In good ol’ days of Windows 98, when we had to install Windows in computers, we had to use Command Prompt window to create/format partitions (remember fdisk command?) and to run Windows setup installer program. Command Prompt is mainly used by system administrators and sometimes it might be used to perform troubleshooting tasks when your Windows is not bootable and you have to repair it. You can manage hard disk partitions, manage files and folders (such as create, copy, move, delete files and folders), manage boot loader, run hard disk scan, manage networking and so on.Ĭommand Prompt provides so many commands to users which can be used to perform several system as well as normal tasks and activities which can also be done using the graphical user interface. There are several commands provided by Command Prompt which can be used by users. After that you can type commands and press Enter key to perform various tasks. You just need to launch Command Prompt window which can be done by selecting Command Prompt shortcut from Start Menu or by using CMD command in RUN dialog box. Later it was included as Command Prompt with Windows operating system which provided a GUI to the end users (like program windows, menus, dialog box, buttons, etc).Ĭommand Prompt allows users to interact with the operating system by executing built-in commands.

When there was no GUI (Graphical User Interface) present in Microsoft’s operating system, only MS DOS existed which provided only command line interface. Command Prompt is also known by various other names, some of them are MS DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), Command Shell, Windows Shell, Console, Command Line, CMD, CLI, etc. Most of us use Windows operating system in our computers but very few of us are aware of Command Prompt program which comes bundled with Windows OS.

Command prompt command list