1) DIRCMD environment variable.
The command is "set DIRCMD=/og" for your example.
2) /L:<letter> command switch for MSCDEX. Others DOS cd drivers use the similar method but the switch may be different.
Unfortunately there is no way to move cd-drive before FDD or HDD in DOS.
And some game want cd-drive as D and not work with others letters.

And since Gamecollector excellently addressed your questions, let me cover the final bit about defrag: Both MS defrag and Norton's Speed Disk allow you to sort the files/directories. Norton's option explicitly says "sort files blah blah" AND "move directories to the beginning", while MS's version (DOS 6.22) has the options simplified: If you choose to sort, it will also move the directories to the beginning.

btw for those working on FAT32 with the "DOS" from Windows 98, FreeDos defrag also allows sorting

Gamecollector wrote:

1) DIRCMD environment variable. The command is "set DIRCMD=/og" for your example. 2) /L:<letter> command switch for MSCDEX. Othe […]
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1) DIRCMD environment variable.
The command is "set DIRCMD=/og" for your example.
2) /L:<letter> command switch for MSCDEX. Others DOS cd drivers use the similar method but the switch may be different.
Unfortunately there is no way to move cd-drive before FDD or HDD in DOS.
And some game want cd-drive as D and not work with others letters.

Thanks, Gamecollector and konc, especially for the DIRCMD variable and background on Defrag/Speed Disk.

I was aware of the /L switch and was using it. However, here was the situation I faced: When installing DOS, I partitioned my hard drive into four drive letters. So my optical drive took drive G: and I could not force it to D: because the 2nd hard drive partition already had a lock on that drive letter. I did not know how to shift all the hard drive letters over by one to reserve D: for the optical.

Is Norton Speed Disk freely available from any reputable sources?

clueless1 wrote:

Is Norton Speed Disk freely available from any reputable sources?

It isn't as far as I know. Symantec (like Microsoft, Adobe and others) keeps a tight grip on their IP.

You could go for "disreputable" sources, but then you're on your own.

I'd forgotten that MS Defrag was licensed from Symantec. It does everything I was wanting, so no need for Norton Utils. 😀

Still not sure if it is possible to retain the optical drive as letter D: if I add a 2nd HDD partition. Anyone?

clueless1 wrote:

Still not sure if it is possible to retain the optical drive as letter D: if I add a 2nd HDD partition. Anyone?

No.
Because DOS assigns HDD letters before config.sys processing.
There is the ASSIGN command but it only creates drive letters, not makes the original letter free.

Gamecollector wrote:

No. Because DOS assigns HDD letters before config.sys processing. There is the ASSIGN command but it only creates drive letters, […]
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clueless1 wrote:

Still not sure if it is possible to retain the optical drive as letter D: if I add a 2nd HDD partition. Anyone?

No.
Because DOS assigns HDD letters before config.sys processing.
There is the ASSIGN command but it only creates drive letters, not makes the original letter free.

Thank you Gamecollector.

clueless1 wrote:

1) is there a way to alphabetically sort the file/folder structure automatically with a "dir" command?

You can use a batch file (located in a folder that is in your PATH variable) to always call dir with the sorting options you like.

In addition one can use a dir replacement:
1) D by Feedingdragon
2) 🤣
3) NDIR
4) Access-D ... Nowhere to be found so I attached it here.

For me the solution was to run defrag with the file sort option. Then you don't have to mess with dir.