MS-DOS Corrupted?

Hello Everyone. This is my first time posting here, im having some rather minor problems with my computer that just keep bugging me. I have looked EVERYWHERE, looked at every tutorial, called Microsoft and Dell numerous times, looked on every computer forum imagninable...nothing.
So, i find myself here.

I am using a Dell Dimension 2400, Running MS-DOS(or CMD??) Version 5.1.2600.
The problem is, CMD will not seem to recodnise alot of commands, i believe it is corrupted but...i am not sure exactly how to fix it. I was thinking of mabey getting a hold of MS-DOS 5.0, that i can do from bootdisk.com but im afraid to install anything that isnt 100% compatible...i have no idea if it is compatible or not with my computer.

Description: Ipconfig, and Ping will not work in CMD. I just get an error saying: "____(Ping, Ipconfig) Is not recodnised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file." However, DIR or Exit will work, so that tells me its not completely screwed.

So, what can i do to fix?
And,incase this helps to figure out the problem...i tend to download alot of stuff onto this computer, so mabey will all my downloads from not completely trustable sources...i got a virus or somthing along the way. I do not remember when this started, as i didnt use CMD until now. I tried doing a System Restore to one month ago with no luck. I also ran spybot, and AVG Virus scan, with few results(all were fixed).


Thank you!

Version 5.1.2600

sounds like an XP machine. Check your path by entering path at a command prompt. Make sure the C:\Windows\System32 directory is included in the path.

If not you can add it permanently by right clicking My Computer==>Properties==>Advanced==>Environment Variables and then editing the PATH in the System Variables section.

It's not the downloading so much as executing the downloaded files. Whatever you do, do not use any programs from a MS-DOS 5.0 disk. The reason some programs work and others don't is some commands are internal to the CMD processor and others are external files which CMD cannot find.

Version 5.1.2600

sounds like an XP machine. Check your path by entering path at a command prompt. Make sure the C:\Windows\System32 directory is included in the path.

If not you can add it permanently by right clicking My Computer==>Properties==>Advanced==>Environment Variables and then editing the PATH in the System Variables section.

It's not the downloading so much as executing the downloaded files. Whatever you do, do not use any programs from a MS-DOS 5.0 disk. The reason some programs work and others don't is some commands are internal to the CMD processor and others are external files which CMD cannot find.

Sorry, i forgot to add, the computer is running XP.
When i typed in path, it said...
"PATH=%SystemRoute%\System32;%SystemRoute%;%SystemRoute%\System32\Wbem"
Then there was alot of other stuff.
So, is that ok? Or is that not the right one?

So, where can i find these external files?
I was hoping i could atleast get "ping" and "ipconfig" working for now.

Is this the English version of XP? If not all bets are off.

"PATH=%SystemRoute%\System32;%SystemRoute%;%SystemRoute%\System32\Wbem"

Not sure, but if you run set from the command prompt I'm pretty sure you will not find a variable called %systemroute%.

Try changing %systemroute% to %systemroot%\system32

If you run a DIR command from the c:\windows\system32 directory you should find PING and IPCONFIG. The PATH variable sets up a directory search order for CMD to follow when looking for programs and the PATH must be synchronized with the variable names in the environment or hardcoded.

Hope this helps. 8-)

Yes, it is the english version of XP, or i would suppose so...seeing as everything is written in english

If you run a DIR command from the c:\windows\system32 directory you should find PING and IPCONFIG.

Ok, so, i typed in dir C:/windows/system32   So many things actually came up that it would not let me scroll up to view them all However,if i clicked the scrollbar, i could stop it from scrolling, i did that and found ipconfig.exe as well as ping.exe   thats what i needed im guessing?




However, i did not understand this at all:

The PATH variable sets up a directory search order for CMD to follow when looking for programs and the PATH must be synchronized with the variable names in the environment or hardcoded.
 
Hope this helps.

So...what should i do now?

I apoligize for being such a noob Im trying here.

This is what came up when i typed in set...mabey this will do you more good then its doing me.



Thank you so much.


Also,i went into system 32, found ipconfig.exe and ping.exe and clicked as to run, and they still do the same thing...cmd pops up for mabey half a second(NO time to read what is written,but there was somthign there) and exits, same with ping. It seems to be doing this for alot of(not all) .exe programs in system32.

Your path path=%systemroot%\system32 and your systemroot=C:\windows statements check out just fine. When the CMD environment is setup the symbolic %systemroot% will resolve to c:\windows and the path will be set to c:\windows\system32.

Using windows explorer and doubleclicking any command found in system32 will open a cmd window, run the command and then close the window. The same result will occur if you type in a command from Start==>Run.

Are you opening a CMD window and then typing the command (IPCONFIG or PING) from the prompt? If you type path at a command prompt, does %systemroot% get expanded to c:\windows?

A bit flustered why CMD cannot find valid commands. :-?

Your path path=%systemroot%\system32 and your systemroot=C:\windows statements check out just fine. When the CMD environment is setup the symbolic %systemroot% will resolve to c:\windows and the path will be set to c:\windows\system32.

Using windows explorer and doubleclicking any command found in system32 will open a cmd window, run the command and then close the window. The same result will occur if you type in a command from Start==>Run.

Tried it from RUN. Like i said previously, the window opens for .5 sec and says somthing then exits. I see that it said somthing...however it exited far to fast to read.

Are you opening a CMD window and then typing the command (IPCONFIG or PING) from the prompt? If you type path at a command prompt, does %systemroot% get expanded to c:\windows?

A bit flustered why CMD cannot find valid commands. :-?

Weird huh? Everything seems to be in working order, yet nothing works
Could it be a corruption with cmd itself? Just having issues executing .exe files?

Very weird. Microsoft turned up symbolics not being able to get resolved due to dependencies...which I don't see any in your case.

The easiet way to fix this would be to hardcode the directory names in the environment; the ones in question are all pretty standard anyway.

Right click My Computer==>Properties==>Advanced==>Environment Variables

Edit the PATH variable in the System Variables section by replacing occurances of %systemroot% with c:\windows. Retain the same punctuation; spelling counts; and values are case insensitive.

Good luck.  8-)

Edit the PATH variable in the System Variables section by replacing occurances of %systemroot% with c:\windows. Retain the same punctuation; spelling counts; and values are case insensitive.

Good luck.  8-)

I SWEAR YOU ARE JESUS!
That did it, first shot. No wonder they made you a mod...perfect!!!!!!!!!!
Man,im such a computer geek! Well,it works fine now! Thank you so much for your help, honestly!!
I may be back again with other computer problems, and ill read...but i probabley wont post much, seeing as far as computer softwhere, im a noob

Thanks a bunch!
Sincerly,
Adam