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

To access a program or file without first changing the default drive, use a drive identifier with the filename. For example, if you are logged onto drive A and type B : PROGRAM, MS-DOS loads and executes the file named PROGRAM from drive B but stays logged onto drive A.

The MS-DOS Command Format

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:

FORMAT A:

FORMAT is the command name to execute the file FORMATCOM. The A: is a parameter that tells the command what to format-in this case, the diskette in drive A. The space between FORMAT and A: is the delimiter that lets MS-DOS distinguish the command name (FORMAT) from the parameter (A:).

Using MS-DOS with Your Equity 386 5-3