2.9. The Command Line Many of those who are new to computers will never have heard of the command line, also known as the command prompt or the Disk Operating System (DOS) prompt. (DOS was the operating system used by most PCs before Windows became ubiquitous. The command line in DOS was the only way to start programs and manage files.) Those who might have used older PCs may remember the command line, but may be under the impression that it's purely a thing of the past. Advanced users, on the other hand, whether they remember the old days of the DOS command line or not, have probably learned the advantages of the command-line interface, even when using Windows XP on a day-to-day basis. Many tasks can be performed more quickly by typing one or more commands into the command prompt window. In addition, many of the programs listed in Chapter 4 are command-line based tools, and some familiarity with the command prompt is necessary if you plan to use them. For full documentation on the command line and the Command Prompt application, see Chapter 6. Also, see Chapter 3 for information on the Address Bar and Start  Run, two alternatives to the Command Prompt window. Here are a few examples that show how the command line can be used as an alternative to the GUI: -
To create a folder called sample in the root directory of your hard disk, and then copy all the files from another folder into the new folder, for example, it can be quicker and easier to type: C:\> mkdir \sample C:\> copy d:\stuff\*.* \sample
than it would to open Windows Explorer, navigate to your d:\stuff folder, select all the files, click File Copy (or Ctrl-C), navigate to the new location, click New Folder, type the folder name , open the new folder; and then click Edit Paste (or Ctrl-V) to copy in the files. That's a heck of a sentence , and a heck of a lot of steps for what can be accomplished with the two simple commands shown above. -
Once you learn the actual filename of a program rather than its Start menu shortcut name (as described in Chapter 4), it's almost always quicker to start it from the Run prompt or the Address Bar (see below) than it is to navigate the Start menu hierarchy. Which is really easier? Clicking your way through four menus : Start Programs Accessories System Tools Character Map or typing: charmap into the Run prompt or Address Bar and pressing the Enter key? Typing a command is much faster than carefully dragging the mouse through cascading menus, where an unintentional slip of the mouse can get you somewhere entirely different than you planned. -
Finally, many useful programs don't appear on any menu in the Start menu. Once you know what you're doing, you can put shortcuts to such programs in the Start menu or on the Desktopbut once you know what you're doing, you might just find it easier to type the program name. |
