Doesn't follow the PATH env variable
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I think this is something simple but... I have a Windows XP system and I entered 'attrib' from the command line (cmd.exe) but it said it was not an internal or external command. But I could go to c:\windows\system32 and enter 'attrib' and it worked. The 'attrib.exe' was in that directory. The PATH environment variable seems to be set correctly with c:\windows\system32 as the first item in the list. There was a computer "IT professional" messing with this computer but he said he didn't do anything that would cause that problem. Any suggestions?
Joe Q My Blog
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I think this is something simple but... I have a Windows XP system and I entered 'attrib' from the command line (cmd.exe) but it said it was not an internal or external command. But I could go to c:\windows\system32 and enter 'attrib' and it worked. The 'attrib.exe' was in that directory. The PATH environment variable seems to be set correctly with c:\windows\system32 as the first item in the list. There was a computer "IT professional" messing with this computer but he said he didn't do anything that would cause that problem. Any suggestions?
Joe Q My Blog
Sorry if this is a daft question, but did you type that into a fresh console window? If you change the PATH on a console window, it changes for *that window only*.
Cheers, Vikram.
Zeppelin's law: In any Soapbox discussion involving Stan Shannon, the probability of the term "leftist" or "Marxist" appearing approaches 1 monotonically. Harris' addendum: I think you meant "monotonously". Martin's second addendum: Jeffersonian... I think that should at least get a mention.
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I think this is something simple but... I have a Windows XP system and I entered 'attrib' from the command line (cmd.exe) but it said it was not an internal or external command. But I could go to c:\windows\system32 and enter 'attrib' and it worked. The 'attrib.exe' was in that directory. The PATH environment variable seems to be set correctly with c:\windows\system32 as the first item in the list. There was a computer "IT professional" messing with this computer but he said he didn't do anything that would cause that problem. Any suggestions?
Joe Q My Blog
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Sorry if this is a daft question, but did you type that into a fresh console window? If you change the PATH on a console window, it changes for *that window only*.
Cheers, Vikram.
Zeppelin's law: In any Soapbox discussion involving Stan Shannon, the probability of the term "leftist" or "Marxist" appearing approaches 1 monotonically. Harris' addendum: I think you meant "monotonously". Martin's second addendum: Jeffersonian... I think that should at least get a mention.
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It should work unless the PATH is overridden somehow. Try the following at the command prompt:
echo %PATH%where attribto see what it is picked up from.xacc.ide - now with IronScheme support
IronScheme - 1.0 alpha 2 out now -
I think this is something simple but... I have a Windows XP system and I entered 'attrib' from the command line (cmd.exe) but it said it was not an internal or external command. But I could go to c:\windows\system32 and enter 'attrib' and it worked. The 'attrib.exe' was in that directory. The PATH environment variable seems to be set correctly with c:\windows\system32 as the first item in the list. There was a computer "IT professional" messing with this computer but he said he didn't do anything that would cause that problem. Any suggestions?
Joe Q My Blog
Well, "where" is useless, because the system does not find "attrib" in the first place. Well, maybe he rewrote the path and wrote "C;\Windows\System32\;" or "C:\Windows\System32:" instead. These typos can be hard to spot. does "c:\windows\system32\attrib.exe -r somefile.ext" work? If not, someone may have hijacked your system. Oh, and does "echo %windir%" really print "C:\Windows"? On a few machines here, the directory is c:\winXP ... If not, you need to rewrite the path command to include "%windir%\system32"
Cheers, Sebastian -- "If it was two men, the non-driver would have challenged the driver to simply crash through the gates. The macho image thing, you know." - Marc Clifton
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Well, "where" is useless, because the system does not find "attrib" in the first place. Well, maybe he rewrote the path and wrote "C;\Windows\System32\;" or "C:\Windows\System32:" instead. These typos can be hard to spot. does "c:\windows\system32\attrib.exe -r somefile.ext" work? If not, someone may have hijacked your system. Oh, and does "echo %windir%" really print "C:\Windows"? On a few machines here, the directory is c:\winXP ... If not, you need to rewrite the path command to include "%windir%\system32"
Cheers, Sebastian -- "If it was two men, the non-driver would have challenged the driver to simply crash through the gates. The macho image thing, you know." - Marc Clifton
Sebastian Schneider wrote:
Well, maybe he rewrote the path and wrote "C;\Windows\System32\;" or "C:\Windows\System32:" instead. These typos can be hard to spot.
I went back and checked very closely and it didn't have any of those typo's. If one of those typos were further down in the path would it invalidate the entire path?
Sebastian Schneider wrote:
does "c:\windows\system32\attrib.exe -r somefile.ext" work?
This does work.
Sebastian Schneider wrote:
If not, someone may have hijacked your system.
The system I'm working with is not on any network (not even an internal network)
Joe Q My Blog
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Sebastian Schneider wrote:
Well, maybe he rewrote the path and wrote "C;\Windows\System32\;" or "C:\Windows\System32:" instead. These typos can be hard to spot.
I went back and checked very closely and it didn't have any of those typo's. If one of those typos were further down in the path would it invalidate the entire path?
Sebastian Schneider wrote:
does "c:\windows\system32\attrib.exe -r somefile.ext" work?
This does work.
Sebastian Schneider wrote:
If not, someone may have hijacked your system.
The system I'm working with is not on any network (not even an internal network)
Joe Q My Blog
No, the path is semicolon-delimited. So, there may be invalid elements, but it won't invalidate the entire path. Well... what is the pathext environment variable set to? Other than that, I don't have a clue. I've just read that, sometimes, if you set the path in user environment variables, SET will still display the system environment variables, without actually using them. Or similar, claimed here: http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2002-September/165998.html[^] Bill Stewart also has a site dedicated to CMD Problems. http://www.westmesatech.com/cmdprompt.html[^]
Cheers, Sebastian -- "If it was two men, the non-driver would have challenged the driver to simply crash through the gates. The macho image thing, you know." - Marc Clifton
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No, the path is semicolon-delimited. So, there may be invalid elements, but it won't invalidate the entire path. Well... what is the pathext environment variable set to? Other than that, I don't have a clue. I've just read that, sometimes, if you set the path in user environment variables, SET will still display the system environment variables, without actually using them. Or similar, claimed here: http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2002-September/165998.html[^] Bill Stewart also has a site dedicated to CMD Problems. http://www.westmesatech.com/cmdprompt.html[^]
Cheers, Sebastian -- "If it was two men, the non-driver would have challenged the driver to simply crash through the gates. The macho image thing, you know." - Marc Clifton
Thanks for the help, I'm through working on the problem by default. I had to leave to catch my flight and now someone else can work on it. I'll probably get calls about it but from 1211 miles away (google maps) I can just tell them to get someone local to look at it or get the guy back who caused it. Thanks for your help. I will read through the sites to see if anything might help.
Joe Q My Blog