I managed to fix the issue. Under System -> Advanced System Settings -> Environment Variables, I edited the 'Path' system environment variable and added the following text at the beginning of the string, using a semi-colon as the required separator: 'C:\Program Files\ClamAV'. Now, 'clamscan.exe' and 'freshclam.exe' work as expected when I enter them into the Command Prompt or the Command Line Interpreter. I had mistakenly added the text 'C:\Program Files\ClamAV' to the 'ComSpec' variable area, which caused my issue. I apologize for wasting your time; I'm not the most proficient Windows user or fan. I also thought about whether this functionality would be useful to others and if it should be added to the online documentation page at docs.clamav.net. Just a thought.

On Fri, 9 Jun 2023 at 17:37, Kenneth Porter <shiva@sewingwitch.com> wrote:

--On Friday, June 09, 2023 3:45 PM +0100 Fergus Courtney via clamav-users
<clamav-users@lists.clamav.net> wrote:

> Is it possible to run "clanscan - r <directory>" and "freshclam" from a
> command prompt without the need of going into the C:\Program Files\ClamAV
> folder to start or run these .exe's?
>
> I tried adding the ";C:\Program Files\ClamAV" to my Windows 8.1 machine
> set of system environmental variables, restarted the Command Prompt in
> Admin mode and tried running "clamscan" and "freshclam" but nothing was
> working. Also did a full restart and that didn't work either.
>
> I know I'm chancing my arm on it but if it works for other programs, I
> guessed it may work for clamav .exe files also.
>
> See screenshot attached.
>
> Please note the program works as expected when I enter in to "C:\Program
> Files\ClamAV".

Commands run from a command prompt are searched for using the PATH
environment variable. This is true of all the popular operating systems.

<https://www.maketecheasier.com/what-is-the-windows-path/>

As a rule, when running a system program from a script or batch file, use
the full path. Quoted for Windows, since MS sticks a space in "Program
Files". That insures that a malicious program can't trick your script into
running its own version of a program.

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