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Running CMD.exe shows "The system cannot find the path specified" in the beginning

Context

When starting a new command line window in Windows, it always shows the following error:

The system cannot find the path specified

Problem

How to resolve the error?

Solution

Open the registry editor (regedit.exe) and find the following keys:

  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun

If their values are not empty, check if they point to some files that no longer exist.

Note

  • Some version of Anaconda puts its conda_hook.bat under the mentioned AutoRun reg key value. When Anaconda is uninstalled, the reg key is not cleared properly and causes the error.
  • Running FOR /F ["options"] %variable IN ('command1') DO command2 will invoke a CMD to run command1, hence showing the error in the result.

Reference