Absolute Beginners Guide to A+ Certification. Covers the Hardware and Operating Systems Exam

Using DEL ( ERASE )

You can delete one or more files with the DEL command. ERASE can be substituted for DEL .

The options for DEL / ERASE with Windows 9x/Me include

A:\>del/? Deletes one or more files. DEL [drive:][path]filename [/P] ERASE [drive:][path]filename [/P] [drive:][path]filename Specifies the file(s) to delete. Specify multiple files by using wildcards. /P Prompts for confirmation before deleting each file.

Windows NT/2000/XP support many additional options:

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.

To delete all files in the current folder, use this command:

DEL *.*

tip

To delete only .BAK files in the specified folder, use this command: DEL \Backup\*.bak.