Java command not found

Question

I'm trying to get the java command to work on my computer. Whenever I try to use it, I get the error "'java' is not recognized as an internal or..."

What I've done
So far I've traced the issue through my system environment variables, which has a variable PATH that links to "C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath" or javapath for short.

There are 3 files in the javapath folder, and if you click on them a popup says:

But when I examine the properties of the shortcut and click "open folder location" it sends me to the right place (?? what is this).

Just in case, I tried to recreate the shortcut; I called it java2 and it now works (opens a command box for a split second and closes) when I click on it. However, testing it in command prompt with the line "java2 -version" returns "'java2' is not recognized as an internal or external..."

Details
I just installed java 8, and I've verified that it was installed correctly

I'm running a 64 bit windows 7 OS

Answer 1

Have you checked your environment variables for Windows? When you installed the JDK/JRE the directory should have been added to the PATH variable. The directory added needs to contain the java.exe executable. It should be located in C:\Program Files\Java or something like that if you installed it using the default settings. Once you find that directory find the bin directory inside it.

In order to check that:

• Right click My Computer and hit Properties
• On the left side hit Advanced System Settings
• Hit the Advanced tab and then Environment Variables down at the bottom
• Find the PATH variable and then hit edit. Confirm that the location of the JDK /bin directory is there, if it is not then add it.

Also, if the JAVA_HOME variable isn't already set, this may be a good idea.