Windows 7 Various commands not working in windows 7

CRNicholls

New Member
Good evening,

I am writing today because I am having trouble getting commands to work that used to have no problem.

the errors I am getting are things like Find is not a recognized command.
Ping is not a recognized command
Tracert is not a recognized command.

Could windows possibly be corrupt and need reinstall or is there something else I can do to fix this?

Could the Windows CD be foul and be causing the problem? This question I ask because if I remember correctly, I have reinstalled Windows several times due to various issues and yet this problem remains.

Thank you for your help.

Edit: If this post is in the wrong forum, feel free to move it please.
 
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How are you running these commands, in the command prompt window I assume?

Do you show these utilities to be present in the Windows\System32 folder?

Don't know if it makes a difference for this, but what version of Win 7 are you running?
 
Hi, yes I am running them from the command prompt.

I don't know where to find the commands that's why I don't know whats going on with the commands not working right.

I am running the upgrade of windows 7 I had Vista originally. As I understand it though the SP1 update was recently downloaded from updates as well.


Edit: the exe files for these commands ARE in the system32 folder of windows, is there anything else I need to check?

Thanks.

How are you running these commands, in the command prompt window I assume?

Do you show these utilities to be present in the Windows\System32 folder?

Don't know if it makes a difference for this, but what version of Win 7 are you running?
 
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The commands are in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. Look for Tracert.exe and ping.exe

If they will not run from the command prompt, try going to that directory by typing cd \Windows\System32 then type the commands. But they should run from the Command promt without changing directories.
 
They only work if I go to the folder and run them there, if a program calls them or if I run them from outside the folder, it wont work..


Thanks for your time.

The commands are in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. Look for Tracert.exe and ping.exe

If they will not run from the command prompt, try going to that directory by typing cd \Windows\System32 then type the commands. But they should run from the Command promt without changing directories.
 
Sounds like your path might me messed up. Don't know exactly what might be different about your setup that could be different that default, but the Environmental variales ar on the System Properties-advanced tab with the button on the bottom.

You might look for a C:\Windows\System32 type of path, otherwise maybe someone else will know or I will do some research. It is strange the Cmd.exe and the others are in the same path. Some work and some do not.
 
Right I only have to change directory to C:\Windows\System32 and I do see the commands but running them from the prompt only works from that directory itself, no where else, and that is correct only some commands are not working while others do.

Also i had started another thread similar to this in the main Win 7 forum, if you have access to delete it, feel free I tried but I don't have that ability.

I look forward to hearing from you again.

Thanks

Charles
 
Well, check out this site for the Windows 7 part. Mine, as yours should, already has a path set to the correct directory. If yours does not, you might edit it following the instructions.
 
ok thats a problem in itself, I have no idea what the exact path should be with windows 7 and the page you just sent me to allowed me to see my actual path but doesnt clearly state what the exact path should be.

here is my current path
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Shared
 
It may be that the path to the commands is not set on your system. To test this try entering the following commands into the command screen first and then trying the commands again:

C:
cd windows/system32
 
You seem to have the correct path, so I have no other suggestion as to why it is not working.

You might try copying one of the utilities into another folder to see if it will run there.

It should not make a difference, but you might try opening the command prompt as administrator.
 
Can you try a few things, type SET in a command prompt window and paste the output, also type echo %systemroot% and see if it truely points to your windows folder. Also does typing "set path=%path%;C:\windows\system32" help?
 
Hi here is the output if its too small this way as it looks like it might be I will include a url for a better image.

Ok imge looks fine so no need to change it.

SET.jpg


Echo %systemroot reports C:\Windows

Typing Setpath etc still reports C:\windows BUT the commands now work from C prompt

Thank you for your time :D That's all I needed unless you know of something else i need to do.


Can you try a few things, type SET in a command prompt window and paste the output, also type echo %systemroot% and see if it truely points to your windows folder. Also does typing "set path=%path%;C:\windows\system32" help?
 
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Are you saying typing the set path command actually fixed the problem? If so that's just a temporary solution, it will only work on the command prompt while its running, as soon as you close it the environment variables will be reset.
You need to change the path it seems manually under System Properties, Advanced System Settings, Environment Variables.. try changing the %sytemroot%\System32 in your path to manually reflect C:\windows\system32..

After that see if it works on a new command prompt, and let us know.
 
Yes i'm saying it did work but I understand that it is only a temporary fix now.

Ok so if this is my current path C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Shared

What do i change here to reflect what is needed? Just the part i have bold and underlined? Or every instance of %systemroot% ?

Thank you

Edit: I went ahead and replaced every instance of %systemroot% with C:\windows and all works fine now even after restarting.

Thank you.
 
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