Batch Files & Batch Commands

(DOS) commands and their usage in batch files

Command	Function	Available in				(3rd Party) Replacement
		DOS	Win9x	NT	OS/2
ACINIUPD	Modify INI files (TS only)	N	N	Y	N
ANSI.SYS	Text attributes, cursor & keyboard manipulation	Y	N	N	Y	ANSI.COM (DOS only TSR)
APPEND	Allows programs to open data files in specified directories as if they were in the current directory (DOS)	Y	Y	Y	Y
ARP	Display or modify IP-to-Physical address translation tables used by ARP	N	Y	Y	Y
ASSOC	Associate a file extension with a file type, or list all associations	N	N	Y	N
AT	Command line scheduler	N	N	Y	Y	JT, SCHTASKS
ATTRIB	List & manipulate file attributes	Y	Y	Y	Y
AUTOFAIL	Suppress network connection error messages at startup	N	N	N	Y
BACKUP	Backup files to floppy disks (requires RESTORE from the exact same DOS version)	Y	Y	N	Y	NTBACKUP, Several commercial image backup tools
BASICA	Basic interpreter for IBM PC-DOS	Y	N	N	N	GWBASIC, QBASIC
BOOTCFG	Edit Windows boot settings in BOOT.INI (XP)	N	N	Y	N
BREAK	Enable/disable extended Ctrl+C checking (16-bits)	Y	Y	Y	Y
CACLS	Read and set file access permissions	N	N	Y	N	SECEDIT,  SUBINACL, XCACLS
CALL	Run a batch file from within another batch file	Y	Y	Y	Y
CD	Show or change the current directory (same as CHDIR)	Y	Y	Y	Y
CERTREQ	Request certificates from a certification authority (Windows Server 2003)	N	N	Y	N
CERTUTIL	Manage certificates (Windows Server 2003)	N	N	Y	N
CHANGE	Change TS port mappings, install mode, or enable/disable TS logon	N	N	Y	N
CHCP	Display or set the active Code Page	Y	Y	Y	Y
CHDIR	Show or change the current directory (same as CD)	Y	Y	Y	Y
CHGLOGON	Enable/disable TS logon	N	N	Y	N
CHGPORT	Change TS port mappings	N	N	Y	N
CHGUSR	Change TS install mode	N	N	Y	N
CHKDSK	Check a disk for file system errors or bad sectors	Y	Y	Y	Y
CHKNTFS	Display or modify the checking of disk at boot time	N	N	Y	N
CHOICE	Prompt user for to choose option from list of choices	Y	Y	N	N	PMChoice
CIPHER	Display or alter the encryption of directories [files] on NTFS partitions	N	N	Y	N
CLEANMGR	Automate cleanup of temporary files, IE cache, downloaded files & recycle bin (XP)	N	N	Y	N
CLS	Clear the screen/window	Y	Y	Y	Y
CMD.EXE	Command interpreter (32-bits)	N	N	Y	Y
COLOR	Change text and background color in console	N	N	Y	N
COMMAND.COM	Command interpreter (16-bits)	Y	Y	Y	Y
COMP	Compare files	Y	Y	Y	Y	FC, TxtComp, WINDIFF (GUI)
COMPACT	Display or modify file compression on NTFS partitions	N	N	Y	N
%COMSPEC%	Command interpreter specification in master environment	Y	Y	Y	Y
CONTROL	Start Control Panel or a Control Panel applet	N	Y	Y	Y	RUNDLL32 SHELL32.DLL,Control_RunDLL
CONVERT	Convert a FAT volume to NTFS	N	N	Y	N
COPY	Copy files	Y	Y	Y	Y	ROBOCOPY, XCOPY
CPROFILE	Clean profiles of wasted space (Windows Server 2003)	N	N	Y	N
CSCRIPT	Console mode interpreter for VBScript/JScript	N	Y	Y	N
CSVDE	Import/export data from Active Directory in CSV format	N	N	Y	N
CTTY	Redirect all input and output to a file or (serial, parallel or null) device	Y	N	N	N
DATE	Display & manipulate system date	Y	Y	Y	Y
DEBUG	Debugger & assembler	Y	Y	Y	Y
DEFRAG	Locate and consolidate fragmented boot files, data files, and folders on local volumes	Y	Y	Y	N
DEL	Delete one or more files	Y	Y	Y	Y
DELTREE	Delete an entire folder including files and subfolders	Y	Y	N	N	RD /S
DEVCON	Command line Device Manager (free Microsoft download)	N	N	Y	N
DIANTZ	Compress and add files to new or existing .CAB files (equivalent of MAKECAB)	N	N	Y	N	MAKECAB
DIR	List files & directories	Y	Y	Y	Y
DISKCOMP	Compare two floppy disks on a track by track basis	Y	Y	Y	Y
DISKCOPY	Copy a floppy disks on a track by track basis	Y	Y	Y	Y
DOSKEY	Edit or recall command lines, or create command line macros	Y	Y	Y	Y
DISKPART	Manipulate harddisk partitions and logical drives	N	N	Y	N	Acronis Disk Director
DRIVERQUERY	List installed drivers (Windows XP)	N	N	Y	N
DSADD	Add objects to (active) directory	N	N	Y	N
DSGET	Display (active) directory object properties	N	N	Y	N
DSMOD	Modify objects in (active) directory	N	N	Y	N
DSMOVE	Move or rename objects in (active) directory	N	N	Y	N
DSQUERY	Query (active) directory	N	N	Y	N
DSRM	Remove object from (active) directory	N	N	Y	N
ECHO	Display text on screen	Y	Y	Y	Y
EDIT	Text editor in MS-DOS 5+ (requires QBASIC)	Y	N	N	N	EDLIN
EDLIN	Line editor in MS-DOS 4-	Y	N	N	N	EDIT, COPY CON, many programmers' editors
ENDLOCAL	Terminate local environment	N	N	Y	Y
EPAL	Elevated Priviliges Application Launcher (free Microsoft download)	N	N	Y	N	RUNAS,  CPAU,  PSEXEC,  RunAs Pro
ERASE	Delete one or more files	Y	Y	Y	Y
EXIT	Terminate a batch file or command prompt	Y	Y	Y	Y
EXPAND	Expand compressed files or folders on NTFS volumes	N	N	Y	Y
EXTRACT	Extract compressed files	N	Y	Y	N	7-Zip, WinRAR
EXE2BIN	Convert .EXE files to binary format (DOS)	Y	Y	Y	Y
FASTOPEN	Open DOS programs faster by memorizing their locations on disk (DOS)	Y	Y	Y	Y
FC	Compare files	Y	Y	Y	Y	COMP, TxtComp, WINDIFF (GUI)
FDISK	Manipulate harddisk partitions and logical drives	Y	Y	N	Y	DISKPART, Acronis Disk Director
FIND	Search files or standard output	Y	Y	Y	Y
FINDRAMD	Find the RAM drive letter	N	Y	N	N
FINDSTR	Search files or standard output with advanced options	N	N	Y	Y	EGREP
FOR	Loop through a set of files or variables	Y	Y	Y	Y
FORCEDOS	Force XP to start the specified program in the MS-DOS subsystem	N	N	Y	N
FORMAT	Format disks (intialize file system)	Y	Y	Y	Y
FSUTIL	Manage FAT and NTFS file systems (XP)	N	N	Y	N
FTP	File Transfer Protocol client	N	N	Y	Y	TFTP, Fileaze
FTYPE	Display or define the "Open" command for a file type	N	N	Y	N
GETMAC	Display MAC address for local or remote network adapters (XP and later)	N	N	Y	N	MacAddr
GETTYPE	Queries the OS type, version or SP and returns it as an errorlevel (Resource Kit tool)	N	N	Y	N	MacAddr
GOTO	Jump to a label or subroutine	Y	Y	Y	Y
GRAFTABL	Enable display of extended character set in graphics mode	Y	Y	Y	Y
GWBASIC	Basic interpreter for MS-DOS up to version 4	Y	N	N	N	BASICA, QBASIC
HELP	Display help text for a command	Y	Y	Y	Y
IEXPRESS	(Installation) script packager (XP)	N	N	Y	N
IF	Test statement	Y	Y	Y	Y
IFCONFIG	Configure network adapters	N	N	N	Y
INUSE	Replace locked files on the next reboot (Resource Kit tool)	N	N	Y	N
IPCONFIG	Configure network adapters	N	Y	Y	N
JT	Command line scheduler for Windows 2000 and later (Resource Kit utility)	N	N	Y	N	AT, SCHTASKS, Fileaze
LABEL	Show or set a disk's volume label	Y	Y	Y	Y
LFNFOR	Tells the FOR command to use either "8.3" or long file names	N	Y	N	N
LH	Load TSRs in high memory (same as LOADHIGH)	Y	Y	N	N
LOADHIGH	Load TSRs in high memory (same as LH)	Y	Y	N	N
LOCK	Grant 16-bits DOS programs direct access to a disk	N	Y	N	N
LOGOFF	Logoff/terminate Windows TS sessions or (local) OS/2	N	N	Y	Y
MAKECAB	Compress and add files to new or existing .CAB files (equivalent of DIANTZ)	N	N	Y	N	DIANTZ
MD	Create a new (sub)directory (same as MKDIR)	Y	Y	Y	Y
MEM	Check memory usage (MS-DOS and 16-bits sessions only)	Y	Y	Y	Y
MKDIR	Create a new (sub)directory (same as MD)	Y	Y	Y	Y
MODE	Configures system devices	Y	Y	Y	Y
MORE	Configures system devices	Y	Y	Y	Y
MOUNTVOL	Create, delete or list volume mount points (XP)	N	N	Y	N
MOVE	Move or rename files or folders	Y	Y	Y	Y
MSD	Query for basic system configuration information (MS-DOS 6 & 7)	Y	Y	N	N	several (commercial) system inventory tools
MSG	Send a popup message to TS users/sessions	N	N	Y	N
MSIEXEC	Install, modify, and perform operations on Windows Installer from the command line	N	Y	Y	N
MSINFO32	Query for basic system configuration information (Windows 2000+)	N	N	Y	N	SYSTEMINFO, WINMSD, several (commercial) system inventory tools
NBTSTAT	Display protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT	N	N	Y	N
NET	Command line NetBIOS tool	N	Y	Y	Y
NETDOM	Manage domains and trust relationships (join computers to a domain, rename computers, and more)	N	N	Y	N
NETSH	Command line network configuration tool for Windows XP and later	N	N	Y	N
NOTEPAD	Text editor (GUI editing, command line & GUI printing)	N	Y	Y	N	Many programmers' editors
NSLOOKUP	Diagnose DNS infrastructure	N	N	Y	N	(PING -a for finding host names)
NTBACKUP	Backup files to any Windows supported media	N	N	Y	N	Several commercial image backup tools
OPENFILES	List or disconnect open files and folders	N	N	Y	N
PATH	Display or change the program search path	Y	Y	Y	Y
PATHPING	Extended PING utility	N	N	Y	N	TRACERT
PAUSE	Wait until a key is pressed	Y	Y	Y	Y
PENTNT	Detects floating point division error (if present) in the Pentium chip, disables floating point hardware, and turns on floating point emulation	N	N	Y	N
PING	Check the TCP/IP connection to a remote IP address	N	Y	Y	Y
PING6	IPv6 version of PING	N	N	Y	N
POPD	Move back to the last directory that was "pushed" on the stack by PUSHD	N	N	Y	Y
POWERCFG	Configure power management (Windows Server 2003)	N	N	Y	Y
PRINT	Print a text file	Y	Y	Y	Y
PROMPT	Configure the DOS prompt string	Y	Y	Y	Y
PUSHD	Move to a new directory, "pushing" the current directory on the stack	N	N	Y	Y
QAPPSRV	Query available TS application servers	N	N	Y	N
QBASIC	Basic interpreter for MS-DOS 5+	Y	N	N	N	BASICA, GWBASIC
QCHAIN	Install multiple hotfixes with only a single reboot	N	N	Y	N
QFARM	Query local TS farm	N	N	Y	N
QPROCESS	Query TS servers for running processes	N	N	Y	N
QSERVER	Query available ICA-enabled TS servers	N	N	Y	N
QUERY	Query TS resources	N	N	Y	N
QUSER	Query logged on TS users	N	N	Y	N
QWINSTA	Query TS sessions	N	N	Y	N
RASDIAL	Use existing RAS/DUN connections	N	N	Y	N
RASPHONE	Manage RAS/DUN connections	N	N	Y	N
RD	Remove a (sub)directory (same as RMDIR)	Y	Y	Y	Y
READLINE	Read a single line from standard output	N	N	N	Y
RECOVER	Recover readable information from a bad or defective disk (may sometimes destroy other files in the process)	Y	Y	Y	Y	STRINGS, Several commercial undelete & file recovery tools
REG	Read and write the registry (W2K and later)	N	N	Y	N
REGEDIT	Read and write the registry (GUI as well as command line)	N	Y	Y	Y
REGEDT32	Read and write the registry (includes setting access permissions)	N	N	Y	N	REG, REGEDIT, SECEDIT
REGSVR32	Register .DLL & .OCX files as command components in the registry	N	N	Y	N
REM	Insert comment line	Y	Y	Y	Y
REN	Rename a file or folder (same as RENAME)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Bulk Rename Command, Bulk Rename (GUI), Renamer (GUI)
RENAME	Rename a file or folder (same as REN)	Y	Y	Y	Y
REPLACE	Copy only files that already exist in the target directory, or copy only files that don't exist yet	Y	Y	Y	Y	XCOPY /U
RESET SESSION	Reset TS session subsystem defaults	N	N	Y	N
RESTORE	Restore files backed up with BACKUP (from the exact same DOS version)	Y	Y	N	Y	NTBACKUP, Several commercial image backup tools
RMDIR	Remove a (sub)directory (same as RD)	Y	Y	Y	Y
ROBOCOPY	Copy directories, optionally including subdirectory trees and/or permissions, and optionally deleting removed files in the target directory (Resource Kit utility)	N	N	Y	N
ROUTE	Display and modify the entries in the local IP routing table	N	N	Y	Y
RUNAS	Run a command with different credentials (will always prompt for a password; use CPAU if you need to make this unattended)	N	N	Y	N	CPAU, EPAL,  PSEXEC,  RunAs Pro
RUNDLL	Command line wrapper for 16-bit DLL routines	N	Y	Y	Y
RUNDLL32	Command line wrapper for 32-bit DLL routines	N	Y	Y	N
SC	Command line services managment (XP)	N	N	Y	N	SERVICES.MSC (GUI)
SCHTASKS	Command line task scheduler (XP)	N	N	Y	N	AT, JT
SECEDIT	Configure and analyze system security by comparing your current configuration to a template (Windows 2000+)	N	N	Y	N	CACLS,  SUBINACL, XCACLS
SET	Manipulate environment variables	Y	Y	Y	Y
SETLOCAL	Start local environment	N	N	Y	Y
SHADOW	Monitor or take over a TS session	N	N	Y	N
SHELL	Primary command interpreter specification in CONFIG.SYS	Y	Y	N	Y
SHIFT	Parse command line variables in batch files	Y	Y	Y	Y
SHUTDOWN	Shutdown a computer (Resource Kit utility for NT 4 and 2000, native in XP and later)	N	N	Y	N	TSSHUTDN, PSSHUTDOWN
SORT	Read a file or standard input and return it sorted alphabetically	Y	Y	Y	Y
START	Run a command in a separate process, or run a file with its default associated application	N	Y	Y	Y
SUBINACL	Display/modify ACEs for file and folder permissions, ownership and domain (Resource Kit utility)	N	N	Y	N	CACLS, SECEDIT, XCACLS
SUBST	Associate or disassociate a drive alias with a path	Y	Y	Y	Y
SYSTEMINFO	Query for basic system configuration information	N	N	Y	N	WINMSD, several (commercial) system inventory tools
TASKKILL	Kill an active process (XP)	N	N	Y	N	PSKILL
TASKLIST	List active processes (XP)	N	N	Y	N	PSLIST
TIME	Display & manipulate system time	Y	Y	Y	Y
TITLE	Set the window title for the command prompt window	N	N	Y	N
TRACERT	Analyze the response times on the route to a remote IP address	N	Y	Y	N
TRACERT6	IPv6 version of TRACERT	N	N	Y	N
TRACERTE	Analyze the response times on the route to a remote IP address (OS/2)	N	N	N	Y
TREE	"Graphically" display the folder structure of a drive or path	Y	Y	Y	Y
TRUENAME	Display the real fully qualified path	Y	Y	Y	Y
TSCON	Attach a TS user session to a terminal session	N	N	Y	N
TSDISCON	Disconnect a TS terminal session	N	N	Y	N
TSKILL	Terminate a process in a TS session	N	N	Y	N	PSKILL
TSPROF	Copy/update TS user configuration information	N	N	Y	N
TSSHUTDN	Shut down or reboot a TS server	N	N	Y	N	PSSHUTDOWN
TYPE	Display text file content in console	Y	Y	Y	Y
TZCHANGE	Configure/edit time zones	N	N	Y	N
UNLOCK	Revoke 16-bits direct disk access granted by the LOCK command	N	Y	N	N
VER	Display the OS version	Y	Y	Y	Y
VERIFY	Enable/disable verification of disk write operations	Y	Y	Y	Y
VHDMOUNT	Mount and access VHD files as virtual disk drives (part of Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1)	N	N	Y	N
VOL	Display a disk's volume label	Y	Y	Y	Y
WINMSD	Query for basic system configuration information (for Windows NT 4; in Windows 2000 WINMSD was replaced by MSINFO32)	N	N	Y	N	MSINFO32, SYSTEMINFO, several (commercial) system inventory tools
WINMSDP	Command line helper tool for WINMSD	N	N	Y	N
WMIC	Query & manipulate objects in WMI (XP Pro and later)	N	N	Y	N
WSCRIPT	GUI mode interpreter for VBScript/JScript	N	Y	Y	N
WUPDMGR	Start Windows Update in Internet Explorer	N	Y	Y	N
XCACLS	Read and set file access permissions (improved CACLS from the Resource Kits)	Y	Y	Y	Y	CACLS, SECEDIT,  SUBINACL
XCOPY	Copy files & directories with advanced options	Y	Y	Y	Y	ROBOCOPY,  XXCOPY