Windows batch files: .bat vs .cmd?

Posted by Chris Noe on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Chris Noe
Published on 2008-09-29T14:39:07Z Indexed on 2010/04/03 20:33 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 424

Filed under:

Windows

|

batch

|

bat

|

cmd

|

ms-dos

As I understand it, .bat is the old 16-bit naming convention, and .cmd is for 32-bit Windows, i.e., starting with NT. But I continue to see .bat files everywhere, and they seem to work exactly the same using either suffix. Assuming that my code will never need to run on anyhting older than NT, does it really matter which way I name my batch files, or is there some gotcha awaiting me by using the wrong suffix?

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about Windows

Server 2012 DFS New Member Issue

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I am trying to add a new member to our DFS topology. We have 3 DCs (VMs - VMware) running Windows server 2012, two servers are located in or Primary site and the third at our DR site. Currently the two servers at our primary site are currently replicating DFS (full mesh) and are working fine. I have… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
Microsoft Management Console stops working when I add snap-in to it

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have Windows 7 Ultimate OS. I'm opening mmc.exe as administrator and trying add Certificates or any other snap-in, then while loading that snap-in MMC breaks and displays following message and after that it closes automatically once I click on close button on that message. What could be the problem… >>> More
Handling keyboard and mouse input (Win API)

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
There is a number of ways to catch mouse or keyboard under Windows. So I tried some of them, but every of them has some advantages and drawbacks. I want to ask you: Which method do use? I've tried these: WM_KEYDOWN/WM_KEYUP - Main disadvantage is that, I can't distinguish between left and right-handed… >>> More

Related posts about batch

Running Java from a Windows batch file causes the batch file to stop

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
When I run Java from a Windows .cmd file (Vista 32-bit here), the Java command causes the batch file to stop executing additional commands. For example, this is a simple test.cmd file: java java This should cause Java to print its help message twice. However when I run it in cmd.exe, I get this: C:\>test C:\>java Usage:… >>> More
Batch break up after call other batch file

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
i have the problem, that my batch process breaking up each time after call a other batch file. The batch files are used to run a make process out from IBM Rhapsody. There convert the call from Rhapsody to the Visual Studio tools. So nmake will be called from the batch after make different settings… >>> More
Execute batch file after another batch file completes

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I have a batch file coordinating the activity of two other batch file. How can I make it execute the second batch file only after the first bat file finishes execution. I do not care if the first batch file executes successfully or not. >>> More
“Query cost (relative to the batch)” <> Query cost relative to batch

as seen on SQL Blogcasts - Search for 'SQL Blogcasts'
OK, so that is quite a contradictory title, but unfortunately it is true that a common misconception is that the query with the highest percentage relative to batch is the worst performing. Simply put, it is a lie, or more accurately we dont understand what these figures mean. Consider the… >>> More
Framework 4 Features: Support for Timed Jobs

as seen on Oracle Blogs - Search for 'Oracle Blogs'
One of the new features of the Oracle Utilities Application Framework V4 is the ability for the batch framework to support Timed Batch. Traditionally batch is associated with set processing in the background in a fixed time frame. For example, billing customers. Over the last few versions their has… >>> More