Windows XP SP 3 commands

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]

 

Formore    more information on a specific command, type HELP command-name
ASSOC    Displays or modifies file extension associations.
AT    Schedules commands and programs to run on a computer.
ATTRIB    Displays or changes file attributes.
BREAK    Sets or clears extended CTRL+C checking.
CACLS    Displays or modifies access control lists (ACLs) of files.
CALL    Calls one batch program from another.
CD    Displays the name of or changes the current directory.
CHCP    Displays or sets the active code page number.
CHDIR    Displays the name of or changes the current directory.
CHKDSK    Checks a disk and displays a status report.
CHKNTFS    Displays or modifies the checking of disk at boot time.
CLS    Clears the screen.
CMD    Starts a new instance of the Windows command interpreter.
COLOR    Sets the default console foreground and background colors.
COMP    Compares the contents of two files or sets of files.
COMPACT    Displays or alters the compression of files on NTFS partitions.
CONVERT    Converts FAT volumes to NTFS. You cannot convert the current drive.
COPY    Copies one or more files to another location.
DATE    Displays or sets the date.
DEL    Deletes one or more files.
DIR    Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.
DISKCOMP    Compares the contents of two floppy disks.
DISKCOPY    Copies the contents of one floppy disk to another.
DOSKEY    Edits command lines, recalls Windows commands, and creates macros.
ECHO    Displays messages, or turns command echoing on or off.
ENDLOCAL    Ends localization of environment changes in a batch file.
ERASE    Deletes one or more files.
EXIT    Quits the CMD.EXE program (command interpreter).
FC    Compares two files or sets of files, and displays the differences between them.
FIND    Searches for a text string in a file or files.
FINDSTR    Searches for strings in files.
FOR    Runs a specified command for each file in a set of files.
FORMAT    Formats a disk for use with Windows.
FTYPE    Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations.
GOTO    Directs the Windows command interpreter to a labeled line in a batch program.
GRAFTABL    Enables Windows to display an extended character set in graphics mode.
HELP    Provides Help information for Windows commands.
IF    Performs conditional processing in batch programs.
LABEL    Creates, changes, or deletes the volume label of a disk.
MD    Creates a directory.
MKDIR    Creates a directory.
MODE    Configures a system device.
MORE    Displays output one screen at a time.
MOVE    Moves one or more files from one directory to another directory.
PATH    Displays or sets a search path for executable files.
PAUSE    Suspends processing of a batch file and displays a message.
POPD    Restores the previous value of the current directory saved by PUSHD.
PRINT    Prints a text file.
PROMPT    Changes the Windows command prompt.
PUSHD    Saves the current directory then changes it.
RD    Removes a directory.
RECOVER    Recovers readable information from a bad or defective disk.
REM    Records comments (remarks) in batch files or CONFIG.SYS.
REN    Renames a file or files.
RENAME    Renames a file or files.
REPLACE    Replaces files.
RMDIR    Removes a directory.
SET    Displays, sets, or removes Windows environment variables.
SETLOCAL    Begins localization of environment changes in a batch file.
SHIFT    Shifts the position of replaceable parameters in batch files.
SORT    Sorts input.
START    Starts a separate window to run a specified program or command.
SUBST    Associates a path with a drive letter.
TIME    Displays or sets the system time.
TITLE    Sets the window title for a CMD.EXE session.
TREE    Graphically displays the directory structure of a drive or path.
TYPE    Displays the contents of a text file.
VER    Displays the Windows version.
VERIFY    Tells Windows whether to verify that your files are written correctly to a disk.
VOL    Displays a disk volume label and serial number.
XCOPY    Copies files and directory trees.

 

Formore

This command is not supported by the help utility.  Try "x /?".
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ASSOC

Displays or modifies file extension associations

ASSOC [.ext[=[fileType]]]

  .ext      Specifies the file extension to associate the file type with
  fileType  Specifies the file type to associate with the file extension

Type ASSOC without parameters to display the current file associations.
If ASSOC is invoked with just a file extension, it displays the current
file association for that file extension.  Specify nothing for the file
type and the command will delete the association for the file extension.
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AT

The AT command schedules commands and programs to run on a computer at      
a specified time and date. The Schedule service must be running to use      
the AT command.
                                                           
AT [\\computername] [ [id] [/DELETE] | /DELETE [/YES]]                    
AT [\\computername] time [/INTERACTIVE]
    [ /EVERY:date[,...] | /NEXT:date[,...]] "command"

\\computername     Specifies a remote computer. Commands are scheduled on the
                   local computer if this parameter is omitted.             
id                 Is an identification number assigned to a scheduled      
                   command.                                                 
/delete            Cancels a scheduled command. If id is omitted, all the
                   scheduled commands on the computer are canceled.
/yes               Used with cancel all jobs command when no further
                   confirmation is desired.
time               Specifies the time when command is to run.
/interactive       Allows the job to interact with the desktop of the user   
                   who is logged on at the time the job runs.
/every:date[,...]  Runs the command on each specified day(s) of the week or
                   month. If date is omitted, the current day of the month
                   is assumed.                                              
/next:date[,...]   Runs the specified command on the next occurrence of the
                   day (for example, next Thursday).  If date is omitted, the
                   current day of the month is assumed.
"command"          Is the Windows NT command, or batch program to be run.

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ATTRIB

Displays or changes file attributes.

ATTRIB [+R | -R] [+A | -A ] [+S | -S] [+H | -H] [drive:][path][filename]
       [/S [/D]]

  +   Sets an attribute.
  -   Clears an attribute.
  R   Read-only file attribute.
  A   Archive file attribute.
  S   System file attribute.
  H   Hidden file attribute.
  [drive:][path][filename]
      Specifies a file or files for attrib to process.
  /S  Processes matching files in the current folder
      and all subfolders.
  /D  Processes folders as well.

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BREAK

Sets or Clears Extended CTRL+C checking on DOS system

This is present for Compatibility with DOS systems. It has no effect
under Windows XP.

If Command Extensions are enabled, and running on the Windows XP
platform, then the BREAK command will enter a hard coded breakpoint
if being debugged by a debugger.
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CACLS

Displays or modifies access control lists (ACLs) of files



CACLS filename [/T] [/E] [/C] [/G user:perm] [/R user [...]]

               [/P user:perm [...]] [/D user [...]]

   filename      Displays ACLs.

   /T            Changes ACLs of specified files in

                 the current directory and all subdirectories.

   /E            Edit ACL instead of replacing it.

   /C            Continue on access denied errors.

   /G user:perm  Grant specified user access rights.

                 Perm can be: R  Read

                              W  Write

                              C  Change (write)

                              F  Full control

   /R user	 Revoke specified user's access rights (only valid with /E).

   /P user:perm  Replace specified user's access rights.

                 Perm can be: N  None

                              R  Read

                              W  Write

                              C  Change (write)

                              F  Full control

   /D user       Deny specified user access.

Wildcards can be used to specify more that one file in a command.

You can specify more than one user in a command.



Abbreviations:

   CI - Container Inherit.

        The ACE will be inherited by directories.

   OI - Object Inherit.

        The ACE will be inherited by files.

   IO - Inherit Only.

        The ACE does not apply to the current file/directory.

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CALL

Calls one batch program from another.

CALL [drive:][path]filename [batch-parameters]

  batch-parameters   Specifies any command-line information required by the
                     batch program.

If Command Extensions are enabled CALL changes as follows:

CALL command now accepts labels as the target of the CALL.  The syntax
is:

    CALL :label arguments

A new batch file context is created with the specified arguments and
control is passed to the statement after the label specified.  You must
"exit" twice by reaching the end of the batch script file twice.  The
first time you read the end, control will return to just after the CALL
statement.  The second time will exit the batch script.  Type GOTO /?
for a description of the GOTO :EOF extension that will allow you to
"return" from a batch script.

In addition, expansion of batch script argument references (%0, %1,
etc.) have been changed as follows:


    %* in a batch script refers to all the arguments (e.g. %1 %2 %3
        %4 %5 ...)

    Substitution of batch parameters (%n) has been enhanced.  You can
    now use the following optional syntax:

        %~1         - expands %1 removing any surrounding quotes (")
        %~f1        - expands %1 to a fully qualified path name
        %~d1        - expands %1 to a drive letter only
        %~p1        - expands %1 to a path only
        %~n1        - expands %1 to a file name only
        %~x1        - expands %1 to a file extension only
        %~s1        - expanded path contains short names only
        %~a1        - expands %1 to file attributes
        %~t1        - expands %1 to date/time of file
        %~z1        - expands %1 to size of file
        %~$PATH:1   - searches the directories listed in the PATH
                       environment variable and expands %1 to the fully
                       qualified name of the first one found.  If the
                       environment variable name is not defined or the
                       file is not found by the search, then this
                       modifier expands to the empty string

    The modifiers can be combined to get compound results:

        %~dp1       - expands %1 to a drive letter and path only
        %~nx1       - expands %1 to a file name and extension only
        %~dp$PATH:1 - searches the directories listed in the PATH
                       environment variable for %1 and expands to the
                       drive letter and path of the first one found.
        %~ftza1     - expands %1 to a DIR like output line

    In the above examples %1 and PATH can be replaced by other
    valid values.  The %~ syntax is terminated by a valid argument
    number.  The %~ modifiers may not be used with %*
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CD

Displays the name of or changes the current directory.

CHDIR [/D] [drive:][path]
CHDIR [..]
CD [/D] [drive:][path]
CD [..]

  ..   Specifies that you want to change to the parent directory.

Type CD drive: to display the current directory in the specified drive.
Type CD without parameters to display the current drive and directory.

Use the /D switch to change current drive in addition to changing current
directory for a drive.

If Command Extensions are enabled CHDIR changes as follows:

The current directory string is converted to use the same case as
the on disk names.  So CD C:\TEMP would actually set the current
directory to C:\Temp if that is the case on disk.

CHDIR command does not treat spaces as delimiters, so it is possible to
CD into a subdirectory name that contains a space without surrounding
the name with quotes.  For example:

    cd \winnt\profiles\username\programs\start menu

is the same as:

    cd "\winnt\profiles\username\programs\start menu"

which is what you would have to type if extensions were disabled.
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CHCP

Displays or sets the active code page number.

CHCP [nnn]

  nnn   Specifies a code page number.

Type CHCP without a parameter to display the active code page number.
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CHDIR

Displays the name of or changes the current directory.

CHDIR [/D] [drive:][path]
CHDIR [..]
CD [/D] [drive:][path]
CD [..]

  ..   Specifies that you want to change to the parent directory.

Type CD drive: to display the current directory in the specified drive.
Type CD without parameters to display the current drive and directory.

Use the /D switch to change current drive in addition to changing current
directory for a drive.

If Command Extensions are enabled CHDIR changes as follows:

The current directory string is converted to use the same case as
the on disk names.  So CD C:\TEMP would actually set the current
directory to C:\Temp if that is the case on disk.

CHDIR command does not treat spaces as delimiters, so it is possible to
CD into a subdirectory name that contains a space without surrounding
the name with quotes.  For example:

    cd \winnt\profiles\username\programs\start menu

is the same as:

    cd "\winnt\profiles\username\programs\start menu"

which is what you would have to type if extensions were disabled.
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CHKDSK

Checks a disk and displays a status report.


CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/I] [/C] [/L[:size]]


  volume          Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
                  mount point, or volume name.
  filename        FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for fragmentation.
  /F              Fixes errors on the disk.
  /V              On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every file
                  on the disk.
                  On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any.
  /R              Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information
                  (implies /F).
  /L:size         NTFS only:  Changes the log file size to the specified number
                  of kilobytes.  If size is not specified, displays current
                  size.
  /X              Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
                  All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid
                  (implies /F).
  /I              NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index entries.
  /C              NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder
                  structure.

The /I or /C switch reduces the amount of time required to run Chkdsk by
skipping certain checks of the volume.
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CHKNTFS

Displays or modifies the checking of disk at boot time.

CHKNTFS volume [...]
CHKNTFS /D
CHKNTFS /T[:time]
CHKNTFS /X volume [...]
CHKNTFS /C volume [...]

  volume         Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
                 mount point, or volume name.
  /D             Restores the machine to the default behavior; all drives are
                 checked at boot time and chkdsk is run on those that are
                 dirty.
  /T:time        Changes the AUTOCHK initiation countdown time to the
                 specified amount of time in seconds.  If time is not
                 specified, displays the current setting.
  /X             Excludes a drive from the default boot-time check.  Excluded
                 drives are not accumulated between command invocations.
  /C             Schedules a drive to be checked at boot time; chkdsk will run
                 if the drive is dirty.

If no switches are specified, CHKNTFS will display if the specified drive is
dirty or scheduled to be checked on next reboot.
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CLS

Clears the screen.

CLS
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CMD

Starts a new instance of the Windows XP command interpreter

CMD [/A | /U] [/Q] [/D] [/E:ON | /E:OFF] [/F:ON | /F:OFF] [/V:ON | /V:OFF]
    [[/S] [/C | /K] string]

/C      Carries out the command specified by string and then terminates
/K      Carries out the command specified by string but remains
/S      Modifies the treatment of string after /C or /K (see below)
/Q      Turns echo off
/D      Disable execution of AutoRun commands from registry (see below)
/A      Causes the output of internal commands to a pipe or file to be ANSI
/U      Causes the output of internal commands to a pipe or file to be
        Unicode
/T:fg   Sets the foreground/background colors (see COLOR /? for more info)
/E:ON   Enable command extensions (see below)
/E:OFF  Disable command extensions (see below)
/F:ON   Enable file and directory name completion characters (see below)
/F:OFF  Disable file and directory name completion characters (see below)
/V:ON   Enable delayed environment variable expansion using ! as the
        delimiter. For example, /V:ON would allow !var! to expand the
        variable var at execution time.  The var syntax expands variables
        at input time, which is quite a different thing when inside of a FOR
        loop.
/V:OFF  Disable delayed environment expansion.

Note that multiple commands separated by the command separator '&&'
are accepted for string if surrounded by quotes.  Also, for compatibility
reasons, /X is the same as /E:ON, /Y is the same as /E:OFF and /R is the
same as /C.  Any other switches are ignored.

If /C or /K is specified, then the remainder of the command line after
the switch is processed as a command line, where the following logic is
used to process quote (") characters:

    1.  If all of the following conditions are met, then quote characters
        on the command line are preserved:

        - no /S switch
        - exactly two quote characters
        - no special characters between the two quote characters,
          where special is one of: &<>()@^|
        - there are one or more whitespace characters between the
          the two quote characters
        - the string between the two quote characters is the name
          of an executable file.

    2.  Otherwise, old behavior is to see if the first character is
        a quote character and if so, strip the leading character and
        remove the last quote character on the command line, preserving
        any text after the last quote character.

If /D was NOT specified on the command line, then when CMD.EXE starts, it
looks for the following REG_SZ/REG_EXPAND_SZ registry variables, and if
either or both are present, they are executed first.

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun

        and/or

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun

Command Extensions are enabled by default.  You may also disable
extensions for a particular invocation by using the /E:OFF switch.  You
can enable or disable extensions for all invocations of CMD.EXE on a
machine and/or user logon session by setting either or both of the
following REG_DWORD values in the registry using REGEDT32.EXE:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\EnableExtensions

        and/or

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\EnableExtensions

to either 0x1 or 0x0.  The user specific setting takes precedence over
the machine setting.  The command line switches take precedence over the
registry settings.

The command extensions involve changes and/or additions to the following
commands:

    DEL or ERASE
    COLOR
    CD or CHDIR
    MD or MKDIR
    PROMPT
    PUSHD
    POPD
    SET
    SETLOCAL
    ENDLOCAL
    IF
    FOR
    CALL
    SHIFT
    GOTO
    START (also includes changes to external command invocation)
    ASSOC
    FTYPE

To get specific details, type commandname /? to view the specifics.

Delayed environment variable expansion is NOT enabled by default.  You
can enable or disable delayed environment variable expansion for a
particular invocation of CMD.EXE with the /V:ON or /V:OFF switch.  You
can enable or disable completion for all invocations of CMD.EXE on a
machine and/or user logon session by setting either or both of the
following REG_DWORD values in the registry using REGEDT32.EXE:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\DelayedExpansion

        and/or

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\DelayedExpansion

to either 0x1 or 0x0.  The user specific setting takes precedence over
the machine setting.  The command line switches take precedence over the
registry settings.

If delayed environment variable expansion is enabled, then the exclamation
character can be used to substitute the value of an environment variable
at execution time.

File and Directory name completion is NOT enabled by default.  You can
enable or disable file name completion for a particular invocation of
CMD.EXE with the /F:ON or /F:OFF switch.  You can enable or disable
completion for all invocations of CMD.EXE on a machine and/or user logon
session by setting either or both of the following REG_DWORD values in
the registry using REGEDT32.EXE:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\CompletionChar
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\PathCompletionChar

        and/or

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\CompletionChar
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\PathCompletionChar

with the hex value of a control character to use for a particular
function (e.g.  0x4 is Ctrl-D and 0x6 is Ctrl-F).  The user specific
settings take precedence over the machine settings.  The command line
switches take precedence over the registry settings.

If completion is enabled with the /F:ON switch, the two control
characters used are Ctrl-D for directory name completion and Ctrl-F for
file name completion.  To disable a particular completion character in
the registry, use the value for space (0x20) as it is not a valid
control character.

Completion is invoked when you type either of the two control
characters.  The completion function takes the path string to the left
of the cursor appends a wild card character to it if none is already
present and builds up a list of paths that match.  It then displays the
first matching path.  If no paths match, it just beeps and leaves the
display alone.  Thereafter, repeated pressing of the same control
character will cycle through the list of matching paths.  Pressing the
Shift key with the control character will move through the list
backwards.  If you edit the line in any way and press the control
character again, the saved list of matching paths is discarded and a new
one generated.  The same occurs if you switch between file and directory
name completion.  The only difference between the two control characters
is the file completion character matches both file and directory names,
while the directory completion character only matches directory names.
If file completion is used on any of the built in directory commands
(CD, MD or RD) then directory completion is assumed.

The completion code deals correctly with file names that contain spaces
or other special characters by placing quotes around the matching path.
Also, if you back up, then invoke completion from within a line, the
text to the right of the cursor at the point completion was invoked is
discarded.

The special characters that require quotes are:
     
     &()[]{}^=;!'+,`~
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COLOR

Sets the default console foreground and background colors.

COLOR [attr]

  attr        Specifies color attribute of console output

Color attributes are specified by TWO hex digits -- the first
corresponds to the background; the second the foreground.  Each digit
can be any of the following values:

    0 = Black       8 = Gray
    1 = Blue        9 = Light Blue
    2 = Green       A = Light Green
    3 = Aqua        B = Light Aqua
    4 = Red         C = Light Red
    5 = Purple      D = Light Purple
    6 = Yellow      E = Light Yellow
    7 = White       F = Bright White

If no argument is given, this command restores the color to what it was
when CMD.EXE started.  This value either comes from the current console
window, the /T command line switch or from the DefaultColor registry
value.

The COLOR command sets ERRORLEVEL to 1 if an attempt is made to execute
the COLOR command with a foreground and background color that are the
same.

Example: "COLOR fc" produces light red on bright white
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COMP

Compares the contents of two files or sets of files.

COMP [data1] [data2] [/D] [/A] [/L] [/N=number] [/C] [/OFF[LINE]]

  data1      Specifies location and name(s) of first file(s) to compare.
  data2      Specifies location and name(s) of second files to compare.
  /D         Displays differences in decimal format.
  /A         Displays differences in ASCII characters.
  /L         Displays line numbers for differences.
  /N=number  Compares only the first specified number of lines in each file.
  /C         Disregards case of ASCII letters when comparing files.
  /OFF[LINE] Do not skip files with offline attribute set.

To compare sets of files, use wildcards in data1 and data2 parameters.
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COMPACT

Displays or alters the compression of files on NTFS partitions.

COMPACT [/C | /U] [/S[:dir]] [/A] [/I] [/F] [/Q] [filename [...]]

  /C        Compresses the specified files.  Directories will be marked
            so that files added afterward will be compressed.
  /U        Uncompresses the specified files.  Directories will be marked
            so that files added afterward will not be compressed.
  /S        Performs the specified operation on files in the given
            directory and all subdirectories.  Default "dir" is the
            current directory.
  /A        Displays files with the hidden or system attributes.  These
            files are omitted by default.
  /I        Continues performing the specified operation even after errors
            have occurred.  By default, COMPACT stops when an error is
            encountered.
  /F        Forces the compress operation on all specified files, even
            those which are already compressed.  Already-compressed files
            are skipped by default.
  /Q        Reports only the most essential information.
  filename  Specifies a pattern, file, or directory.

  Used without parameters, COMPACT displays the compression state of
  the current directory and any files it contains. You may use multiple
  filenames and wildcards.  You must put spaces between multiple
  parameters.
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CONVERT

Converts FAT volumes to NTFS.

CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS [/V] [/CvtArea:filename] [/NoSecurity] [/X]

  volume      Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
              mount point, or volume name.
  /FS:NTFS    Specifies that the volume is to be converted to NTFS.
  /V          Specifies that Convert should be run in verbose mode.
  /CvtArea:filename
              Specifies a contiguous file in the root directory to be
              the place holder for NTFS system files.
  /NoSecurity Specifies the converted files and directories security
              settings to be accessible by everyone.
  /X          Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
              All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid.
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COPY

Copies one or more files to another location.

COPY [/D] [/V] [/N] [/Y | /-Y] [/Z] [/A | /B ] source [/A | /B]
     [+ source [/A | /B] [+ ...]] [destination [/A | /B]]

  source       Specifies the file or files to be copied.
  /A           Indicates an ASCII text file.
  /B           Indicates a binary file.
  /D           Allow the destination file to be created decrypted
  destination  Specifies the directory and/or filename for the new file(s).
  /V           Verifies that new files are written correctly.
  /N           Uses short filename, if available, when copying a file with a
               non-8dot3 name.
  /Y           Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
               existing destination file.
  /-Y          Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
               existing destination file.
  /Z           Copies networked files in restartable mode.

The switch /Y may be preset in the COPYCMD environment variable.
This may be overridden with /-Y on the command line.  Default is
to prompt on overwrites unless COPY command is being executed from
within a batch script.

To append files, specify a single file for destination, but multiple files
for source (using wildcards or file1+file2+file3 format).
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DATE

Displays or sets the date.

DATE [/T | date]

Type DATE without parameters to display the current date setting and
a prompt for a new one.  Press ENTER to keep the same date.

If Command Extensions are enabled the DATE command supports
the /T switch which tells the command to just output the
current date, without prompting for a new date.
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DEL

Deletes one or more files.

DEL [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names
ERASE [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names

  names         Specifies a list of one or more files or directories.
                Wildcards may be used to delete multiple files. If a
                directory is specified, all files within the directory
                will be deleted.

  /P            Prompts for confirmation before deleting each file.
  /F            Force deleting of read-only files.
  /S            Delete specified files from all subdirectories.
  /Q            Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to delete on global wildcard
  /A            Selects files to delete based on attributes
  attributes    R  Read-only files            S  System files
                H  Hidden files               A  Files ready for archiving
                -  Prefix meaning not

If Command Extensions are enabled DEL and ERASE change as follows:

The display semantics of the /S switch are reversed in that it shows
you only the files that are deleted, not the ones it could not find.
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DIR

Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.

DIR [drive:][path][filename] [/A[[:]attributes]] [/B] [/C] [/D] [/L] [/N]
  [/O[[:]sortorder]] [/P] [/Q] [/S] [/T[[:]timefield]] [/W] [/X] [/4]

  [drive:][path][filename]
              Specifies drive, directory, and/or files to list.

  /A          Displays files with specified attributes.
  attributes   D  Directories                R  Read-only files
               H  Hidden files               A  Files ready for archiving
               S  System files               -  Prefix meaning not
  /B          Uses bare format (no heading information or summary).
  /C          Display the thousand separator in file sizes.  This is the
              default.  Use /-C to disable display of separator.
  /D          Same as wide but files are list sorted by column.
  /L          Uses lowercase.
  /N          New long list format where filenames are on the far right.
  /O          List by files in sorted order.
  sortorder    N  By name (alphabetic)       S  By size (smallest first)
               E  By extension (alphabetic)  D  By date/time (oldest first)
               G  Group directories first    -  Prefix to reverse order
  /P          Pauses after each screenful of information.
  /Q          Display the owner of the file.
  /S          Displays files in specified directory and all subdirectories.
  /T          Controls which time field displayed or used for sorting
  timefield   C  Creation
              A  Last Access
              W  Last Written
  /W          Uses wide list format.
  /X          This displays the short names generated for non-8dot3 file
              names.  The format is that of /N with the short name inserted
              before the long name. If no short name is present, blanks are
              displayed in its place.
  /4          Displays four-digit years

Switches may be preset in the DIRCMD environment variable.  Override
preset switches by prefixing any switch with - (hyphen)--for example, /-W.
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DISKCOMP

Compares the contents of two floppy disks.

DISKCOMP [drive1: [drive2:]]

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DISKCOPY

Copies the contents of one floppy disk to another.

DISKCOPY [drive1: [drive2:]] [/V]

  /V   Verifies that the information is copied correctly.

The two floppy disks must be the same type.
You may specify the same drive for drive1 and drive2.
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DOSKEY

Edits command lines, recalls Windows XP commands, and creates macros.

DOSKEY [/REINSTALL] [/LISTSIZE=size] [/MACROS[:ALL | :exename]]
  [/HISTORY] [/INSERT | /OVERSTRIKE] [/EXENAME=exename] [/MACROFILE=filename]
  [macroname=[text]]

  /REINSTALL          Installs a new copy of Doskey.
  /LISTSIZE=size      Sets size of command history buffer.
  /MACROS             Displays all Doskey macros.
  /MACROS:ALL         Displays all Doskey macros for all executables which have
                      Doskey macros.
  /MACROS:exename     Displays all Doskey macros for the given executable.
  /HISTORY            Displays all commands stored in memory.
  /INSERT             Specifies that new text you type is inserted in old text.
  /OVERSTRIKE         Specifies that new text overwrites old text.
  /EXENAME=exename    Specifies the executable.
  /MACROFILE=filename Specifies a file of macros to install.
  macroname           Specifies a name for a macro you create.
  text                Specifies commands you want to record.

UP and DOWN ARROWS recall commands; ESC clears command line; F7 displays
command history; ALT+F7 clears command history; F8 searches command
history; F9 selects a command by number; ALT+F10 clears macro definitions.

The following are some special codes in Doskey macro definitions:
$T     Command separator.  Allows multiple commands in a macro.
$1-$9  Batch parameters.  Equivalent to %1-%9 in batch programs.
$*     Symbol replaced by everything following macro name on command line.
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ECHO

Displays messages, or turns command-echoing on or off.

  ECHO [ON | OFF]
  ECHO [message]

Type ECHO without parameters to display the current echo setting.
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ENDLOCAL

Ends localization of environment changes in a batch file.
Environment changes made after ENDLOCAL has been issued are
not local to the batch file; the previous settings are not
restored on termination of the batch file.

ENDLOCAL

If Command Extensions are enabled ENDLOCAL changes as follows:

If the corresponding SETLOCAL enable or disabled command extensions
using the new ENABLEEXTENSIONS or DISABLEEXTENSIONS options, then
after the ENDLOCAL, the enabled/disabled state of command extensions
will be restored to what it was prior to the matching SETLOCAL
command execution.
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ERASE

Deletes one or more files.

DEL [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names
ERASE [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names

  names         Specifies a list of one or more files or directories.
                Wildcards may be used to delete multiple files. If a
                directory is specified, all files within the directory
                will be deleted.

  /P            Prompts for confirmation before deleting each file.
  /F            Force deleting of read-only files.
  /S            Delete specified files from all subdirectories.
  /Q            Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to delete on global wildcard
  /A            Selects files to delete based on attributes
  attributes    R  Read-only files            S  System files
                H  Hidden files               A  Files ready for archiving
                -  Prefix meaning not

If Command Extensions are enabled DEL and ERASE change as follows:

The display semantics of the /S switch are reversed in that it shows
you only the files that are deleted, not the ones it could not find.
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EXIT

Quits the CMD.EXE program (command interpreter) or the current batch
script.

EXIT [/B] [exitCode]

  /B          specifies to exit the current batch script instead of
              CMD.EXE.  If executed from outside a batch script, it
              will quit CMD.EXE

  exitCode    specifies a numeric number.  if /B is specified, sets
              ERRORLEVEL that number.  If quitting CMD.EXE, sets the process
              exit code with that number.
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FC

Compares two files or sets of files and displays the differences between
them


FC [/A] [/C] [/L] [/LBn] [/N] [/OFF[LINE]] [/T] [/U] [/W] [/nnnn]
   [drive1:][path1]filename1 [drive2:][path2]filename2
FC /B [drive1:][path1]filename1 [drive2:][path2]filename2

  /A         Displays only first and last lines for each set of differences.
  /B         Performs a binary comparison.
  /C         Disregards the case of letters.
  /L         Compares files as ASCII text.
  /LBn       Sets the maximum consecutive mismatches to the specified
             number of lines.
  /N         Displays the line numbers on an ASCII comparison.
  /OFF[LINE] Do not skip files with offline attribute set.
  /T         Does not expand tabs to spaces.
  /U         Compare files as UNICODE text files.
  /W         Compresses white space (tabs and spaces) for comparison.
  /nnnn      Specifies the number of consecutive lines that must match
             after a mismatch.
  [drive1:][path1]filename1
             Specifies the first file or set of files to compare.
  [drive2:][path2]filename2
             Specifies the second file or set of files to compare.

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FIND

Searches for a text string in a file or files.

FIND [/V] [/C] [/N] [/I] [/OFF[LINE]] "string" [[drive:][path]filename[ ...]]

  /V         Displays all lines NOT containing the specified string.
  /C         Displays only the count of lines containing the string.
  /N         Displays line numbers with the displayed lines.
  /I         Ignores the case of characters when searching for the string.
  /OFF[LINE] Do not skip files with offline attribute set.
  "string"   Specifies the text string to find.
  [drive:][path]filename
             Specifies a file or files to search.

If a path is not specified, FIND searches the text typed at the prompt
or piped from another command.
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FINDSTR

Searches for strings in files.

FINDSTR [/B] [/E] [/L] [/R] [/S] [/I] [/X] [/V] [/N] [/M] [/O] [/P] [/F:file]
        [/C:string] [/G:file] [/D:dir list] [/A:color attributes] [/OFF[LINE]]
        strings [[drive:][path]filename[ ...]]

  /B         Matches pattern if at the beginning of a line.
  /E         Matches pattern if at the end of a line.
  /L         Uses search strings literally.
  /R         Uses search strings as regular expressions.
  /S         Searches for matching files in the current directory and all
             subdirectories.
  /I         Specifies that the search is not to be case-sensitive.
  /X         Prints lines that match exactly.
  /V         Prints only lines that do not contain a match.
  /N         Prints the line number before each line that matches.
  /M         Prints only the filename if a file contains a match.
  /O         Prints character offset before each matching line.
  /P         Skip files with non-printable characters.
  /OFF[LINE] Do not skip files with offline attribute set.
  /A:attr    Specifies color attribute with two hex digits. See "color /?"
  /F:file    Reads file list from the specified file(/ stands for console).
  /C:string  Uses specified string as a literal search string.
  /G:file    Gets search strings from the specified file(/ stands for console).
  /D:dir     Search a semicolon delimited list of directories
  strings    Text to be searched for.
  [drive:][path]filename
             Specifies a file or files to search.

Use spaces to separate multiple search strings unless the argument is prefixed
with /C.  For example, 'FINDSTR "hello there" x.y' searches for "hello" or
"there" in file x.y.  'FINDSTR /C:"hello there" x.y' searches for
"hello there" in file x.y.

Regular expression quick reference:
  .        Wildcard: any character
  *        Repeat: zero or more occurances of previous character or class
  ^        Line position: beginning of line
  $        Line position: end of line
  [class]  Character class: any one character in set
  [^class] Inverse class: any one character not in set
  [x-y]    Range: any characters within the specified range
  \x       Escape: literal use of metacharacter x
  \    Word position: end of word

For full information on FINDSTR regular expressions refer to the online Command
Reference.
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FOR

Runs a specified command for each file in a set of files.

FOR %variable IN (set) DO command [command-parameters]

  %variable  Specifies a single letter replaceable parameter.
  (set)      Specifies a set of one or more files.  Wildcards may be used.
  command    Specifies the command to carry out for each file.
  command-parameters
             Specifies parameters or switches for the specified command.

To use the FOR command in a batch program, specify %%variable instead
of %variable.  Variable names are case sensitive, so %i is different
from %I.

If Command Extensions are enabled, the following additional
forms of the FOR command are supported:

FOR /D %variable IN (set) DO command [command-parameters]

    If set contains wildcards, then specifies to match against directory
    names instead of file names.

FOR /R [[drive:]path] %variable IN (set) DO command [command-parameters]

    Walks the directory tree rooted at [drive:]path, executing the FOR
    statement in each directory of the tree.  If no directory
    specification is specified after /R then the current directory is
    assumed.  If set is just a single period (.) character then it
    will just enumerate the directory tree.

FOR /L %variable IN (start,step,end) DO command [command-parameters]

    The set is a sequence of numbers from start to end, by step amount.
    So (1,1,5) would generate the sequence 1 2 3 4 5 and (5,-1,1) would
    generate the sequence (5 4 3 2 1)

FOR /F ["options"] %variable IN (file-set) DO command [command-parameters]
FOR /F ["options"] %variable IN ("string") DO command [command-parameters]
FOR /F ["options"] %variable IN ('command') DO command [command-parameters]

    or, if usebackq option present:

FOR /F ["options"] %variable IN (file-set) DO command [command-parameters]
FOR /F ["options"] %variable IN ('string') DO command [command-parameters]
FOR /F ["options"] %variable IN (`command`) DO command [command-parameters]

    filenameset is one or more file names.  Each file is opened, read
    and processed before going on to the next file in filenameset.
    Processing consists of reading in the file, breaking it up into
    individual lines of text and then parsing each line into zero or
    more tokens.  The body of the for loop is then called with the
    variable value(s) set to the found token string(s).  By default, /F
    passes the first blank separated token from each line of each file.
    Blank lines are skipped.  You can override the default parsing
    behavior by specifying the optional "options" parameter.  This
    is a quoted string which contains one or more keywords to specify
    different parsing options.  The keywords are:

        eol=c           - specifies an end of line comment character
                          (just one)
        skip=n          - specifies the number of lines to skip at the
                          beginning of the file.
        delims=xxx      - specifies a delimiter set.  This replaces the
                          default delimiter set of space and tab.
        tokens=x,y,m-n  - specifies which tokens from each line are to
                          be passed to the for body for each iteration.
                          This will cause additional variable names to
                          be allocated.  The m-n form is a range,
                          specifying the mth through the nth tokens.  If
                          the last character in the tokens= string is an
                          asterisk, then an additional variable is
                          allocated and receives the remaining text on
                          the line after the last token parsed.
        usebackq        - specifies that the new semantics are in force,
                          where a back quoted string is executed as a
                          command and a single quoted string is a
                          literal string command and allows the use of
                          double quotes to quote file names in
                          filenameset.

    Some examples might help:

FOR /F "eol=; tokens=2,3* delims=, " %i in (myfile.txt) do @echo %i %j %k

    would parse each line in myfile.txt, ignoring lines that begin with
    a semicolon, passing the 2nd and 3rd token from each line to the for
    body, with tokens delimited by commas and/or spaces.  Notice the for
    body statements reference %i to get the 2nd token, %j to get the
    3rd token, and %k to get all remaining tokens after the 3rd.  For
    file names that contain spaces, you need to quote the filenames with
    double quotes.  In order to use double quotes in this manner, you also
    need to use the usebackq option, otherwise the double quotes will be
    interpreted as defining a literal string to parse.

    %i is explicitly declared in the for statement and the %j and %k
    are implicitly declared via the tokens= option.  You can specify up
    to 26 tokens via the tokens= line, provided it does not cause an
    attempt to declare a variable higher than the letter 'z' or 'Z'.
    Remember, FOR variables are single-letter, case sensitive, global, 
    and you can't have more than 52 total active at any one time.

    You can also use the FOR /F parsing logic on an immediate string, by
    making the filenameset between the parenthesis a quoted string,
    using single quote characters.  It will be treated as a single line
    of input from a file and parsed.

    Finally, you can use the FOR /F command to parse the output of a
    command.  You do this by making the filenameset between the
    parenthesis a back quoted string.  It will be treated as a command
    line, which is passed to a child CMD.EXE and the output is captured
    into memory and parsed as if it was a file.  So the following
    example:

      FOR /F "usebackq delims==" %i IN (`set`) DO @echo %i

    would enumerate the environment variable names in the current
    environment.

In addition, substitution of FOR variable references has been enhanced.
You can now use the following optional syntax:

    %~I         - expands %I removing any surrounding quotes (")
    %~fI        - expands %I to a fully qualified path name
    %~dI        - expands %I to a drive letter only
    %~pI        - expands %I to a path only
    %~nI        - expands %I to a file name only
    %~xI        - expands %I to a file extension only
    %~sI        - expanded path contains short names only
    %~aI        - expands %I to file attributes of file
    %~tI        - expands %I to date/time of file
    %~zI        - expands %I to size of file
    %~$PATH:I   - searches the directories listed in the PATH
                   environment variable and expands %I to the
                   fully qualified name of the first one found.
                   If the environment variable name is not
                   defined or the file is not found by the
                   search, then this modifier expands to the
                   empty string

The modifiers can be combined to get compound results:

    %~dpI       - expands %I to a drive letter and path only
    %~nxI       - expands %I to a file name and extension only
    %~fsI       - expands %I to a full path name with short names only
    %~dp$PATH:I - searches the directories listed in the PATH
                   environment variable for %I and expands to the
                   drive letter and path of the first one found.
    %~ftzaI     - expands %I to a DIR like output line

In the above examples %I and PATH can be replaced by other valid
values.  The %~ syntax is terminated by a valid FOR variable name.
Picking upper case variable names like %I makes it more readable and
avoids confusion with the modifiers, which are not case sensitive.
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FORMAT

Formats a disk for use with Windows XP.

FORMAT volume [/FS:file-system] [/V:label] [/Q] [/A:size] [/C] [/X]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/F:size]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q]
FORMAT volume [/Q]

  volume          Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
                  mount point, or volume name.
  /FS:filesystem  Specifies the type of the file system (FAT, FAT32, or NTFS).
  /V:label        Specifies the volume label.
  /Q              Performs a quick format.
  /C              NTFS only: Files created on the new volume will be compressed
                  by default.
  /X              Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.  All opened
                  handles to the volume would no longer be valid.
  /A:size         Overrides the default allocation unit size. Default settings
                  are strongly recommended for general use.
                  NTFS supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K.
                  FAT supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K,
                  (128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).
                  FAT32 supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K,
                  (128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).

                  Note that the FAT and FAT32 files systems impose the
                  following restrictions on the number of clusters on a volume:

                  FAT: Number of clusters <= 65526
                  FAT32: 65526 < Number of clusters < 4177918

                  Format will immediately stop processing if it decides that
                  the above requirements cannot be met using the specified
                  cluster size.

                  NTFS compression is not supported for allocation unit sizes
                  above 4096.

  /F:size         Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format (1.44)
  /T:tracks       Specifies the number of tracks per disk side.
  /N:sectors      Specifies the number of sectors per track.
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FTYPE

Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations

FTYPE [fileType[=[openCommandString]]]

  fileType  Specifies the file type to examine or change
  openCommandString Specifies the open command to use when launching files
                    of this type.

Type FTYPE without parameters to display the current file types that
have open command strings defined.  FTYPE is invoked with just a file
type, it displays the current open command string for that file type.
Specify nothing for the open command string and the FTYPE command will
delete the open command string for the file type.  Within an open
command string %0 or %1 are substituted with the file name being
launched through the assocation.  %* gets all the parameters and %2
gets the 1st parameter, %3 the second, etc.  %~n gets all the remaining
parameters starting with the nth parameter, where n may be between 2 and 9,
inclusive.  For example:

    ASSOC .pl=PerlScript
    FTYPE PerlScript=perl.exe %1 %*

would allow you to invoke a Perl script as follows:

    script.pl 1 2 3

If you want to eliminate the need to type the extensions, then do the
following:

    set PATHEXT=.pl;%PATHEXT%

and the script could be invoked as follows:

    script 1 2 3
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GOTO

Directs cmd.exe to a labeled line in a batch program.

GOTO label

  label   Specifies a text string used in the batch program as a label.

You type a label on a line by itself, beginning with a colon.

If Command Extensions are enabled GOTO changes as follows:

GOTO command now accepts a target label of :EOF which transfers control
to the end of the current batch script file.  This is an easy way to
exit a batch script file without defining a label.  Type CALL /?  for a
description of extensions to the CALL command that make this feature
useful.
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GRAFTABL

Enable Windows to display an extended character set in graphics mode.

GRAFTABL [xxx]
GRAFTABL /STATUS

   xxx      Specifies a code page number.
   /STATUS  Displays the current code page selected for use with GRAFTABL.
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HELP

Provides help information for Windows XP commands.

HELP [command]

    command - displays help information on that command.
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IF

Performs conditional processing in batch programs.

IF [NOT] ERRORLEVEL number command
IF [NOT] string1==string2 command
IF [NOT] EXIST filename command

  NOT               Specifies that Windows XP should carry out 
                    the command only if the condition is false.

  ERRORLEVEL number Specifies a true condition if the last program run
                    returned an exit code equal to or greater than the number
                    specified.

  string1==string2  Specifies a true condition if the specified text strings
                    match.

  EXIST filename    Specifies a true condition if the specified filename
                    exists.

  command           Specifies the command to carry out if the condition is
                    met.  Command can be followed by ELSE command which
                    will execute the command after the ELSE keyword if the
                    specified condition is FALSE

The ELSE clause must occur on the same line as the command after the IF.  For
example:

    IF EXIST filename. (
        del filename.
    ) ELSE (
        echo filename. missing.
    )

The following would NOT work because the del command needs to be terminated
by a newline:

    IF EXIST filename. del filename. ELSE echo filename. missing

Nor would the following work, since the ELSE command must be on the same line
as the end of the IF command:

    IF EXIST filename. del filename.
    ELSE echo filename. missing

The following would work if you want it all on one line:

    IF EXIST filename. (del filename.) ELSE echo filename. missing

If Command Extensions are enabled IF changes as follows:

    IF [/I] string1 compare-op string2 command
    IF CMDEXTVERSION number command
    IF DEFINED variable command

where compare-op may be one of:

    EQU - equal
    NEQ - not equal
    LSS - less than
    LEQ - less than or equal
    GTR - greater than
    GEQ - greater than or equal

and the /I switch, if specified, says to do case insensitive string
compares.  The /I switch can also be used on the string1==string2 form
of IF.  These comparisons are generic, in that if both string1 and
string2 are both comprised of all numeric digits, then the strings are
converted to numbers and a numeric comparison is performed.

The CMDEXTVERSION conditional works just like ERRORLEVEL, except it is
comparing against an internal version number associated with the Command
Extensions.  The first version is 1.  It will be incremented by one when
significant enhancements are added to the Command Extensions.
CMDEXTVERSION conditional is never true when Command Extensions are
disabled.

The DEFINED conditional works just like EXISTS except it takes an
environment variable name and returns true if the environment variable
is defined.

%ERRORLEVEL% will expand into a string representation of
the current value of ERRORLEVEL, provided that there is not already
an environment variable with the name ERRORLEVEL, in which case you
will get its value instead.  After running a program, the following
illustrates ERRORLEVEL use:

    goto answer%ERRORLEVEL%
    :answer0
    echo Program had return code 0
    :answer1
    echo Program had return code 1

You can also using the numerical comparisons above:

    IF %ERRORLEVEL% LEQ 1 goto okay

%CMDCMDLINE% will expand into the original command line passed to
CMD.EXE prior to any processing by CMD.EXE, provided that there is not
already an environment variable with the name CMDCMDLINE, in which case
you will get its value instead.

%CMDEXTVERSION% will expand into a string representation of the
current value of CMDEXTVERSION, provided that there is not already
an environment variable with the name CMDEXTVERSION, in which case you
will get its value instead.
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LABEL

Creates, changes, or deletes the volume label of a disk.

LABEL [drive:][label]
LABEL [/MP] [volume] [label]

  drive:          Specifies the drive letter of a drive.
  label           Specifies the label of the volume.
  /MP             Specifies that the volume should be treated as a
                  mount point or volume name.
  volume          Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
                  mount point, or volume name.  If volume name is specified,
                  the /MP flag is unnecessary.
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MD

Creates a directory.

MKDIR [drive:]path
MD [drive:]path

If Command Extensions are enabled MKDIR changes as follows:

MKDIR creates any intermediate directories in the path, if needed.
For example, assume \a does not exist then:

    mkdir \a\b\c\d

is the same as:

    mkdir \a
    chdir \a
    mkdir b
    chdir b
    mkdir c
    chdir c
    mkdir d

which is what you would have to type if extensions were disabled.
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MKDIR

Creates a directory.

MKDIR [drive:]path
MD [drive:]path

If Command Extensions are enabled MKDIR changes as follows:

MKDIR creates any intermediate directories in the path, if needed.
For example, assume \a does not exist then:

    mkdir \a\b\c\d

is the same as:

    mkdir \a
    chdir \a
    mkdir b
    chdir b
    mkdir c
    chdir c
    mkdir d

which is what you would have to type if extensions were disabled.
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MODE

Configures system devices.

Serial port:       MODE COMm[:] [BAUD=b] [PARITY=p] [DATA=d] [STOP=s]
                                [to=on|off] [xon=on|off] [odsr=on|off]
                                [octs=on|off] [dtr=on|off|hs]
                                [rts=on|off|hs|tg] [idsr=on|off]

Device Status:     MODE [device] [/STATUS]

Redirect printing: MODE LPTn[:]=COMm[:]

Select code page:  MODE CON[:] CP SELECT=yyy

Code page status:  MODE CON[:] CP [/STATUS]

Display mode:      MODE CON[:] [COLS=c] [LINES=n]

Typematic rate:    MODE CON[:] [RATE=r DELAY=d]
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MORE

Displays output one screen at a time.

MORE [/E [/C] [/P] [/S] [/Tn] [+n]] < [drive:][path]filename
command-name | MORE [/E [/C] [/P] [/S] [/Tn] [+n]]
MORE /E [/C] [/P] [/S] [/Tn] [+n] [files]

    [drive:][path]filename  Specifies a file to display one
                            screen at a time.

    command-name            Specifies a command whose output
                            will be displayed.

    /E      Enable extended features
    /C      Clear screen before displaying page
    /P      Expand FormFeed characters
    /S      Squeeze multiple blank lines into a single line
    /Tn     Expand tabs to n spaces (default 8)

            Switches can be present in the MORE environment
            variable.

    +n      Start displaying the first file at line n

    files   List of files to be displayed. Files in the list
            are separated by blanks.

    If extended features are enabled, the following commands
    are accepted at the -- More -- prompt:

    P n     Display next n lines
    S n     Skip next n lines
    F       Display next file
    Q       Quit
    =       Show line number
    ?       Show help line
     Display next page
       Display next line
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MOVE

Moves files and renames files and directories.

To move one or more files:
MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]filename1[,...] destination

To rename a directory:
MOVE [/Y | /-Y] [drive:][path]dirname1 dirname2

  [drive:][path]filename1 Specifies the location and name of the file
                          or files you want to move.
  destination             Specifies the new location of the file. Destination
                          can consist of a drive letter and colon, a
                          directory name, or a combination. If you are moving
                          only one file, you can also include a filename if
                          you want to rename the file when you move it.
  [drive:][path]dirname1  Specifies the directory you want to rename.
  dirname2                Specifies the new name of the directory.

  /Y                      Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to
                          overwrite an existing destination file.
  /-Y                     Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite
                          an existing destination file.

The switch /Y may be present in the COPYCMD environment variable.
This may be overridden with /-Y on the command line.  Default is
to prompt on overwrites unless MOVE command is being executed from
within a batch script.
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PATH

Displays or sets a search path for executable files.

PATH [[drive:]path[;...][;%PATH%]
PATH ;

Type PATH ; to clear all search-path settings and direct cmd.exe to search
only in the current directory.
Type PATH without parameters to display the current path.
Including %PATH% in the new path setting causes the old path to be
appended to the new setting.
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PAUSE

Suspends processing of a batch program and displays the message
    Press any key to continue . . . 
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POPD

Changes to the directory stored by the PUSHD command.

POPD


If Command Extensions are enabled the POPD command will delete
any temporary drive letter created by PUSHD when you POPD that
drive off the pushed directory stack.
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PRINT

Prints a text file.

PRINT [/D:device] [[drive:][path]filename[...]]

   /D:device   Specifies a print device.

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PROMPT

Changes the cmd.exe command prompt.

PROMPT [text]

  text    Specifies a new command prompt.

Prompt can be made up of normal characters and the following special codes:

  $A   & (Ampersand)
  $B   | (pipe)
  $C   ( (Left parenthesis)
  $D   Current date
  $E   Escape code (ASCII code 27)
  $F   ) (Right parenthesis)
  $G   > (greater-than sign)
  $H   Backspace (erases previous character)
  $L   < (less-than sign)
  $N   Current drive
  $P   Current drive and path
  $Q   = (equal sign)
  $S     (space)
  $T   Current time
  $V   Windows XP version number
  $_   Carriage return and linefeed
  $$   $ (dollar sign)

If Command Extensions are enabled the PROMPT command supports
the following additional formatting characters:

  $+   zero or more plus sign (+) characters depending upon the
       depth of the PUSHD directory stack, one character for each
       level pushed.

  $M   Displays the remote name associated with the current drive
       letter or the empty string if current drive is not a network
       drive.
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PUSHD

Stores the current directory for use by the POPD command, then
changes to the specified directory.

PUSHD [path | ..]

  path        Specifies the directory to make the current directory.

If Command Extensions are enabled the PUSHD command accepts
network paths in addition to the normal drive letter and path.
If a network path is specified, PUSHD will create a temporary
drive letter that points to that specified network resource and
then change the current drive and directory, using the newly
defined drive letter.  Temporary drive letters are allocated from
Z: on down, using the first unused drive letter found.
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RD

Removes (deletes) a directory.

RMDIR [/S] [/Q] [drive:]path
RD [/S] [/Q] [drive:]path

    /S      Removes all directories and files in the specified directory
            in addition to the directory itself.  Used to remove a directory
            tree.

    /Q      Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to remove a directory tree with /S
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RECOVER

Recovers readable information from a bad or defective disk.

RECOVER [drive:][path]filename
Consult the online Command Reference in Windows XP Help
before using the RECOVER command.
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REM

Records comments (remarks) in a batch file or CONFIG.SYS.

REM [comment]
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REN

Renames a file or files.

RENAME [drive:][path]filename1 filename2.
REN [drive:][path]filename1 filename2.

Note that you cannot specify a new drive or path for your destination file.
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RENAME

Renames a file or files.

RENAME [drive:][path]filename1 filename2.
REN [drive:][path]filename1 filename2.

Note that you cannot specify a new drive or path for your destination file.
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REPLACE

Replaces files.

REPLACE [drive1:][path1]filename [drive2:][path2] [/A] [/P] [/R] [/W]
REPLACE [drive1:][path1]filename [drive2:][path2] [/P] [/R] [/S] [/W] [/U]

  [drive1:][path1]filename Specifies the source file or files.
  [drive2:][path2]         Specifies the directory where files are to be
                           replaced.
  /A                       Adds new files to destination directory. Cannot
                           use with /S or /U switches.
  /P                       Prompts for confirmation before replacing a file or
                           adding a source file.
  /R                       Replaces read-only files as well as unprotected
                           files.
  /S                       Replaces files in all subdirectories of the
                           destination directory. Cannot use with the /A
                           switch.
  /W                       Waits for you to insert a disk before beginning.
  /U                       Replaces (updates) only files that are older than
                           source files. Cannot use with the /A switch.
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RMDIR

Removes (deletes) a directory.

RMDIR [/S] [/Q] [drive:]path
RD [/S] [/Q] [drive:]path

    /S      Removes all directories and files in the specified directory
            in addition to the directory itself.  Used to remove a directory
            tree.

    /Q      Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to remove a directory tree with /S
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SET

Displays, sets, or removes cmd.exe environment variables.

SET [variable=[string]]

  variable  Specifies the environment-variable name.
  string    Specifies a series of characters to assign to the variable.

Type SET without parameters to display the current environment variables.

If Command Extensions are enabled SET changes as follows:

SET command invoked with just a variable name, no equal sign or value
will display the value of all variables whose prefix matches the name
given to the SET command.  For example:

    SET P

would display all variables that begin with the letter 'P'

SET command will set the ERRORLEVEL to 1 if the variable name is not
found in the current environment.

SET command will not allow an equal sign to be part of the name of
a variable.

Two new switches have been added to the SET command:

    SET /A expression
    SET /P variable=[promptString]

The /A switch specifies that the string to the right of the equal sign
is a numerical expression that is evaluated.  The expression evaluator
is pretty simple and supports the following operations, in decreasing
order of precedence:

    ()                  - grouping
    ! ~ -               - unary operators
    * / %               - arithmetic operators
    + -                 - arithmetic operators
    << >>               - logical shift
    &                   - bitwise and
    ^                   - bitwise exclusive or
    |                   - bitwise or
    = *= /= %= += -=    - assignment
      &= ^= |= <<= >>=
    ,                   - expression separator

If you use any of the logical or modulus operators, you will need to
enclose the expression string in quotes.  Any non-numeric strings in the
expression are treated as environment variable names whose values are
converted to numbers before using them.  If an environment variable name
is specified but is not defined in the current environment, then a value
of zero is used.  This allows you to do arithmetic with environment
variable values without having to type all those % signs to get their
values.  If SET /A is executed from the command line outside of a
command script, then it displays the final value of the expression.  The
assignment operator requires an environment variable name to the left of
the assignment operator.  Numeric values are decimal numbers, unless
prefixed by 0x for hexadecimal numbers, and 0 for octal numbers.
So 0x12 is the same as 18 is the same as 022. Please note that the octal
notation can be confusing: 08 and 09 are not valid numbers because 8 and
9 are not valid octal digits.

The /P switch allows you to set the value of a variable to a line of input
entered by the user.  Displays the specified promptString before reading
the line of input.  The promptString can be empty.

Environment variable substitution has been enhanced as follows:

    %PATH:str1=str2%

would expand the PATH environment variable, substituting each occurrence
of "str1" in the expanded result with "str2".  "str2" can be the empty
string to effectively delete all occurrences of "str1" from the expanded
output.  "str1" can begin with an asterisk, in which case it will match
everything from the beginning of the expanded output to the first
occurrence of the remaining portion of str1.

May also specify substrings for an expansion.

    %PATH:~10,5%

would expand the PATH environment variable, and then use only the 5
characters that begin at the 11th (offset 10) character of the expanded
result.  If the length is not specified, then it defaults to the
remainder of the variable value.  If either number (offset or length) is
negative, then the number used is the length of the environment variable
value added to the offset or length specified.

    %PATH:~-10%

would extract the last 10 characters of the PATH variable.

    %PATH:~0,-2%

would extract all but the last 2 characters of the PATH variable.

Finally, support for delayed environment variable expansion has been
added.  This support is always disabled by default, but may be
enabled/disabled via the /V command line switch to CMD.EXE.  See CMD /?

Delayed environment variable expansion is useful for getting around
the limitations of the current expansion which happens when a line
of text is read, not when it is executed.  The following example
demonstrates the problem with immediate variable expansion:

    set VAR=before
    if "%VAR%" == "before" (
        set VAR=after
        if "%VAR%" == "after" @echo If you see this, it worked
    )

would never display the message, since the %VAR% in BOTH IF statements
is substituted when the first IF statement is read, since it logically
includes the body of the IF, which is a compound statement.  So the
IF inside the compound statement is really comparing "before" with
"after" which will never be equal.  Similarly, the following example
will not work as expected:

    set LIST=
    for %i in (*) do set LIST=%LIST% %i
    echo %LIST%

in that it will NOT build up a list of files in the current directory,
but instead will just set the LIST variable to the last file found.
Again, this is because the %LIST% is expanded just once when the
FOR statement is read, and at that time the LIST variable is empty.
So the actual FOR loop we are executing is:

    for %i in (*) do set LIST= %i

which just keeps setting LIST to the last file found.

Delayed environment variable expansion allows you to use a different
character (the exclamation mark) to expand environment variables at
execution time.  If delayed variable expansion is enabled, the above
examples could be written as follows to work as intended:

    set VAR=before
    if "%VAR%" == "before" (
        set VAR=after
        if "!VAR!" == "after" @echo If you see this, it worked
    )

    set LIST=
    for %i in (*) do set LIST=!LIST! %i
    echo %LIST%

If Command Extensions are enabled, then there are several dynamic
environment variables that can be expanded but which don't show up in
the list of variables displayed by SET.  These variable values are
computed dynamically each time the value of the variable is expanded.
If the user explicitly defines a variable with one of these names, then
that definition will override the dynamic one described below:

%CD% - expands to the current directory string.

%DATE% - expands to current date using same format as DATE command.

%TIME% - expands to current time using same format as TIME command.

%RANDOM% - expands to a random decimal number between 0 and 32767.

%ERRORLEVEL% - expands to the current ERRORLEVEL value

%CMDEXTVERSION% - expands to the current Command Processor Extensions
    version number.

%CMDCMDLINE% - expands to the original command line that invoked the
    Command Processor.
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SETLOCAL

Begins localization of environment changes in a batch file.  Environment
changes made after SETLOCAL has been issued are local to the batch file.
ENDLOCAL must be issued to restore the previous settings.  When the end
of a batch script is reached, an implied ENDLOCAL is executed for any
outstanding SETLOCAL commands issued by that batch script.

SETLOCAL

If Command Extensions are enabled SETLOCAL changes as follows:

SETLOCAL batch command now accepts optional arguments:
        ENABLEEXTENSIONS / DISABLEEXTENSIONS
            enable or disable command processor extensions.  See
            CMD /? for details.
        ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION / DISABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
            enable or disable delayed environment variable
            expansion.  See SET /? for details.
These modifications last until the matching ENDLOCAL command,
regardless of their setting prior to the SETLOCAL command.

The SETLOCAL command will set the ERRORLEVEL value if given
an argument.  It will be zero if one of the two valid arguments
is given and one otherwise.  You can use this in batch scripts
to determine if the extensions are available, using the following
technique:

    VERIFY OTHER 2>nul
    SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS
    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 echo Unable to enable extensions

This works because on old versions of CMD.EXE, SETLOCAL does NOT
set the ERRORLEVEL value. The VERIFY command with a bad argument
initializes the ERRORLEVEL value to a non-zero value.
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SHIFT

Changes the position of replaceable parameters in a batch file.

SHIFT [/n]

If Command Extensions are enabled the SHIFT command supports
the /n switch which tells the command to start shifting at the
nth argument, where n may be between zero and eight.  For example:

    SHIFT /2

would shift %3 to %2, %4 to %3, etc. and leave %0 and %1 unaffected.
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SORT

SORT [/R] [/+n] [/M kilobytes] [/L locale] [/REC recordbytes]

  [[drive1:][path1]filename1] [/T [drive2:][path2]]

  [/O [drive3:][path3]filename3]

  /+n                         Specifies the character number, n, to

                              begin each comparison.  /+3 indicates that

                              each comparison should begin at the 3rd

                              character in each line.  Lines with fewer

                              than n characters collate before other lines.

                              By default comparisons start at the first

                              character in each line.

  /L[OCALE] locale            Overrides the system default locale with

                              the specified one.  The ""C"" locale yields

                              the fastest collating sequence and is

                              currently the only alternative.  The sort

                              is always case insensitive.

  /M[EMORY] kilobytes         Specifies amount of main memory to use for

                              the sort, in kilobytes.  The memory size is

                              always constrained to be a minimum of 160

                              kilobytes.  If the memory size is specified

                              the exact amount will be used for the sort,

                              regardless of how much main memory is

                              available.



                              The best performance is usually achieved by

                              not specifying a memory size.  By default the

                              sort will be done with one pass (no temporary

                              file) if it fits in the default maximum

                              memory size, otherwise the sort will be done

                              in two passes (with the partially sorted data

                              being stored in a temporary file) such that

                              the amounts of memory used for both the sort

                              and merge passes are equal.  The default

                              maximum memory size is 90% of available main

                              memory if both the input and output are

                              files, and 45% of main memory otherwise.

  /REC[ORD_MAXIMUM] characters Specifies the maximum number of characters

                              in a record (default 4096, maximum 65535).

  /R[EVERSE]                  Reverses the sort order; that is,

                              sorts Z to A, then 9 to 0.

  [drive1:][path1]filename1   Specifies the file to be sorted.  If not

                              specified, the standard input is sorted.

                              Specifying the input file is faster than

                              redirecting the same file as standard input.

  /T[EMPORARY]

    [drive2:][path2]          Specifies the path of the directory to hold

                              the sort's working storage, in case the data

                              does not fit in main memory.  The default is

                              to use the system temporary directory.

  /O[UTPUT]

    [drive3:][path3]filename3 Specifies the file where the sorted input is

                              to be stored.  If not specified, the data is

                              written to the standard output.   Specifying

                              the output file is faster than redirecting

                              standard output to the same file.


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START

Starts a separate window to run a specified program or command.

START ["title"] [/Dpath] [/I] [/MIN] [/MAX] [/SEPARATE | /SHARED]
      [/LOW | /NORMAL | /HIGH | /REALTIME | /ABOVENORMAL | /BELOWNORMAL]
      [/WAIT] [/B] [command/program]
      [parameters]

    "title"     Title to display in  window title bar.
    path        Starting directory
    B           Start application without creating a new window. The
                application has ^C handling ignored. Unless the application
                enables ^C processing, ^Break is the only way to interrupt
                the application
    I           The new environment will be the original environment passed
                to the cmd.exe and not the current environment.
    MIN         Start window minimized
    MAX         Start window maximized
    SEPARATE    Start 16-bit Windows program in separate memory space
    SHARED      Start 16-bit Windows program in shared memory space
    LOW         Start application in the IDLE priority class
    NORMAL      Start application in the NORMAL priority class
    HIGH        Start application in the HIGH priority class
    REALTIME    Start application in the REALTIME priority class
    ABOVENORMAL Start application in the ABOVENORMAL priority class
    BELOWNORMAL Start application in the BELOWNORMAL priority class
    WAIT        Start application and wait for it to terminate
    command/program
                If it is an internal cmd command or a batch file then
                the command processor is run with the /K switch to cmd.exe.
                This means that the window will remain after the command
                has been run.

                If it is not an internal cmd command or batch file then
                it is a program and will run as either a windowed application
                or a console application.

    parameters  These are the parameters passed to the command/program


If Command Extensions are enabled, external command invocation
through the command line or the START command changes as follows:

non-executable files may be invoked through their file association just
    by typing the name of the file as a command.  (e.g.  WORD.DOC would
    launch the application associated with the .DOC file extension).
    See the ASSOC and FTYPE commands for how to create these
    associations from within a command script.

When executing an application that is a 32-bit GUI application, CMD.EXE
    does not wait for the application to terminate before returning to
    the command prompt.  This new behavior does NOT occur if executing
    within a command script.

When executing a command line whose first token is the string "CMD "
    without an extension or path qualifier, then "CMD" is replaced with
    the value of the COMSPEC variable.  This prevents picking up CMD.EXE
    from the current directory.

When executing a command line whose first token does NOT contain an
    extension, then CMD.EXE uses the value of the PATHEXT
    environment variable to determine which extensions to look for
    and in what order.  The default value for the PATHEXT variable
    is:

        .COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD

    Notice the syntax is the same as the PATH variable, with
    semicolons separating the different elements.

When searching for an executable, if there is no match on any extension,
then looks to see if the name matches a directory name.  If it does, the
START command launches the Explorer on that path.  If done from the
command line, it is the equivalent to doing a CD /D to that path.
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SUBST

Associates a path with a drive letter.

SUBST [drive1: [drive2:]path]
SUBST drive1: /D

  drive1:        Specifies a virtual drive to which you want to assign a path.
  [drive2:]path  Specifies a physical drive and path you want to assign to
                 a virtual drive.
  /D             Deletes a substituted (virtual) drive.

Type SUBST with no parameters to display a list of current virtual drives.
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TIME

Displays or sets the system time.

TIME [/T | time]

Type TIME with no parameters to display the current time setting and a prompt
for a new one.  Press ENTER to keep the same time.

If Command Extensions are enabled the TIME command supports
the /T switch which tells the command to just output the
current time, without prompting for a new time.
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TITLE

Sets the window title for the command prompt window.

TITLE [string]

  string       Specifies the title for the command prompt window.
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TREE

Graphically displays the folder structure of a drive or path.

TREE [drive:][path] [/F] [/A]

   /F   Display the names of the files in each folder.
   /A   Use ASCII instead of extended characters.

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TYPE

Displays the contents of a text file or files.

TYPE [drive:][path]filename
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VER

Displays the Windows XP version.

VER
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VERIFY

Tells cmd.exe whether to verify that your files are written correctly to a
disk.

VERIFY [ON | OFF]

Type VERIFY without a parameter to display the current VERIFY setting.
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VOL

Displays the disk volume label and serial number, if they exist.

VOL [drive:]
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XCOPY

Copies files and directory trees.

XCOPY source [destination] [/A | /M] [/D[:date]] [/P] [/S [/E]] [/V] [/W]
                           [/C] [/I] [/Q] [/F] [/L] [/G] [/H] [/R] [/T] [/U]
                           [/K] [/N] [/O] [/X] [/Y] [/-Y] [/Z]
                           [/EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...]

  source       Specifies the file(s) to copy.
  destination  Specifies the location and/or name of new files.
  /A           Copies only files with the archive attribute set,
               doesn't change the attribute.
  /M           Copies only files with the archive attribute set,
               turns off the archive attribute.
  /D:m-d-y     Copies files changed on or after the specified date.
               If no date is given, copies only those files whose
               source time is newer than the destination time.
  /EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...
               Specifies a list of files containing strings.  Each string
               should be in a separate line in the files.  When any of the
               strings match any part of the absolute path of the file to be
               copied, that file will be excluded from being copied.  For
               example, specifying a string like \obj\ or .obj will exclude
               all files underneath the directory obj or all files with the
               .obj extension respectively.
  /P           Prompts you before creating each destination file.
  /S           Copies directories and subdirectories except empty ones.
  /E           Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones.
               Same as /S /E. May be used to modify /T.
  /V           Verifies each new file.
  /W           Prompts you to press a key before copying.
  /C           Continues copying even if errors occur.
  /I           If destination does not exist and copying more than one file,
               assumes that destination must be a directory.
  /Q           Does not display file names while copying.
  /F           Displays full source and destination file names while copying.
  /L           Displays files that would be copied.
  /G           Allows the copying of encrypted files to destination that does
               not support encryption.
  /H           Copies hidden and system files also.
  /R           Overwrites read-only files.
  /T           Creates directory structure, but does not copy files. Does not
               include empty directories or subdirectories. /T /E includes
               empty directories and subdirectories.
  /U           Copies only files that already exist in destination.
  /K           Copies attributes. Normal Xcopy will reset read-only attributes.
  /N           Copies using the generated short names.
  /O           Copies file ownership and ACL information.
  /X           Copies file audit settings (implies /O).
  /Y           Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
               existing destination file.
  /-Y          Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
               existing destination file.
  /Z           Copies networked files in restartable mode.

The switch /Y may be preset in the COPYCMD environment variable.
This may be overridden with /-Y on the command line.
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This HTML help file was generated by:
AllHelp.bat, Version 1.30 for Windows NT 4 / 2000 / XP
Written by Rob van der Woude
http://www.robvanderwoude.com