GDB not a recognized command - Windows command prompt

Question

I am trying to use GDB to debug a C++ program, but my system is not recognizing gdb as a command. I installed it, along with many other tools, via MinGW. I have not had any problem with the other features I have used (gcc, g++), so the issue doesn't seem to be with my general set up. I have added the MinGW\\bin directory to my PATH. The gdb.exe is in that folder. But it will not run when invoked from my project directory, it simply errors: "'gdb' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file." Is there some step in setup or invocation that I missed for using GDB?

EDIT: Alright, I think I found the problem: there are two MinGW directories in my PATH, one at C:\\MinGW, and another in folder that got installed with some Haskell compilers I used a while ago. It appears to be defaulting to the Haskell folder, perhaps because this directory is listed first. However, this folder contains gcc and g++, but NOT gdb. I was able to get the gdb command working by creating the fstab file in the msys directory, a step I apparently forgot when setting up MinGW. I added my C:\\MinGW directory to it, and now the gdb command is working properly! Out of curiosity, what does this file do?

Also, ideally I would like it to look in the C:\\MinGW directory first, since this is the folder I plan to keep updated, and the one that contains ALL of the various applications. However, the Haskell directory is specified via the system PATH variable, which I've read it's not a good idea to touch. Would switching the order that they appear even fix my problem?

EDIT 2: Not 100% sure what happened, but the gdb command appears to be working now. I have always been using the Windows cmd prompt to run these tools, so per the answer below (that I should not need to mess with msys) I deleted the fstab file, and lo, it still works! However, my second question above still stands: What is the best way to get the compilers to run out of C:\\MinGW\\bin instead of C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Haskell Platform\\2013.2.0.0\\bin? Is moving the Haskell location out of the system PATH and to the end of the user PATH a viable option?

Answer 1

You do not have to run gdb (or gcc and all other MinGW tools for that matter) within msys - it is not like Cygwin in that respect. Had you run it from the Windows cmd console, it should work.

The msys shell is useful for running configure scripts generated by Autoconf used by many Linux originated open source projects, but its environment is independent of the Windows environment.