Mode
Applies To: Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8
Displays system status, changes system settings, or reconfigures ports or devices. If used without parameters, mode displays all the controllable attributes of the console and the available COM devices.
You can use mode to perform the following tasks—each task uses a different syntax:
To redirect output from a parallel port to a serial communications port
To select, refresh, or display the numbers of the code pages for the console
To configure a serial communications port
Syntax
mode com<M>[:] [baud=<B>] [parity=<P>] [data=<D>] [stop=<S>] [to={on|off}] [xon={on|off}] [odsr={on|off}] [octs={on|off}] [dtr={on|off|hs}] [rts={on|off|hs|tg}] [idsr={on|off}]
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
Com<M>[:] |
Specifies the number of the async Prncnfg.vbshronous communications port. |
baud=<B> |
Specifies the transmission rate in bits per second. The following table lists valid abbreviations for B and their related rates.
|
parity=<P> |
Specifies how the system uses the parity bit to check for transmission errors. The following table lists valid values for P. The default value is e. Not all computers support the values m and s.
|
data=<D> |
Specifies the number of data bits in a character. Valid values for d are in the range 5 through 8. The default value is 7. Not all computers support the values 5 and 6. |
stop=<S> |
Specifies the number of stop bits that define the end of a character: 1, 1.5, or 2. If the baud rate is 110, the default value is 2. Otherwise, the default value is 1. Not all computers support the value 1.5. |
to={on | off} |
Specifies whether infinite time-out processing is on or off. The default is off. |
xon={on | off} |
Specifies whether the xon or xoff protocol for data-flow control is on or off. |
odsr={on | off} |
Specifies whether output handshaking that uses the Data Set Ready (DSR) circuit is on or off. |
octs={on | off} |
Specifies whether output handshaking that uses the Clear To Send (CTS) circuit is on or off. |
dtr={on | off | hs} |
Specifies whether the Data Terminal Ready (DTR) circuit is on or off or set to handshake. |
rts={on | off | hs | tg} |
Specifies whether the Request To Send (RTS) circuit is set to on, off, handshake, or toggle. |
idsr={on | off} |
Specifies whether the DSR circuit sensitivity is on or off. |
/? |
Displays help at the command prompt. |
To display the status of all devices or of a single device
Syntax
mode [<Device>] [/status]
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
<Device> |
Specifies the name of the device for which you want to display the status. |
/status |
Requests the status of any redirected parallel printers. You can abbreviate the /status command-line option as /sta. |
/? |
Displays help at the command prompt. |
Remarks
If used without parameters, mode displays the status of all devices that are installed on your system.
To redirect output from a parallel port to a serial communications port
Syntax
mode lpt<N>[:]=com<M>[:]
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
lpt<N>[:] |
Required. Specifies the parallel port. Valid values for N are in the range 1 through 3. |
com<M>[:] |
Required. Specifies the serial port. Valid values for M are in the range 1 through 4. |
/? |
Displays help at the command prompt. |
Remarks
You must be a member of the Administrators group to redirect printing.
Examples
To set up your system so that it sends parallel printer output to a serial printer, you must use the mode command twice. The first time, use mode to configure the serial port. The second time, use mode to redirect parallel printer output to the serial port you specified in the first mode command.
For example, if your serial printer operates at 4800 baud with even parity, and it is connected to the COM1 port (the first serial connection on your computer), type:
mode com1 48,e,,,b
mode lpt1=com1
If you redirect parallel printer output from LPT1 to COM1, but then you decide that you want to print a file by using LPT1, type the following command before you print the file:
mode lpt1
This command prevents the redirection the file from LPT1 to COM1.
To select, refresh, or display the numbers of the code pages for the console
Syntax
mode <Device> codepage select=<YYY>
mode <Device> codepage [/status]
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
<Device> |
Required. Specifies the device for which you want to select a code page. CON is the only valid name for a device. |
codepage select= |
Required. Specifies which code page to use with the specified device. You can abbreviate codepage select as cp sel. |
<YYY> |
Required. Specifies the number of the code page to select. The following list shows each code page that is supported and its country/region or language. 437: United States 850: Multilingual (Latin I) 852: Slavic (Latin II) 855: Cyrillic (Russian) 857: Turkish 860: Portuguese 861: Icelandic 863: Canadian-French 865: Nordic 866: Russian 869: Modern Greek |
codepage |
Required. Displays the numbers of the code pages (if any) that are selected for the specified device. |
/status |
Displays the numbers of the current code pages selected for the specified device. You can abbreviate /status to /sta. Whether or not you specify /status, mode codepage displays the numbers of the code pages that are selected for the specified device. |
/? |
Displays help at the command prompt. |
To change the size of the command prompt screen buffer
Syntax
mode con[:] [cols=<C>] [lines=<N>]
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
con[:] |
Required. Indicates that the change applies to the Command Prompt window. |
cols=<C> |
Specifies the number of columns in the command prompt screen buffer. |
lines=<N> |
Specifies the number of lines in the command prompt screen buffer. |
/? |
Displays help at the command prompt. |
To set the keyboard typematic rate
Syntax
mode con[:] [rate=<R> delay=<D>]
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
con[:] |
Required. Refers to the keyboard. |
rate=<R> |
Specifies the rate at which a character is repeated on the screen when you hold down a key. |
delay=<D> |
Specifies the amount of time that will elapse after you press and hold down a key before the character output repeats. |
/? |
Displays help at the command prompt. |
Remarks
The typematic rate is the rate at which a character repeats when you hold down the key for that character. The typematic rate has two components, the rate and the delay. Some keyboards do not recognize this command.
Using **rate=**R
Valid values are in the range 1 through 32. These values are equal to approximately 2 to 30 characters per second. The default value is 20 for IBM AT-compatible keyboards, and 21 for IBM PS/2-compatible keyboards. If you set the rate, you must also set the delay.
Using delay=D
Valid values for D are 1, 2, 3, and 4 (representing 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1 second). The default value is 2. If you set the delay, you must also set the rate.