The Default Drive

At any given time, MS-DOS considers one disk drive to be the default drive. The default drive is the one on which MS-DOS executes your next command, unless you tell it to do otherwise. For example, if the default drive is C, and you issue the DIR (directory) command, MS-DOS lists the files stored on drive C. If the default drive is A and you type WP and press Enter, MS-DOS looks on the diskette in drive A for a file called WP and executes it.

The MS-DOS command prompt tells you which drive is the current default. The command prompt consists of the drive letter followed by a greater-than symbol, "<". (Depending on how your system has been set up, the command prompt may also include additional information.) Thus, when you see A> displayed on your screen, you know that the default drive is A. The command prompt also lets you know that MS-DOS is ready to receive a command from you.

If you need to access a file or program on another drive, you can either change the default drive or specify the other drive when you give the command.

Changing the Default Drive

To change the default drive, type the letter of the drive you want to change to, followed by a colon. Then press Enter. For example, to change the default from A to C, type the following and press Enter:

c :

MS-DOS acknowledges the change by displaying the command prompt C : \>. Changing to a new drive is also called logging onto that drive.