- prototype in io.h - reads "size" bytes from file "handle" into "buf" - size must be less than 65534 bytes - is a direct call to MS-DOS read function INT 21,3F - does not translate CR/LF; all input in binary - returns number of bytes successfully transferred or -1 - MS C uses _dos_read() - see read() _open() _creat() _write() _close()