Several CMD.EXE commands can generate prompts, which wait for you to press a key to view a new page or to perform a file activity.

When CMD.EXE is displaying information in page mode, for example with a DIR /P or SET /P command, it displays the message

        Press Esc to Quit or any other key to continue...

At this prompt, you can press Esc, Ctrl-C, or Ctrl- Break if you want to quit the command. You can press almost any other key to continue with the command and see the next page of information.

During file processing, if you have activated prompting with a command like DEL /P, you will see this prompt before processing every file:

        Y/N/R ?

You can answer this prompt by pressing Y for “Yes, process this file;” N for “No, do not process this file;” R for “process the Remainder of the files without further prompting.” You can also press Ctrl-C, Ctrl-Break, or Esc at this prompt to cancel the remainder of the command.