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Possible Duplicate:
Using cd Command in Windows Command Line, Can’t Navigate to D:\

Somehow cd command is not working in windows command prompt when I want to change the drive.

For example if I'm in:

C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools>

with command

cd d:\

It doesnt take me to d: drive but it stays in

C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools>

If I try cd.. or cd\ or trying to change the directory within the drive that works.

Any help?

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4 Answers 4

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When changing drives, you just need to type the drive letter, like d: (EDIT: don't use the backslash, like d:\; it doesn't work). You only use cd when moving between directories within a drive.

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  • 1
    Actually, D:\ (extra space to escape the slash) does not work. Only D: does.
    – Hello71
    Jul 19, 2010 at 16:41
  • Haha, yeah, I just caught that.
    – jrc03c
    Jul 19, 2010 at 16:42
44

If you are going into a folder on another drive, why not simply type

cd /d d:\someFolder\anotherFolder

The /d switch is specified in cd /?

Use the /D switch to change current drive in addition to changing current directory for a drive.

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  • 2
    Worked for me! Though I'm finding myself wishing it wasn't so picky.
    – Will
    May 1, 2013 at 22:29
  • 2
    This worked for me even when cd d: didn't, thanks!
    – Dan
    Nov 15, 2013 at 19:58
  • 1
    This should be the accepted answer
    – Jon
    Jul 8, 2019 at 17:57
  • Agree, this should be the accepted answer. This is more clear and worked for me.
    – pras92
    Feb 13, 2020 at 9:02
  • I agree. I'm not sure why I only noticed this now, to be honest it's slightly annoying
    – Raymond
    Jul 16, 2020 at 23:56
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This is a known 'feature' dating back to the DOS ages. Put simply, you have one 'active directory' for each drive. cd changes the active directory for that drive only. For example, cd C:\WINDOWS changes the active directory of the C: drive to \WINDOWS. To change to another drive, you would use something like A: to change to the A drive.

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Other option: pushd d:\

for return to a previos directory: popd

is possible also, go to a "unc" directory, for example: (creates a temporary Z: drive) pushd \\localhost\mydir

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