For example, if you have two diskette drives, and are logged onto drive A, you could format a diskette in drive B with the command:

FORMAT B:

In this case, MS-DOS looks on drive A, the default drive, for the file named FORMAT.COM. If the diskette in that drive contains the file FORMAT.COM (as does the Startup diskette), MS-DOS finds it there. If you are logged onto drive B, however, you would need to enter the command like this:

A:FORMAT B:

This tells MS-DOS to look on drive A for FORMAT.COM.

Entering an MS-DOS Command

To enter an MS-DOS command, you need to type the command in the correct format. The command format provides MS-DOS with the information needed to perform a task.

The MS-DOS command format consists of the command name, parameters, and delimiters. The command name tells MS-DOS the task you want the computer to perform. Parameters specify details such as what data you want to process and where to locate or store a file. Delimiters are characters such as spaces or commas that separate command names and parameters.

For example, the command to format a diskette in drive A is:

Using MS-DOS With Your Computer 4-7