disk bootable. For example, if you were working on a computer that had a hard drive with a boost sector destroyed by a virus, you could boot from your emergency repair floopy or CD and run the command SYS C: this would add the IO.SYS, MSDOD.SYS and COMMAND.COM files to the damaged hard disk, making it bootable once again.
Keep in mind, though, that any time you use the SYS command on a disk, the boot files from the source disk (floopy, CD, or hard disk) will be copied to the target drive. So make sure that the target system is running the same operating system as the source disk. For example, you could use a repair disk created on a Window XP machine as the source disk for another window XP machine, but you wouldn’t want to use a Window 7 repair disk as the source for a window XP machine.
Some of this write up may be found at TechRepublic
;
