Summary of FreeDOS Commands

alias list the aliases currently on the system and creates new aliases for commands (alias in Linux)

assign reassign disk operations from one drive to another

attrib display or change the attributes (i.e., whether it is read-only, hidden, an archive file or a system file) of files or directories

basic starts the BASIC programming language environment (qbasic in MS-DOS)

break set or clear CTRL-C checking

call call a batch file from within a batch file

cd, chdir change the current directory (cd in Linux)

chcp display or change the DOS code page

chkdsk check the disk for errors

choice suspend processing and wait for the user to press a valid key

cls clear the screen (clear in Linux)

command start a new command shell

comp compare two files (diff in Linux)

copy copy one or more files (cp in Linux)

ctty change the terminal device for the current DOS session

date show the current date (date in Linux)

debug allows access to assembly language programs to modify hardware settings

defrag defragment a hard disk drive (HDD)

del, erase delete files (rm in Linux)

deltree delete an entire directory tree (rm -Rf in Linux)

dir list the contents of a directory (ls in Linux)

diskcomp compare the contents of two floppy disks, track by track

diskcopy copy the contents of one floppy disk to a second floppy disk

echo display what follows it (echo in Linux)

edit start the built-in text editor (vi in Linux)

edline view and edit files (edlin in MS-DOS, vi in Linux)

emm386 control the expanded memory manager

exe2bin a software development tool that converts .exe programs to binary format (dropped from later versions of MS-DOS)

exit exit the shell (exit in Linux)

fc compare two files (diff in Linux)

fdisk configure a HDD (fdisk in Linux)

find display lines in a text file that contain a specified string (grep in Linux)

for run a specified command when a parameter is met or specified

format format a HDD or floppy disk (mke2fs or mformat in Linux)

goto branch to a label in a batch file

help provide on-line help regarding the topic following it (man in Linux)

if perform conditional processing in batch files

join join a drive to a directory (mount in Linux)

keyb configure the keyboard for a specific human language

label assign a disk label to a drive

loadhigh, lh load a program into high memory (i.e., into the first 64KB beyond the first 1M of main memory)

mem display the amount of memory installed and the amount of memory currently available (free in Linux)

mirror mirror information about a disk in a way that the unformat and undelete commands can use to recover the disk

mkdir, md create a directory (mkdir in Linux)

mode display or set the operating mode of system devices

more used together with a vertical bar character to display output one screenful at a time (more and less in Linux)

nlsfunc add NLS (national language support) functionality

path set the search path for programs (echo $PATH in Linux)

pause suspend execution of whatever is occurring and waits for a keystroke in order to resume

print print a file in the background, allowing the user to run other commands (lpr in Linux)

prompt set the prompt for a command shell

rem make a comment, i.e., ignore what follows it in the same line

rename, ren rename a file or a set of files (mv in Linux)

rmdir, rd remove a directory (rmdir in Linux)

scandisk scan a drive for errors, and report/repair any errors found

set assign a value to an environmental variable (set and env in Linux)

share share large files with other programs

shift shift the position of all command line arguments; the default is downward by one

sort sort text data (sort in Linux)

subst substitute a path with a drive letter

sys transfer system files to disk drive

time display or modify the system time (date in Linux)

tree display the structure of a directory tree

type display contents of a text file (cat in Linux)

undelete retrieve a deleted file

unformat attempt to remove the formatting from a disk

ver show FreeDOS operating system version (uname -a in Linux)

verify turn file verification on or off (i.e., to check that files are correctly written to disk)

vol display the volume label of a disk

xcopy copies files and directories, including subdirectories (cp -R in Linux)

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The above list is based on the most recent version of FreeDOS. It might not be complete, and there will be minor differences in which commands are included in each version of FreeDOS.

Linux equivalents are provided if they exist. MS-DOS equivalents are provided only when different from their FreeDOS counterparts.

Detailed information about each of these commands, including options, can be found on any FreeDOS system (including the single-floppy version) by following the name of the command with a forward slash and a question mark (e.g., xcopy /? ). Information can also be obtained on full FreeDOS installations by using the help command followed by the name of the command about which information is sought.