Microsoft® Windows® XP Unleashed

Chapter 13. Command Prompt Tools

In This Chapter

• Overview of the Command Prompt

• Configuring the Command Prompt

• Using Standard Commands

• Working with Batch Files

• Using the Command Line Task Scheduler (schtasks)

• Network Commands

• How to Create an MS-DOS Startup Disk

From the earliest IBM PC and the many compatibles that followed, there has been a command-line interface for the operating system. In years past, MS-DOS was the operating system, and what is now called the Command Prompt in Windows XP Professional was the interface into the operating system. Long before graphical user interfaces (GUIs) were in widespread use (such as in the Apple Macintosh, and later Microsoft Windows), the character-cell–based Command Prompt was where you executed commands, ...