CMD Prompt unable to recognizing commands

hi,
i recently installed windows xp.whenever i type any command like chkdsk,regedit in to command prompt but it does not give any result and always says:"not recognized as internal or external command". so i try "ping" and get the same message. everything i type in i get the same message.What has happened and what is the solution?Can anyone help!!!

First, instead of typing into a RUN box, get to a prompt with:

cmd [enter]

then:

ipconfig [enter]

If you get the:

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

type:

attrib /s \ipconfig*

to find out if it's there and if so, where.

Mine is in:

C:\WINNT\system32\attrib.exe

Then type:

set pa [enter]

to check your path.

Your system has lost the setting for ping.
Here's how to fix it:
1. Right click 'My Computer', select 'Properties', click on the 'Advanced' tab
2. Select 'Enviornment Variables'
3. Select 'PATH' from the list of system variables and edit

set PATH to c:\windows\system32.

type set at a cmd promt and see what you get you should have a line
Path=C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\Sys tem32\Wbem;

If you havent that is your problem also goto windows\system32 dir and try the commands again and see if they then work.

If they work with these and you dont have the path you canenter it in control panel/system/advanced and then envirmeny variables.

All it is when you enter a dos command windows looks in the current dire then in dirs in the path to find it. If its not there you get the error

When you type any command in the command prompt in Windows, it says that it can’t recognize the command you’ve typed. There are two possibilities: First that you have typed the command incorrectly. Check your spellings. Second that you have actually typed the command correctly but it is not in the directories where command prompt looks for commands. Those directories are defined here:
Right click My Computer –> Properties –> Advanced –> Environment variables –> In system variables, double click on Path to edit the settings. Make sure you have these two directories defined in your path variable: C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS.