Windows 7: Telnet Is Not Recognized As An Internal Or External Command
Posted by alex in Errors at 8:55 AMI needed to test a Exim mail server from my Windows 7 laptop a little while ago and was surprised when I typed telnet I received an error. The error indicated that the telnet client was not installed on my laptop which seemed odd since I have Windows 7 Ultimate. I assume that telnet in general is being phased out of most operating systems in general however it is a great tool for troubleshooting. After a little digging around in the Windows Programs Control Panel I was able to easily install telnet. Follow the directions below to install telnet on your Windows 7 computer.
Error Attempting To Use Telnet On Windows 7:
Telnet Error Text:
'telnet' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
Enable Telnet Client On Windows 7 Computer:
- Windows 7 Control Panel: First launch the Windows 7 Control Panel, which is displayed in the example image below, by clicking the Windows Start Menu icon and selecting Control Panel from the pop up navigation.
- Programs And Features: In the Control Panel double click on Programs and Features to launch the W7 Programs and Features Control Panel as displayed in the below example image.
- Turn Windows Features On or Off: Now in the left navigation bar click on the “Turn Windows Features On or Off” link which will launch the Windows Features configuration window similar to the example displayed below.
- Enable Telnet Client: From the Windows Features configuration window put a check mark next to the Telnet Client application as shown below.
Once you have added the check next to Telnet Client click the OK button from the Windows Features configuration window. Next close the Programs and Features window and wait for the below message to complete while Windows 7 to installs the Telnet Client.
- Test Telnet On Windows 7: Once Windows finishes installing the Telnet Client open a Command Prompt window by typing “cmd” in the bottom of the Windows Start Menu within the “Search programs and files” box and then click Enter. Then in the Command Prompt window type telnet which should launch the Telnet Client as shown in the below image.
Telnet will now always be enabled on your Windows 7 computer unless you remove it from the Windows Features configuration window.
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Entries (RSS)
thanks…. helped me!!!
[Reply]
alex Reply:
January 19th, 2011 at 10:10 AM
Hello SATYA,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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Hey thanks man. I was totally unaware of this feature. Hopefully now I will be able to use telnet to send commands to my wireless routher. Thanks again.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 10:31 PM
Hello KP,
No problem. Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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Thanks for this, I had no clue it was phased out of Windows 7. Thought I had something set up wrong on the machine.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 9th, 2011 at 7:22 PM
Hello TG3,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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this was really helpful ,
cheers for this mate ,
mary from australia
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 14th, 2011 at 7:02 PM
Hello mary,
Great! Cheers right back atcha!
Thanks.
alex (Louisville, KY, USA) :)
[Reply]
Thanks Alex,
It was a great help. It helped in testing my connectivity and resolving issues .
Thanks a lot, keep posting articles like this.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
May 25th, 2011 at 9:35 PM
Hello vipul sareen,
No problem. Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback and thanks for the encouragement! We definitely plan to continue writing articles.
Thanks.
alex
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Thanks a lot Alex for this little bit of info (with screen snapshots), it really helped me a lot. Wasn’t aware that they made it optional in W7.
Cheers!
[Reply]
alex Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 8:14 PM
Hello Anz..,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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thanks i works, @@@hongera@@@
[Reply]
alex Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 8:14 PM
Hello mgogo,
No problem. Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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Thanks buddy it helps me alot :)
[Reply]
alex Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 8:13 PM
Hello Babar,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Hello to All
Thanks a Lot !!!!
[Reply]
alex Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 3:08 AM
Hello mohsen,
Hello to you! No problem… Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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Thanks… working fine.. telnet enabled
[Reply]
alex Reply:
October 12th, 2011 at 8:28 AM
Hello mbalag,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
problem not solved…..
[Reply]
alex Reply:
July 15th, 2012 at 9:26 AM
Hello arpit,
What version of Windows 7 do you have installed? Were you able to get this issue resolved? If you were able to get it resolved let us know what the solution was and if not post more details and we can attempt to assist.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Thank you for posting this guide!
[Reply]
alex Reply:
July 15th, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Hello RMN,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
thank you…problem solved
[Reply]
alex Reply:
July 15th, 2012 at 10:16 AM
Hello silas,
No problem. Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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my window 7 is not showing telnet option what should i do to switch on this service and y it is not diplaying i faloow the complete procedure but i am not able to see in the list . plz help me any expert here
[Reply]
Arshad Reply:
March 16th, 2012 at 2:48 PM
Kindly check your version of windows 7
[Reply]
alex Reply:
April 8th, 2012 at 11:11 PM
Hello Arshad,
Thanks for taking the time to leave a suggestion to mehmood.
Thanks.
alex
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Perfect! Thank you!
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 2:54 AM
Hello stwidgie,
No problem! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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guddd!!it’s work on my pc
[Reply]
alex Reply:
April 2nd, 2012 at 7:14 AM
Hello puteri,
No problem. Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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thanks alot
[Reply]
alex Reply:
April 10th, 2012 at 10:20 AM
Hello ahmad,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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If I check telnet client in windows features option in my windows 7 I get “An error has occured.Not all of the features were successfully changed”.I tried pkgmgr /iu:TelnetClient this one as wel but could turn on telnet.Please reply me with full rpocedure by sending me mail.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
May 29th, 2012 at 11:47 AM
Hello saurabh,
We offer these articles to provide informational howtos for free not to offer personal support to each person so you won’t be getting an email direct from us other than the automated one sent when a reply to your message is posted. As for it not working on your computer I would check the Windows 7 version and other than that it should work without issue.
Thanks.
alex
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Thanks a lot!
[Reply]
alex Reply:
August 8th, 2012 at 3:11 PM
Hello Yogesh,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
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Thank you, solved my problem.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
December 27th, 2012 at 9:47 AM
Hello Adam,
No problem. Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
thanks it worked out for me…
[Reply]
alex Reply:
December 22nd, 2012 at 4:50 PM
Hello sai,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
hey alex
i did that and also after doing it the same message appear when i used to type the commenad telnet !! what can i do please help
[Reply]
alex Reply:
February 4th, 2013 at 3:15 PM
Hello asem,
Not sure then. It would sound like you are using a user that does not have admin privileges. You might try rebooting to make sure the changes take effect.
Thanks.
alex
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