MS DOS Command: EXPAND.EXE

Reference from Microsoft MS-DOS cmd help

Description

Expands a compressed file. You can use this command to retrieve one or more files from the Setup disks that accompany MS-DOS 6.22. These files are not usable unless you expand them.

Syntax

EXPAND [drive:][path]filename [[drive:][path]filename[ ...]] destination

If you type the following, EXPAND will prompt you for the location and/or name you want to give the expanded file:

EXPAND [drive:][path]filename

If you type the following, EXPAND will prompt you for the location and name of the compressed file you want to expand, then prompt you for the location and/or name you want to give the expanded file:

EXPAND

Parameters

[drive:][path]filename	Specifies the location and name of a compressed file or files to be expanded. You cannot use wildcards (* and ?).
destination	Specifies the location and/or name of the expanded file or files. Destination can consist of a drive letter and colon, a directory name, a filename, or a combination. However, you cannot specify a filename for destination unless you also specify a single compressed file for filename.

Remarks

Retrieving files from the Setup disks

Most of the files on the Setup disks provided with MS-DOS 6.22 are compressed. Each of these compressed files has a file extension that ends with an underscore character (_). When you installed MS-DOS, you ran the Setup program, which expanded these files before copying them to your system. However, if you need to retrieve just one or a few files from the original disks, you can use the EXPAND command.

Letting EXPAND prompt you

If you don't include the destination, or don't include the compressed file and the destination, EXPAND prompts you for the information and provides examples.

Examples

Suppose you accidentally delete the SORT.EXE file from your DOS directory on drive C. You can copy and expand the compressed file SORT.EX_ from the MS-DOS 6.22 Setup disks to your hard disk. First, find out which disk contains SORT.EX_ by opening the PACKING.LST file on Setup Disk 1. Then insert the appropriate disk into drive A and use the following command to copy and expand the file:

expand a:\sort.ex_ c:\dos\sort.exe

To copy and expand the SORT.EX_ file to the hard disk by letting EXPAND prompt you, type the following at the command prompt:

expand

EXPAND prompts you with the following:

Type the location and name of the compressed file you want to expand. (Example: A:\EGA.SY_)

Compressed file:

To expand and copy the SORT.EX_ file from the Setup disk in drive A, type the following:

a:\sort.ex_

EXPAND prompts you with the following:

Type the location and/or name you want to give the expanded file. (Example: C:\DOS\EGA.SYS)

Expanded file:

If your MS-DOS files are in the C:\DOS directory, type the following:

c:\dos\sort.exe