Microsoft KB Archive/89727

= Using ATTRIB, CHKDSK, or DIR Command to Locate Files =

Article ID: 89727

Article Last Modified on 11/16/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft MS-DOS 2.11 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.1
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.2 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.21 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.3 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 3.3a
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 4.01 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 5.0a
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.2 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.21 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22 Standard Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q89727



SUMMARY
Locating files on your hard drive can be accomplished with the MS-DOS ATTRIB and CHKDSK commands. With MS-DOS 5.0, 6.0, or 6.2, you can locate files using the DIR command. These commands are also very useful when searching for multiple copies of a file.



MORE INFORMATION
The MS-DOS 5.0 and later internal command DIR provides an /S option that allows you to search all subdirectories for occurrences of the specified file. For example, the following command will find the COMMAND.COM file in every directory on the C drive:

dir c:\command.com /s

In MS-DOS versions 3.3 and later, the MS-DOS external command ATTRIB can be used to check for the existence of a file on a specific drive. The following command issued from the root directory (C:\>) will find the COMMAND.COM file in every directory on drive C and display their attributes:

attrib c:\command.com /s

NOTE: When using DIR or ATTRIB, you must specify that the search start at the root path in order to search the entire drive, or you can specify a pathname if you want to restrict the search to a certain branch of the directory tree.

With MS-DOS versions 2.0 and later, you can locate a file on a drive by using the MS-DOS external commands CHKDSK and FIND. For example, the following will find COMMAND.COM:

chkdsk c: /v | find &quot;COMMAND.COM&quot;

Note: Because the FIND command is case sensitive, you must specify the filename in capital letters. Also, because the pipe creates a temporary file, you must have write access to the current disk/directory.

When using the DIR and ATTRIB commands, issue the command from the root directory to include all locations of the file on a disk. When using the CHKDSK command, all copies of the file are displayed regardless of the directory you're in.

Additional query words: 6.22 3.10 3.20 3.30 3.30a 4.00 4.00a 5.00 5.00a 6.00 6.20

Keywords: KB89727

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.