You can run both Windows Commands and PowerShell cmdlets in PowerShell, but the Command shell can only run Windows Commands and not PowerShell cmdlets.įor the most robust, up-to-date Windows automation, we recommend using PowerShell instead of Windows Commands or Windows Script Host for Windows automation.Ī reference of exit and error codes for Windows Commands can be found in the Debug system error codes articles that may be helpful to understanding errors produced. Cmdlets are similar to Windows Commands but provide a more extensible scripting language. PowerShell was designed to extend the capabilities of the Command shell to run PowerShell commands called cmdlets. Scripts accept all commands that are available at the command line. You can perform operations more efficiently by using scripts than you can by using the user interface.
For more information, see cscript or wscript. With Windows Script Host, you could run more sophisticated scripts in the Command shell.
The Command shell was the first shell built into Windows to automate routine tasks, like user account management or nightly backups, with batch (.bat) files. Each shell is a software program that provides direct communication between you and the operating system or application, providing an environment to automate IT operations.
Windows has two command-line shells: the Command shell and PowerShell. This set of documentation describes the Windows Commands you can use to automate tasks by using scripts or scripting tools. All supported versions of Windows and Windows Server have a set of Win32 console commands built in.