Windows 7 / Getting Started

Using the Console Window

Normally, command prompt programs run in a normal window that has a title bar, resize points, a close button, and scrollbars.

Unlike a true DOS screen, in a console window, you can peer back in time to previously typed output using the scrollbars.This is particularly handy for programs that print more output than can fit on the screen at once.You can also halt a program's output momentarily by pressing Ctrl+S.When you've caught up with your reading, press Ctrl+S to let the program resume typing.

For better visibility, or to make a program look more like it's running with DOS, you can press Alt+Enter to run the program in full-screen mode. If you run a DOS graphics program, this happens automatically. In this mode, the program takes over the whole screen and all other Windows features disappear.You can press Alt+Enter again to bring back the Windows desktop.

You can set the screen mode and the number of lines that the window can scroll using the window's Properties dialog box. You can also set the window's colors and font. Usually, you don't need to adjust the font. It's best to simply resize the window in the normal way;Windows sizes the characters accordingly.

A Command Prompt window's Properties dialog box lets you select the screen mode, scroll length, editing properties, and screen colors.

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In this tutorial:

  1. The CMD Command-Line
  2. CMD Versus COMMAND
  3. Running CMD
  4. Opening a Command Prompt Window with Administrator Privileges
  5. CMD Options
  6. Disabling Command Extensions
  7. Command-Line Processing
  8. Console Program Input and Output
  9. Using the Console Window
  10. I/O Redirection and Pipes
  11. Copy and Paste in Command Prompt Windows
  12. Command Editing and the History List
  13. Name Completion
  14. Enabling Directory Name Completion
  15. Multiple Commands on One Line
  16. Grouping Commands with Parentheses
  17. Arguments, Commas, and Quotes
  18. Escaping Special Characters
  19. Configuring the CMD Program
  20. The Search Path
  21. Changing the Path
  22. Predefined and Virtual Environment Variables
  23. Setting Default Environment Variables
  24. Built-in Commands
  25. Extended Commands
  26. Listing Files with the Dir Command
  27. Paginating Long Listings
  28. Printing Directory Listings
  29. Sorting Listings
  30. Locating Alternate File Streams
  31. Setting Variables with the Set Command
  32. Conditional Processing with the if Command
  33. Scanning for Files with the for Command
  34. Using the for Command's Variable
  35. Processing Directories
  36. Numerical for Loop
  37. Getting More Information