'node' is not recognized as an internal or external command

Node is missing from the SYSTEM PATH, try this in your command line

SET PATH=C:\Program Files\Nodejs;%PATH%

and then try running node

To set this system wide you need to set in the system settings - cf - http://banagale.com/changing-your-system-path-in-windows-vista.htm

To be very clean, create a new system variable NODEJS

NODEJS="C:\Program Files\Nodejs"

Then edit the PATH in system variables and add %NODEJS%

PATH=%NODEJS%;...

Nodejs's installation adds nodejs to the path in the environment properties incorrectly.

By default it adds the following to the path:

C:\Program Files\nodejs\

The ending \ is unnecessary. Remove the \ and everything will be beautiful again.

Go to the folder in which you have Node and NPM (such as C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs\) and type the following:

> set path=%PATH%;%CD%
> setx path "%PATH%"

From http://www.hacksparrow.com/install-node-js-and-npm-on-windows.html

Everytime I install node.js it needs a reboot and then the path is recognized.

Watch out for other paths ending in \ too. I had this:

...bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Web Platform Installer\;C:\Program Files\nodejs\

and changed it to this:

bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Web Platform Installer\;C:\Program Files\nodejs

removing the final \, but it still didn't work. The previous path, for the Web Platform Installer, had a trailing \ too. Removing that fixed the problem.