Difference Between Internal and External Command
Internal Command |
External Command |
---|---|
Internal command executed by the operating system directly. |
The user needs to load them explicitly. |
It has faster execution than external command. |
It’s execution is slow. |
Internal command stored in RAM. |
External command stored in a hard drive. |
Internal command is a part of the shell. |
It requires a path for execution. |
This is built-in into the command prompt. |
External command is not built-in into the command prompt |
You can use the “type” utility to determine if a command is internal or external. If it’s internal, the output will indicate it’s a shell builtin. If it’s external, the output will provide the path to the command.
What is an Internal Command?
DOS Commands are important instructions for managing files and directories in Windows. They’re case-insensitive and follow the 8-dot format for file names. Each file has a primary name (up to 8 characters) and a secondary name (up to 4 characters with a dot). Common secondary names include .txt for text files, .com for command files, .sys for system files, and so on.
Special characters like < > , . / * ? | & Space are not allowed in file or directory names.
Internal commands are integral to Windows, embedded in the command.com file, and easily accessible. They’re important for smooth operation and are always available, whereas external commands are effective tools that can fix issues, enhance performance, and perform different actions. They’re stored individually from internal commands to reduce system load. You can add external commands to Windows by copying their files to your computer when needed.