It took many years before Microsoft added its own undelete and defragmen-
tation (defragger) utilities to DOS and then to Windows (which still has
something very much like DOS at its very lowest level). You can catch a
glimpse of a command-driven interface that emulates the old DOS by going
to the Command Prompt from within Windows. Click Start➪All Programs➪
Accessories➪Command Prompt. There you see a sight that warms the hearts
of some of us old propeller heads: the C:\ prompt.Try this: Display the prompt, type DIR, and press the Enter key. You see the
directory for the current subdirectory in use. See Figure 19-1 for a subdirec-
tory as seen by the operating system beneath Windows XP.If you want to be adventurous, try a few old DOS commands. At the C:\
prompt, type VER and press the Enter key. You find out which version of the
DOS-like command-driven interface is available from within Windows. You
can also type HELP and press the Enter key to display a list of permissible
commands. And you can enter a command and follow it with the /? switch to
obtain a list of subcommands. For example, at the C:\ prompt enter DIR /? to
see all of the various ways you can display the directory.When you’re done playing, type EXIT and press Enter to return to the won-
derful world of Windows.Figure 19-1:
A display
of the
directory of
files from
a sub-
directory
of the
operating
system that
underlies
Windows
XP.
Windows
users think
of direc-
tories and
subdirec-
tories as
folders.
Chapter 19: Essential Utilities for Laptop Users 291