Editing Properties of the Command Prompt

One way to do this is to hit start, go to run. Type "command" and hit enter. When the command window appears, select the properties button for the window. It is the button with the hand pointing to a sheet button. Then you can adjust all the properties for the command window. You could also edit the properties for the command prompt itself. It is located in c:\windows and is called command.com. You can edit it properties directly. You could also hit the start button, go to programs and look for the selection "ms-dos prompt." Then right click on it and go to properties. That would also give you the properties sheets for the command prompt.

HTH

For Win95, 98, 98se... do the below (I believe the previous answer only works with WinNT):

In CONFIG.SYS ... add a line that says DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ANSI.SYS and then save and reboot.

Then you can play with prompts and colors by typingthings like:

prompt $e[30;41m$p$g$e[37;44m (sets a directory in black with red text, and typing will be white on a blue background.

prompt $e[0m$p$g (returns everything back to normal).
prompt '.../\...' will prompt with .../\... (so you can draw if you like)

You can place prompt commands in AUTOEXEC.BAT if you want the color changes (or whatever changes) to start when the computer boots.

Here's the list of what you can do with ANSI.SYS :
$g = the greater than sign
$l = the less than sign
$b = the vertical bar
$q = the equal sign
$t = the time
$d = the date
$v = the DOS version
$n = default drive letter
$p = current directory
$e = the escape character
$h = is a destructive backspace (you can erase the milliseconds of time)
$_ = a line feed or hard return
$$ = the dollar sign

And I'll put the colors in a comment.... I'm probably nearing the 1930 character limit here.