Ouput Windows Directory to a file

[sjj1805]

Microsoft DOS dir command

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About dir
Availability
Syntax
Examples

About dir

The dir command allows you to see the available files in the current and/or parent directories.

Availability

The dir command is an internal command and is available in the below Microsoft operating systems.

All versions of MS-DOS
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7

Syntax

Microsoft Windows 95, 98, and ME syntax

Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.

DIR [drive:][path][filename] [/P] [/W] [/A[[:]attributes]] [/O[[:]sortorder]] [/S] [/B] [/L] [/V]
[drive:][path][filename] Specifies drive, directory, and/or files to list. (Could be enhanced file specification or multiple filespecs.)
/P Pauses after each screenful of information.
/W Uses wide list format.
/A attributes:
D Directories
R Read-only files
H Hidden files
A Files ready for archiving
S System files
- Prefix meaning not
/O List by files in sorted order, sortorder:
N By name (alphabetic)
S By size (smallest first)
E By extension (alphabetic)
D By date & time (earliest first)
G Group directories first
- Prefix to reverse order
A By Last Access Date (earliest first)
/S Displays files in specified directory and all subdirectories.
/B Uses bare format (no heading information or summary).
/L Uses lowercase.
/V Verbose mode.

Switches may be preset in the DIRCMD environment variable. Override preset switches by prefixing any switch with - (hyphen)--for example, /-W.

Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP syntax

Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.

DIR [drive:][path][filename] [/A[[:]attributes]] [/B] [/C] [/D] [/L] [/N] [/O[[:]sortorder]] [/P] [/Q] [/S] [/T[[:]timefield]] [/W] [/X] [/4]
[drive:][path][filename] Specifies drive, directory, and/or files to list.
attributes

D Directories R Read-only files H Hidden files A Files ready for archiving S System files - Prefix meaning not

/B Uses bare format (no heading information or summary).
/C Display the thousand separator in file sizes. This is the default. Use /-C to disable display of separator.
/D Same as wide but files are list sorted by column.
/L Uses lowercase.
/N New long list format where filenames are on the far right.
/O List by files in sorted order.
sortorder

N By name (alphabetic) S By size (smallest first) E By extension (alphabetic) D By date/time (oldest first) G Group directories first - Prefix to reverse order

/P Pauses after each screenful of information.
/Q Display the owner of the file.
/S Displays files in specified directory and all subdirectories.
/T Controls which time field displayed or used for sorting
timefield C Creation
A Last Access
W Last Written
/W Uses wide list format.
/X This displays the short names generated for non-8dot3 file names. The format is that of /N with the short name inserted before the long name. If no short name is present, blanks are displayed in its place.
/4 Displays four-digit years

Examples

dir

Lists all files and directories in the directory that you are currently in.

dir *.exe

The above command lists any executable file or any file that ends with .exe. See our wildcard definition for other wildcard (e.g. *) examples.

dir /ad

List only the directories in the current directory. If you need to move into one of the directories listed use the cd command.

dir /s

Lists the files in the directory that you are in and all sub directories after that directory, if you are at root "C:\>" and type this command this will list to you every file and directory on the C: drive of the computer.

dir /p

If the directory has a lot of files and you cannot read all the files as they scroll by, you can use this command and it will display all files one page at a time.

dir /w

If you don't need the info on the date / time and other information on the files, you can use this command to list just the files and directories going horizontally, taking as little as space needed.

dir /s /w /p

This would list all the files and directories in the current directory and the sub directories after that, in wide format and one page at a time.

dir /on

List the files in alphabetical order by the names of the files.

dir /o-n

List the files in reverse alphabetical order by the names of the files.

dir \ /s |find "i" |more

A nice command to list all directories on the hard drive, one screen page at a time, and see the number of files in each directory and the amount of space each occupies.

dir > myfile.txt

Takes the output of dir and re-routes it to the file myfile.txt instead of outputting it to the screen.

[sjj1805]

dir E:\Inetpub\wwwroot\PhotoAlbums\phpshow.php /a:-d -h /B /s >list.txt

[sjj1805]

Navigate to the folder that you want to create a list of all files in by using the ‘cd’ command:
Simply type “cd\folder1\folder2\…”. So if you want to get to the folder c:\MyFiles\Music you would type:

cd\myfiles\music

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Now, just type this command:

dir /on /b /s >list.txt