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\n\tBack in the early DOS days you actually performed all of your file management operations by typing cryptic commands on a prompt line. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before DOS File Managers with mouse support came along and made it much easier to work with your files. Take a trip down memory lane and look at these DOS File Managers from the early days of computing
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\n\tBourbaki 1 dir+
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\n\tMS-DOS Shell 4
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\n\tExecutive Systems
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\n\tXTree Gold
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\n\tMS-DOS Shell 5
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\n\tNorton Commander
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe first DOS File Manager that I ever used was called the 1dir from Bourbaki. I got a copy back in 1985 when I was still running DOS 2.11 on my old Kaypro 16. I still have the original package—a 6×9 binder-like folder that contained the 5.25-inch floppy disk and the manuals.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe package included the User’s Manual, a Quick Reference Card, and a little booklet that explained how File Management Systems work.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tI later upgraded to 1dir+ which offered some new features and color. The standard display provided the file list, lots of status details, and the menu across the bottom of the screen.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tWhen you accessed the File Mgt menu, you could use the arrow keys or the mouse to select a file and then choose one of the file management commands such as Copy.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tTo make copying files from one location to another, 1dir+ offered a dual pane view.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe Tree view made it easy to see and move around your directory structure.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\t1dir+ provided a basic file viewer and editor for working with ASCII files.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tWhen Microsoft introduced DOS 4, one of the many new features in the operating system was the MS-DOS Shell, which was designed to negate the need to add a third-party file manager to the operating system.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe MS-DOS Shell provided a dual pane view to make copying and moving files from one location to another easier.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe menu system provided easy access to a host of DOS commands and much more.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tCopying files was an easy operation.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe Executive Systems’ DOS File Manager products, XTree (1985) all the way up to XTreeGold (1993) were very popular in their day. Every version of the product offered great features and made managing files a piece of cake. Xtree was so popular that to this day, the product’s most ardent fans maintain a Web site dedicated to the product called XTree Fan Page. While visiting the page I learned that in 1993, XTree was sold to Central Point Software, which in 1994 was acquired by Symantec. By 1995 the XTree product was discontinued.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tXTreeGold had a dual pane view to facilitate copying files from one location to another.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tCopying files XTreeGold was a simple task.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tA very nice feature in XTreeGold was the built-in Undelete command.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe menu system in XTreeGold only appeared on the screen when you clicked on the top line of the screen.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tWhen MS-DOS 5 came out, it sported an improved version of the MS-DOS Shell. In the basic version, the mouse pointer, shown in the center, was a simple rectangular block.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tIf you had an EGA or VGA graphics system, you could change the Screen Display Mode to a higher resolution. When you did, you got a mouse pointer that looked similar to the one in Windows.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tAt a higher resolution, MS-DOS Shell 5 even allowed drag and drop for copy and move operations.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tHowever, you could use the menu system to access all the common DOS commands.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe MS-DOS Shell 5 also had a Program menu (titled Main) that contained a set of DOS programs, such as the Edit program. You could also add programs to the menu.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tOf course, my favorite DOS File Manager was the Norton Commander with its standard dual pane view. I never upgraded past 1993’s version 4, shown here, but for me it did everything that I needed it to do.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tCopying files from one location to another was as easy as pressing [F5].
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe Norton Commander came with more than 30 file viewers that allowed you to view anything from an ASCII text file to a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet.
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\n\tJust to name a few: WordPerfect, Dbase, Word, Write, Works, Wordstar, Xywrite, Excel, Symphony, Quattro, Rbase, Paradox, Foxbase, Clipper, Reflex
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tClicking on the top line of the screen revealed a set of menus that contained a wide range of commands and special features.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tThe Norton Commander came with a basic connectivity tool called Commander Link. Using a serial or parallel cable to connect two computers, each running Norton Commander, you could easily copy and move files between the two systems using the dual pane view which showed directories on both systems.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tBuilt in support for compressing and decompressing standard Zip files was a great asset at the time.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tAnother handy feature in Norton Commander was the detailed System Information display.
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
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\n\tWhat’s your take on File Manager’s from the DOS days?
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\n\tImage created by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.
My first computer was a Kaypro 16 \"luggable\" running MS-DOS 2.11 which I obtained while studying computer science in 1986. After two years, I discovered that I had a knack for writing documentation and shifted my focus over to technical writing.
