Ping not working

[Chris]

I am getting 'ping' is not recognized as an internal or
external command, operable program or batch file.

However, I can find it in winnt\system32.

Any suggestions as to how I can fix this?

 

[Marc Reynolds [MSFT]]

Hi,
If you change directories to the \winnt\system32 directory can you run
ping?

Thanks,
Marc Reynolds
Microsoft Technical Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Gary Smith]

Also, while checking path, look to see if there is a semi-colon ( at

the end of the path. Not being able to run commands from a prompt without
being in the specific directory is a result of this misconfiguration,
probably caused by the install of a poorly written program. If found,
edit the path to delete the trailing semi-colon (Control Panel, System,
Advanced).

This aroused my curiosity, so I experimented with adding a seimcolon to
the end of my path, and then with doubling a semicolon within the path.
Neither change interfered with the execution of ping or any other program
I tried.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

You are, of course, quite correct. The semicolon is a delimiter
BETWEEN path elements. None is (or has ever been) required
at the end of the path string.

 

[Bill James]

That is strange. I have seen the problem with a semicolon at the end of the path statement multiple times on the Windows 2000 computers I administer, in fact just last week, but when I just now tried to recreate the problem manually my results were the same as yours. Perhaps there is some other condition required for the problem to develop, but so far removing the trailing semicolon has always solved the problem when commands do not run from the command line. Since it is easy to check for, I think it is still worth looking at in a case where known commands do not run from the command line.

--

Bill James
Microsoft Shell/UI

Win9x VBScript Utilities » www.billsway.com/vbspage/
Windows Tweaks & Tips » www.billsway.com/notes_public/

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I would be interested to hear the result of your tests.
My current path extends over 2.5 lines, it includes
directories with embedded spaces, it does not use
a trailing semicolon, yet I can execute anything that's
in the path from a Command Prompt.


That is strange. I have seen the problem with a semicolon at the end of the
path statement multiple times on the Windows 2000 computers I administer, in
fact just last week, but when I just now tried to recreate the problem
manually my results were the same as yours. Perhaps there is some other
condition required for the problem to develop, but so far removing the
trailing semicolon has always solved the problem when commands do not run
from the command line. Since it is easy to check for, I think it is still
worth looking at in a case where known commands do not run from the command
line.

--

Bill James
Microsoft Shell/UI

Win9x VBScript Utilities » www.billsway.com/vbspage/
Windows Tweaks & Tips » www.billsway.com/notes_public/

 

[Gary Smith]

I would be interested to hear the result of your tests.
My current path extends over 2.5 lines, it includes
directories with embedded spaces, it does not use
a trailing semicolon, yet I can execute anything that's
in the path from a Command Prompt.

Bill was saying that the path should NOT have a trailing semicolon. My
experiments indicated that it doesn't matter whether the path has one or
not. Most paths, I believe, normally do not.

This sounds like it could be the old incorrect registry data type problem,
or perhaps the path is really missing or defective. I haven't seen
anything further from the original poster.