expand(CMD) 19 June 1992 expand(CMD) Name expand - expand a compressed MS-DOS version 5.0 file Syntax expand [drive:][path]filename [[drive:][path]filename[...]] destination Description You can use this command to retrieve one or more files from the installa- tion or update disks that accompany MS-DOS version 5.0. These files are not usable unless you expand them. 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. Note Most of the files on the installation or update disks provided with MS-DOS version 5.0 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. Example Suppose you accidentally delete the SORT.EXE file from your DOS directory on drive C. You can copy the compressed file SORT.EX_ from the MS-DOS version 5.0 in- stallation or upgrade disks to your hard disk. First, you need to find out which disk contains SORT.EX_. To do this, you first insert Disk 2 (5.25-inch disks) or Disk 1 (3.5-inch disks) in drive A and use a text editor to open the file PACKING.LST. PACKING.LST is not a compressed file. This file lists the contents of each disk. SORT.EX_ is located on Disk 5 (5.25-inch disks) or Disk 3 (3.5-inch disks). You 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