According to the author, this work is the first in a series of books that propose to put the reader at the center of the DOS universe. It is an attractive book about the smart use of a DOS system.

The author offers a bag of short and easy tricks especially for beginners but also for experienced hands. All the tips and traps herein apply to DOS 5, but many of them work with DOS 3.3 as well.

The book is divided into ten chapters, linked by small paragraphs titled “Moving On,” which contain some conclusions about the current chapter and a brief description of the next one. The book begins with an introduction, which contains a description of the book’s structure, some conventions used, and the software environment. Because upgrading to a new version of DOS is an important problem, the first chapter refers to it. If the advice is followed, installation troubles will be avoided. Once this process is finished, the user may customize the system. This chapter contains lots of information about doing that, such as creating a custom prompt, changing the screen colors, redefining the function keys, and creating one’s own help.

A new graphical interface named Shell has been introduced beginning with DOS version 4. This task swapper, which lets the user switch among many programs and do other useful things that cannot be done at the command line, gets two chapters. These chapters explain the Shell techniques and enable readers to get the most from their programs, set up program groups, switch between programs, use keyboard shortcuts for programs, and more. The Shell offers a lot of the benefits of Microsoft Windows and some memory advantages. Chapter 2, “Shell Secrets,” offers modalities for obtaining better results than is possible with the DOS command line. Chapter 3, “Working with Programs,” covers using DOS Shell to get the most from programs.

Nelson enriches the reader with tricks related to DOS commands. Chapter 4, “Command-line Tricks,” not only discusses typical command line problems but draws a parallel with the Shell, underlining situations in which one is more useful than the other. Besides common subjects like command line basics, editing commands, bailing out of commands, wildcards, and filters, special attention is given to the new, improved DIR command.

Beginning with a few unexpected floppy disk cautions, chapter 5, “Disk and Drive Magic,” is dedicated to important advice for the safe use of hard and floppy disks. Nelson tackles the problem of formatting, especially in peculiar circumstances, and discusses the complementary operation of unformatting. She also discusses undeleting accidentally lost files. The chapter includes organizing disk files, keeping floppies fresh and fast, hiding files, and copying tricks. Special attention is given to hard disks and their special problems, notably partitioning.

Chapter 6, “A Miscellany of Alchemy,” is a mixture of all sorts of things. The author discusses deleting files, streamlining the path in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, making backups, finding files, copying, and printing.

Chapter 7, “Batch Files,” presents interesting information about a powerful DOS tool. Chapter 8, “DOSKEY Revealed,” describes a few possibilities offered by this new DOS utility. The author compares these two approaches.

Chapter 9, “Arcane Commands,” combines an introduction to some obscure DOS commands and switches with other material. Topics include what APPEND is good for and when, hidden files, some features of CHKDSK, the undocumented command MSHERC, the new DOS 5 environment variable DIRCMD, and restoring files.

Chapter 10, “Managing Memory,” offers short, concise tips to help the reader find a path through the memory maze. It begins with some definitions and ways to obtain information about the context of work. Because managing memory depends on the kind of computer, the tips and possible traps are presented separately for 8088, 80286, and 80386 machines. The main problems tackled are managing extended and expanded memory; loading DOS and other programs and device drivers into high memory; and creating RAM disks. Special attention has been paid to disk cache and RAM drive, two powerful tools that speed up operation dramatically.

A comprehensive index provides quick access to any topic covered in the book.

This work reveals common traps, blind alleys, and pitfalls, and clues the reader in on how to avoid them. The hundreds of tips and techniques included are easy to use and efficient, and will streamline one’s work. The goal of the book is not to explain the cause of problems but to give some pertinent advice on their solutions. Many examples contribute to a better understanding of the material.