'ping' is not recognized as an internal or external command operable program or batch file error

Question

When I do ping www.otbotweb.com I get the error message

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

Here is an example:

Then:

So why? What is wrong am I doing it wrong?

WINDOWS 7 BTW AND 64 Bit

There was some tutorial online that said to look up Systems32. And that didnt even show up! In the search at the image there

I have also restarted my computer (MANY MANY TIMES)

I've had this for over 6 months and its really beginning to cause me problems.

Also if you believe this is off topic please explain first :P

Answer 1

Most likely something has removed the system32 directory from your path. Have you installed the Java SDK? It has a reputation for doing that.

To check this, at the command prompt type path (followed by enter)

If c:\windows\system32 isn't there, it needs to be added back in. To do this:

From the desktop, Right click 'Computer', click 'Properties'
     then click 'Advanced system settings' 
            - this should bring up the System Properties - Advanced tab
Click 'Enviornment Variables'
Select the system variables 'PATH'
Edit PATH and add this line to the front
        c:\windows\system32;
or to be generic (in case you've installed windows on a different drive)
        %SystemRoot%\system32
Start a new command window to check if this has worked (or reboot)
      existing command windows will use the old path