Vol (command) explained

vol
Developer:	DR, Microsoft, IBM, Toshiba, ReactOS Contributors
Operating System:	MS-DOS, PC DOS, MSX-DOS, FlexOS, SISNE plus, OS/2, eComStation, ArcaOS, DR DOS, ROM-DOS, 4690 OS, PTS-DOS, Windows, FreeDOS, ReactOS
Platform:	Cross-platform
Genre:	Command

In some operating systems, vol is a command within the command-line interpreters (shells) such as [[COMMAND.COM]] and [[cmd.exe]]. It is used to display the volume label and volume serial number of a logical drive, such as a hard disk partition or a floppy disk, if they exist.^[1]

Implementations

The command is available in various versions of DOS, DR FlexOS,^[2] IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS,^[3] IBM OS/2,^[4] Microsoft Windows,^[5] and ReactOS.^[6]

On MS-DOS, the command is available in versions 2 and later.^[7] Paragon Technology Systems PTS-DOS 2000 Pro also includes a implementation.^[8]

The Windows [[dir (command)|dir]] command also displays the volume label and serial number (if it has one) as part of the directory listing.

The command is also available in the EFI shell.^[9]

Syntax

vol [Drive:]

Arguments:

• Drive: This command-line argument specifies the drive letter of the disk for which to display the volume label and serial number.

Note:

• On Windows, the volume serial number is displayed only for disks formatted with MS-DOS version 4.0 or later.
• OS/2 allows the user to specify more than one drive. The vol command displays the volume labels consecutively.

Examples

IBM OS/2

[C:\]vol C:

The volume label in drive C is OS/2.The Volume Serial Number is 0815:1611.

Microsoft Windows

C:\Users\root>vol C:Volume in drive C is WindowsVolume Serial Number is 080F-100BIn the example above, if drive C: has no volume label, "has no label" is shown instead of "is Windows".

Supported file systems

• FAT12
• FAT16
• FAT32
• exFAT
• NTFS

See also

• Label (command) — Used to create, change and delete the disk volume label.
• List of DOS commands

Further reading

• Book: Cooper. Jim. Special Edition Using MS-DOS 6.22, Third Edition. 2001. Que Publishing. 978-0789725738.
• Book: Tim O'Reilly. Troy Mott. Walter Glenn. 1999. Windows 98 in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference. O'Reilly. 978-1565924864. registration.
• Book: John Paul Mueller. 2007. Windows Administration at the Command Line for Windows Vista, Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. John Wiley & Sons. 978-0470165799.

External links

• vol | Microsoft Docs

Notes and References

1. https://www.computerhope.com/volhlp.htm MS-DOS and Windows command line vol command
2. Web site: FlexOS™ User's Guide. https://web.archive.org/web/20190925131719/http://bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalResearch/flexos/1073-2003_FlexOS_Users_Guide_V1.3_Nov86.pdf . 2019-09-25 .
3. Web site: Unknown.
4. Web site: JaTomes Help - OS/2 Commands . 2019-07-21 . 2019-04-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190414130029/http://www.jatomes.com/Help/Os2Cmd.php#VOL . dead .
5. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491030.aspx Microsoft TechNet Vol article
6. Web site: Reactos/Reactos. GitHub. 4 November 2021.
7. Book: Wolverton. Van. Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. 2003. Microsoft Press. 0-7356-1812-7.
8. Web site: PTS-DOS 2000 Pro User Manual . . Buggingen, Germany . 1999 . 2018-05-12 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180512094512/http://download.paragon-software.com/doc/manual_dos_eng.pdf . 2018-05-12.
9. Web site: EFI Shells and Scripting . . 2013-09-25.