what is *.*

[masterfateh]

i'm trying to create a boot disk and this site told me to copy format*.* a: then press enter and my pc said file not found. does the *.* mean something else?

[Raptor]

* is a joker sign

Basically, it will look for any file and any extension. If you were to type *.exe it would look for every executable file. Depending on what command you use in front of it, though, it could also mean copy every .exe file..

Copy format *.* A: doesn't make sense at all, what are you trying to achieve?

[masterfateh]

i'm trying to copy additional files to a boot disk for windows 98

[Raptor]

Can I see the instructions?

[2k_dummy]

If you created a w98 boot disk from windows, format.com should already be on the disk. It is one of the utilities placed on the disk when it is created. If you need to copy additional files:
copy <path><filename> a:
or:
insert the floppy and locate the file to be copied. Right click and select send to 3 1/2 floppy.

[GX1_Man]

*.* means all.

If you need a bootdisk to format a drive go to www.bootdisk.com.

[QBasicMac]

copy format*.* a:
yields error message "file not found."
What does that mean?

copy format*.* means to copy all files that begin with "format" that are in your current directory, for example
format.exe
format1.exe
formatx.com
format~2.zip

"file not found." means that in your current directory, there are no such files.

In general, it means you are not in the correct directory or the instructions you are following do not apply to your environment.

Mac