label (command)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
label
Cross-platform
TypeCommand
LicenseMS-DOS, PC DOS, Windows, OS/2: Proprietary commercial software
FreeDOS, ReactOS: GNU General Public License
Websitedocs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/label

In

logical drive, such as a hard disk partition or a floppy disk
. Used without parameters, label changes the current volume label or deletes the existing label.

History

5 1⁄4-inch floppy disk with hand-written label on it.

The command was originally designed to label floppy disks as a reminder of which one is in the machine. However, it can also be applied to other types of drive such as mapped drives.[5]

It is available in MS-DOS versions 3.1 and later and IBM PC DOS releases 3 and later.[6] It is an external command. MS-DOS 4.0x and earlier used label.com as the external file. MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows use label.exe as the external file.

DR DOS 6.0 includes an implementation of the label command.[8] The FreeDOS version was developed by Joe Cosentino and is licensed under the GPL.[9]

In modern versions of Microsoft Windows, changing the disk label requires elevated permissions.[5] The Windows dir command displays the volume label and serial number (if it has one) as part of the directory listing.

In Unix and other Unix-like operating systems, the name of the equivalent command differs from file system to file system. For instance, the command e2label can be used for ext2 partitions.

Syntax

LABEL [drive:][label]
LABEL [/MP] [volume] [label]

Arguments:

  • drive: This
    drive letter
    of a drive.
  • label Specifies the label of the volume.
  • volume Specifies the
    mount point
    , or volume name.

Flags:

  • /MP Specifies that the volume should be treated as a mount point or volume name.

Note: If volume name is specified, the /MP flag is unnecessary.

Example for the command.

C:\Users\root>label D: Backup

Supported file systems

Limitations

FAT volume labels

FAT volumes have the following limitations:[5]

  • Volume labels can contain as many as 11 character bytes and can include spaces, but no tabs. The characters are in the
    OEM code page
    of the system that created the label.
  • Volume labels cannot contain the following characters: ? / \ | . , ; : + = [ ] < > "
  • Volume labels are stored as upper-case regardless of whether they contain lower-case letters.

NTFS volume labels

  • Unicode characters.[5]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0078819040
    .
  2. ^ "JaTomes Help - OS/2 Commands". www.jatomes.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-14.
  3. ^ Microsoft TechNet Label article
  4. ^ https://github.com/reactos/reactos/blob/master/base/shell/cmd/label.c [dead link]
  5. ^ a b c d Label - Disk label - Windows CMD - SS64.com
  6. ISBN 0-7356-1812-7
    .
  7. ^ MS-DOS and Windows command line label command
  8. ^ "DR DOS 6.0 User Guide Optimisation and Configuration Tips" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
  9. ^ "FreeDOS 1.2 Updates Package - label (FreeDOS Base)". Ibiblio.org. 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2022-09-04.

Further reading

External links

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Guide to Windows Commands
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