NET integration and the PowerShell pipeline. Though you could go the VBScript route and use the cscript interpreter, it is easier to write straight PowerShell and take advantage of modules, native.
While you can create tools for both by writing scripts, the command prompt is limited as an interpreter. The most notable advantage of using PowerShell over the command prompt is PowerShell's extensibility.
Both can be configured to boot into a command prompt and provide many useful tools to prepare a device to be imaged or to troubleshoot a device with startup issues. In configuring WinPE, it's often a good idea to include Windows PowerShell - unless you are trying to reduce your image size. PowerShell is in Windows Preinstallation Environment ( WinPE) and Windows Recovery Environment ( WinRE). For most other tasks, you'll get further by launching Windows PowerShell with powershell - or if you have the open source PowerShell, pwsh.Īnother example of where to use the command prompt vs.
You could learn how to run these in PowerShell, but it is useful to start with Server Core. For example, it runs commands to configure network settings or manage server features. This is a Microsoft-written vbscript file that runs basic server configuration commands. In a few situations, the best command to run in the command prompt is powershell.įor instance, if running Windows Server Core, you have the SConfig tool. When it comes to using the venerable command prompt, commands like dir or cd are extremely useful. Output using command prompt and the 'net user' command to see if a backup admin account exists on end-user devices.Let's cover several examples of tasks that admins can accomplish exclusively with one of these tools, and then compare how they can perform the same tasks in either tool. The OS executes the chkdsk utility for the applications directory and presents a summary of the components in that directory, such as the number of files and subdirectories, and number of bytes in use and the number available. To check on the status of the elements associated with a specific directory, the user enters the following at the command prompt: Now the system needs a command to execute something in the applications directory. To change to a different directory, the following is performed, using the example of changing to a directory called applications: This presents a list of available directories linked to the root directory - for example, the C drive - in the system. The change directory function looks like this: Each command launches a batch file that initiates a specific function. The basic command level might look like this: A common one in Windows is to use the command prompt shortcut located in the Start menu or on the Apps screen. There are various ways to open command prompt. For example, basic functions such changing a directory or performing an examination of the system disk are easy to execute at the command level. However, it is helpful to know how to execute system functions in the command prompt window. Many Windows users regularly use the GUI. It also offers superior automation through scripting, but mastering the commands can be challenging. Some tools that aren't available through the graphical user interface ( GUI) can be accessed through the command prompt.
In Windows systems, such as Windows 10 and many previous versions of Windows, the command interpreter and executioner are referred to as the Windows Command Processor.Ĭommand prompt interfaces can be powerful and succinct. At the command prompt, the user types a statement including a base batch file or a command name and any arguments to specify running conditions, logging and so on for the program. The command prompt is an executable CLI program, cmd.exe. The CLI is still an essential part of the Linux OS. Current Windows systems offer the CLI for administrative tasks. Microsoft MS-DOS systems and other early consumer-based computers used CLIs. The command prompt consists of a brief text string followed by a blinking cursor, which is where the user types command prompt commands.Ĭommand-line interfaces ( CLI) and prompts were the standard interface for computers from the early days of computing into the 1980s. The prompt is designed to elicit an action. A command prompt is the input field in a text-based user interface screen for an operating system (OS) or program.