"is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file" error

[Shohruh Gulyamov]

Hello everyone, I'm new for Java.Two days ago, I downloaded JDK 7u13 32bit (x86) with Netbean http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk-7-netbeans-download-432126.html for windows XP and installed it with default options. I set new JAVA_HOME C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\ and PATH %JAVA_HOME%\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin to the instructed place which is - control panel>system>advanced>environment variables>system variables(Before there was no PATH in system variables). Then I opened cmd from desktop and changed its direction to cd\java\ and typed c:\java>javac HelloWorld.java (this is exact location of HelloWorld.java in my computer) and it's continuously showing " it is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file" error.

Before I added new topic, I read all instructions and materials regarding to setting path and creating HelloWorld.java here and on oracle's web site. I thought problem is with text editors, and tried to create HelloWorld.java with wordpad editor and nodpad editor and it didn't work. I checked and corrected any misspellings. I deleted and reinstalled Jdk 7u13 and tested on oracle website - whether it's working or not(Java's working). I accessed cmd from start, desktop and restarted each time after setting path. However, all my efforts failed.

Strangely, when I type set path or echo %PATH% on command window, it's displaying the following PATH=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\\bin;C:\C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin
PATHEXT=EXE;.BTM;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC
Does it mean that I have set path correctly? If so why I still cannot make javac compile HelloWorld.jav?
Can anyone suggest me what I'm doing wrong and and help me how should I correct it? That would end my 10+ hours of disappointment.

[Joanne Neal]

Shohruh Sg wrote:I set new JAVA_HOME C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\ and PATH %JAVA_HOME%\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin to the instructed place

Strangely, when I type set path or echo %PATH% on command window, it's displaying the following PATH=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\\bin;C:\C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin

Note the \\ in your PATH setting. Try removing the \ form the end of your JAVA_HOME setting or remove the \ from the %JAVA_HOME%\bin in your PATH setting.
You've also got C:\C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin in your PATH setting which is why it didn't pick up javac from that part of the PATH variable.

[Shohruh Gulyamov]

Joanne Neal wrote:
Note the \\ in your PATH setting. Try removing the \ form the end of your JAVA_HOME setting or remove the \ from the %JAVA_HOME%\bin in your PATH setting.
You've also got C:\C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin in your PATH setting which is why it didn't pick up javac from that part of the PATH variable.

Thanks I corrected and when I type set path now, It looks like this:
PATH=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin
PATHEXT=EXE;.BTM;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC

However, I still cannot find javac on cmd. I restarted cmd and still the same error continues displaying.

[Campbell Ritchie]

What happened to the PATH value from before you installed Java? It points to things like C:\win32 and C:\System. Have you removed them from your PATH?
Maybe the spaces in the PATH are confusing the computer. Try adding quote marks: not C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin but "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin". Be sure to add the Java path component at the beginning of the PATH.
Use Window Explorer to confirm that the files java.exe and javac.exe are inside that bin directory.

[Shohruh Gulyamov]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:What happened to the PATH value from before you installed Java? It points to things like C:\win32 and C:\System. Have you removed them from your PATH?
Maybe the spaces in the PATH are confusing the computer. Try adding quote marks: not C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin but "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin". Be sure to add the Java path component at the beginning of the PATH.
Use Window Explorer to confirm that the files java.exe and javac.exe are inside that bin directory.

Before I installed Java, there was no PATH in system variables. So I manually added the PATH to it. Currently, PATH has following values - %JAVA_HOME%\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13\bin; and I also have set JAVA_HOME - C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_13 to the system variables. Am I doing something wrong? Is there should be C:\Windows\System32\;C:\Windows\;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem at the end of the PATH? or name PATH should be typed between %% (like this - %PATH%)?

[Campbell Ritchie]

If there was no PATH beforehand, then you have not done any harm by deleting anything.
Did you try adding ""? Don’t add %%.
Which version of Windows are you using?
Please search in the root directory of C for a file called AUTOEXEC.bat, and inspect that, if it exists.

[K. Tsang]

You adding PATH in the system variable settings (which should have C:\Windows\system32 stuff) or in the user environment (default no PATH variable)?

If JAVA_HOME variable is created, you can use this variable in the PATH variable.

[Shohruh Gulyamov]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:If there was no PATH beforehand, then you have not done any harm by deleting anything.
Did you try adding ""? Don’t add %%.
Which version of Windows are you using?
Please search in the root directory of C for a file called AUTOEXEC.bat, and inspect that, if it exists.

I tried with "", but It did not work. I'm using Windows XP SP2. I inspected AUTOEXEC.bat in the root directory of C and it exists.

[Shohruh Gulyamov]

K. Tsang wrote:You adding PATH in the system variable settings (which should have C:\Windows\system32 stuff) or in the user environment (default no PATH variable)?

If JAVA_HOME variable is created, you can use this variable in the PATH variable.

I was adding it to the system variable settings, so it would be possible to run java with other users.

[Shohruh Gulyamov]

Oh finally, problem solved - I corrected the error and ran the java compiler and made Hello World appear on display. The problem was - .COM was missing in PATHEXT. Previously, PATHEXT contained these EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH; and I checked PATHEXT values on google and added .COM to the values. Then It started working.

Thanks a lot for your responses, surely without them I would not be able to correct it!

[Campbell Ritchie]

What a strange error! Well done sorting it out

[Levente Kovacs]

Shohruh Gulyamov wrote:Oh finally, problem solved - I corrected the error and ran the java compiler and made Hello World appear on display. The problem was - .COM was missing in PATHEXT. Previously, PATHEXT contained these EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH; and I checked PATHEXT values on google and added .COM to the values. Then It started working.

Thanks a lot for your responses, surely without them I would not be able to correct it!

Hi! Could you tell me please what was the final solution? It doesn't work at me (Win7)

[Campbell Ritchie]

Welcome to the Ranch

The final solution was to add .com
What is the PATH on your computer?

[Levente Kovacs]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Welcome to the Ranch

The final solution was to add .com
What is the PATH on your computer?

Thanks
So. I did the setting at control panel>system>advanced>environment variables>system variables, but somehow the JAVA_HOME doesn't works. It should me my fault. I don't know the exact syntactic.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Please have a look at our FAQ, which tells you about setting the PATH, before you do something which will damage your computer.

[Levente Kovacs]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Please have a look at our FAQ, which tells you about setting the PATH, before you do something which will damage your computer.

Meanwhile I realized. that it works, without %. Simply type javac, or java anywhere, and it works. Thanks.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Well done

[Levente Kovacs]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Well done

Yes, but meantime occurred an other problem. An older installed app, which is worked properly doesn't start, and gives the following messages:
Error occurred during initialization of VM
java/lang/NoClassDefFoundError: java/lang/Object

[Campbell Ritchie]

That sounds serious. You can’t get anywhere without java.lang.Object. Please print your PATH and CLASSPATH with
echo %PATH%
echo %CLASSPATH%
Which old app has stopped working? Do new Java programs run?

[Levente Kovacs]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:That sounds serious. You can’t get anywhere without java.lang.Object. Please print your PATH and CLASSPATH with
echo %PATH%
echo %CLASSPATH%
Which old app has stopped working? Do new Java programs run?

I reinstalled JRE and JDK., now it all works. I could not imagine what had happened.

[Campbell Ritchie]

I nearly suggested a reinstallation. Don’t know what went wrong, but java.lang.Object is a fundamental class, and you can’t do anything without it.