The current Anaconda download prompts for an upgrade but then does nothing. So I uninstalled and then reinstalled and now I can no longer rund the cmd window. I noticed that the upgrade problems goes back to at least 2020 and the associated issue was close on Github but it clearly still exists. Any thoughts on recovering the cmd window would be appreciated.
I have discovered the problem to both issues. It is caused by the registry entry
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Command Processor
Autorun REG_SZ “if exist”
Consequently cmd opens and then automatically closes. After removing this entry not only did the cmd window open for input but Anaconda now upgrades.
You can find more detail at https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/cant-open-cmd-after-uninstalling-python-anaconda/ which explains this in detail.