Recently, my Windows XP Pro SP1 workstation stopped accepting commands
from the command line. How could this have happened, and what can I do
to correct the problem? I can still run programs from Start -> RUN
such as MSCONFIG, but I keep getting error messages when I try to do
the same from the command line. I cannot even get HELP in the command
line anymore.

for example:

C:\>ipconfig
'ipconfig' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\>msconfig
'msconfig' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\>ping
'ping' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\>help
'help' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

Hello troystar,


Thank you for your question. 

I searched ["windows XP"  +"not recognized as an internal or external
command"] to find the following:


A discussion board posts this question:
http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/51756

"...I am running windows xp which was working fine until the following
problem occured...

in the command prompt window (as well as run...), whatever program,
exe, batch file... etc i enter returns the following message

'File name' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file..."

He has found a long solution that includes:

"...the solution that worked was to delete the path and pathtext
entries from the user specific variables that were entered by
activestate's tcl binary installation and move them into the universal
variables, and with this the command prmopt and "start|run..." both
worked, as well as the beloved cygwin bash..."

You might read the entire article to see if this solution applies to
you. Activestate is located at this link, if you happen to have their
software installed on your machine:

http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActiveTcl/

Annoyances.org has this thread relating to your problem:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win2000/t1037214053

".exe does not execute without extension 
Wednesday, November 13, 2002 at 11:00 am - Posted by narendra   

I have a win 2000 m/c. When I try to execute a system command i have
to specify .exe extension with it. otherwise it does not recognize my
command ( command prompt). For example ex: >net 'net' is not
recognized as an internal or external command,operable program or
batch file. I have to specify it as > net.exe This is ok This is
creating problems in executing bat files as system level command are
specified in .bat files like xcopy ...it does not work. I have to
change it to xcopy.exe. I checked with registry and everything about
.exe and exefile is in place, please help me in this matter

Thanks"

A: " Check you environment variables: right-click on My Computer,
select the Advanced Tab, System Variables, look for a PATHEXT
variable. It should look something like this:
.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;etc;etc;etc "

And finally, at Dell, the question is also asked and answered:
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=sw_winxp&message.id=46641

"8981JC8981 wrote:

I just installed borlands free C++ compiler from their website, i was
reading through the supplemntary information to get it torun on my
computer, i changed the ''path'' system variable correctly, however
when trying to create the configuration file using the edit command at
the prompt in the dos window, i kept getting the message: 'EDIT' is
not recognized as an internal or external command, operable prgram or
batch file.


--------------------------------------------------------------

How did you change the system PATH? This is the error you will get if
the directory the edit command is in is no longer in the path. "

So, this definitely appears to be a system path problem probably
caused by installing software that modified the needed settings.

Searching [Windows XP system path], perhaps the best explanation I
found is at Microsoft Tech Net:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/support/faqw2kcp.asp

Although it mentions Windows 2000 server, XP pro operates very
similarly if not identically.

"<Command>' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file?
 

Answer: If you receive the subject error message, the most likely
cause is that the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder is no longer in your
path. Most systems should have a PATH variable that begins with
entries similar to:

PATH=C:\WINNT\system32;C:\WINNT;C:\WINNT\system32\WBEM; 

Another possible reason for this error is that some application
install changed the Path Value Name, in the registry, from a
REG_EXPAND_SZ data type to a REG_SZ data type.

If this is your problem: 

1. Use Regedt32.exe to navigate to: 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \Control \Session
Manager\Environment
2. If the Path Value Name is a type REG_SZ, double-click it and paste
the data value into Notepad.
3. Delete the Path Value Name. 
4. On the Edit menu, Add Value name Path, as a REG_EXPAND_SZ data
type.
5. In the String Editor, paste the data value from Notepad. 
6. You may have to restart your computer. 


I trust my research will help you remedy this path problem. If a link
above should fail to work or anything require further explanation,
please do post a Request for Clarification and I will be pleased to
assist further.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-

Excelent job. Well researched, my problem was a system path issue,
probably
caused by installing software that modified the system path settings.
I've been looking high and low for the answer to this problem, I even
searched MS Technet, but I must have missed the answer. clouseau-ga
found the right fix!