TOPIC 1 DISK OPERATING SYSTEM (DOS)

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1 TOPIC 1

DISK OPERATING SYSTEM (DOS)

LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of the topic, students will be able to:

1. understand some basic commands in DOS using Command Shell and PowerShell

2. differentiate between GUI and command-line approaches

CONTENT

1.1. Introduction

DOS stands for Disk Operating System was the first commercial operating system developed by Microsoft. This operating system comes in package with the new Windows operating systems for troubleshooting and as a failover mechanism for Windows.

1.2. Windows Command Shell

The Command shell was the first shell built into Windows to automate routine tasks, for example user account management or nightly backups. With Windows Script Host, more sophisticated scripts could be run in the Command shell.

Windows has two command shells: The Command shell and PowerShell.

Similarities between the two shells are: each shell is a software program that

provides direct communication between users and the operating system or

application, and providing an environment to automate IT operations.

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2 Differences between the two shells are:

 PowerShell was designed to extend the capabilities of the Command shell to run PowerShell commands called cmdlets. Cmdlets provide a more extensible scripting language than Windows commands.

 Windows Commands and PowerShell cmdlets can be run in Powershell, but the Command shell can only run Windows Commands and not PowerShell cmdlets.

1.3. Common DOS Commands

To access the Windows command prompt in Windows 8 and 10, navigate to the Start screen and type Command Prompt. Click Command Prompt.

In Windows 7, click Start and type Command Prompt in the Search programs and files field. Click Command Prompt to continue.

Figure 1.3 Example of a command prompt screen

At the command prompt, type

^help

and press Enter. A list of commands is displayed. For more information on a specific command, type the command followed by

^/?

. Example:

^{date /?}

Next section presents some common DOS commands.

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3 1.3.1. Create and Change Directory

1. Type

^cd

at the command prompt to displays the current directory. The current directory is different to each workstation. Write your current directory.

2. Type

^dir

to list the files and folders that is in the current directory.

3. In the current directory, use the

md

command to create three new folders:

OS1, OS2, and OS3. Type md OS1 and press Enter. Repeat the step for OS2 and OS3.

4. Command

dir

can be used to verify the success of creating the folders.

Type

^dir

to verify the folders have been created. Show the screenshot of the output.

5. Type

cd OS3

at the command prompt and press Enter. Has the current directory changed? Write your directory.

6. Type

^{cd ..}

to change the current directory. What is your directory now?

Remark: Each

^..

is a shortcut to move up one level in the directory tree.

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4 1.3.2. Create text files

1. Navigate to the OS1 directory.

2. Type

echo I love Operating Systems > doc1.txt

at the command prompt.

 echo: to display a message at the command prompt.



^>

: to redirect the message from the screen to a file.

 For example, in the first line, the message

I love Operating Systems

is redirected into a new file named

doc1.txt

.

3. Use the

echo

command to create these files:

doc2.txt, file1.txt

, and

file2.txt

by using the same message

I love Operating Systems

.

4. Use the

^dir

command to verify the files are in the OS1 folder. Show the screenshot of the output.

1.3.3. Move, copy and delete files

1. Navigate to the OS1 directory.

2. Type

move doc2.txt C:\<your directory path>\OS2

to move the file

doc2.txt

to the OS2 directory.

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5 3. Type

cd C:\<your directory path>\OS2

to change the directory to OS2.

Verify that

doc2.txt

has been moved using the

dir

command.

4. Type

copy doc2.txt doc2_copy.txt

to create a copy of

doc2.txt

.

5. Now use the move command to move

doc2_copy.txt

to OS1. Type

move doc2_copy.txt ..\OS1

.

6. Change the current directory to OS1. Type

cd ..\OS1

at the prompt.

7. Move

file1.txt

and

file2.txt

into OS3. To move all the files that contain the word file into OS3 with one command, use a wildcard (

^*

) character to represent one or more characters. Type move

file*.txt ..\OS3

.

8. Now delete

doc2_copy.txt

from the OS1 directory. Type

del doc2_copy.txt.

9. Write the current files in the OS1, OS2, and OS3 directory.

Directory OS1 OS2 OS3

Current files

1.4. Common PowerShell Commands

In Windows 10, from the taskbar, in the search text field, type powershell.

Then, click or tap the ‘Windows PowerShell’ result.

In Windows 7, click Start and type powershell in the Search programs and files field. Click Windows PowerShell to continue.

To run PowerShell as administrator, right-click (touchscreen users: tap and

hold) on the Windows PowerShell search result, then click or tap ‘Run as

administrator’.

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Figure 1.4 Example of a Windows PowerShell screen

1.4.1 File system directory

1. Type

dir

at the prompt. Is the output similar to the Command Shell output? Write the difference is the answer is NO.

2. Type

Get-ChildItem

at the prompt. Is the output similar to the step (1)?

Write the difference is the answer is NO.

3. In PowerShell, when you run the

^DIR

command, you are really running the

Get-ChildItem

cmdlet.

4. By default Get-ChildItem lists the mode (Attributes), LastWriteTime, file size (Length), and the Name of the item. Attributes in the Mode property are as follows:

Mode Description l link

d directory a archive r read-only h hidden s system

A cmdlet -- pronounced command-let -- is a small, lightweight command that is used in the Windows PowerShell environment.

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7 5. Type Get-Location at the prompt to display the current working directory.

6. Type

Set-Location –Path “<directory path>:\”

cmdlet to sets the current working directory to a specified directory.

Example:

Set-Location –Path “D:\”

– this command sets the current directory to the D directory.

1.4.2 List active processes on a computer

1. Type cmdlet

Get-Process

to display all active processes on a local computer.

2. To get data about a process, use

ProcessName

or

^Id

parameter to the

Get-Process

cmdlet.

Figure 1.4.2. Example of Get-Process cmdlet output

1.4.3. Create a directory and files

1. Sets your preferred working directory using the

Set-Location

cmdlet.

2.

^New-Item

is the cmdlet to create directories and files.

3. To create a directory:

New-Item -Path "<directory path>" -Name "<directory name>"

-ItemType "directory"

Example:

New-Item -Path "D:\" -Name "OSShell" -ItemType "directory"

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8 4. To create a file:

1.4.4. Set and display file content

1.

Set-Content

is the cmdlet to write new content or replace the existing content.

2. Use

Add-Content

cmdlet to append a value to text files.

3.

Get-Content

is the cmdlet to display content at the specified file.

New-Item -Path “<directory path>” -Name "<file name>.<file format>" -ItemType "file"

Example:

New-Item –Path “D:\OSShell” -Name "fileOS1.txt" -ItemType

"file"

Set-Content -Path .\<file name>.<file format> -Value '<type the value>'

Remark: . represents the current directory. You can use . as a shortcut rather than write the full current directory path.

Example:

Set-Content -Path .\fileOS1.txt -Value 'I love operating systems'

Add-Content -Path .\<file name>.<file format> -Value 'type the value'

Example:

Add-Content -Path .\fileOS1.txt -Value 'I love Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia'

Get-Content -Path .\<file name>.<file format>

Example:

Get-Content -Path .\fileOS1.txt

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9 1.4.5. Delete items

The

Remove-Item

cmdlet deletes one or more items. The cmdlet can be used to delete many different types of items, including files, folders, registry keys, variables, aliases, and functions.

Remove-Item <directory path>

Example:

Remove-Item D:\OSShell\fileOS1.txt OR Remove-Item .\fileOS1.txt

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10 TOPIC 1: DISK OPERATING SYSTEM (DOS) Activity 1

Name : ………

Matric Number : ………..

Instruction: Please detach this activity page(s) from the booklet and attach as a cover for your answer sheets.

1. In order to better understanding of DOS, you are required to define what are:

a) Syntax:

b) Paths

c) Command line interface d) Batch files

2. Using the

help

command in a Command Shell, differentiate the following commands:

a)

^COPY

and

^XCOPY

b)

^ERASE

and

^RMDIR

3. Do the following steps using the Windows Powershell. Show the screenshot for each of the step.

a) Create a new directory

^MyOS

.

b) Set the current directory location to the

MyOS

.

c) Create two text files:

OSText1.txt

and

OSText2.txt

.

d) Insert the following values to the

OSText1.txt

. The values must be in separate five lines.

Tips for taking online classes Part 1

1. Treat an online course like a real course.

2. Hold yourself accountable 3. Practice time management.

4. Create a regular study space and stay organized.

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11 e) Insert the following values to the

OSText2.txt

. The values must be in separate five lines.

f) Display the content from

OSText1.txt

. g) Display the content from

OSText2.txt

.

h) Identify the use of

TotalCount

parameter with the

Get-Content

cmdlet to display the first 3 lines from both of the text files.

Tips for taking online classes Part 2 1. Eliminate distractions.

2. Figure out How You Learn Best 3. Actively participate.

4. Leverage your network.

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12 REFERENCES

1. Moeller, J. (2013).The Windows Command Line Beginner's Guide. 2

^nd