title: Emacs: How to use shell command prompt with emacs?
body: <p>I am trying to use the shell command to facilitate commands like adding directories, etc. while in emacs. I am having problems getting it to work.</p>
  
  <p>I enter <code>M-!</code> and then my minibuffer says <code>Shell command:</code> but none of my commands are accepted. For example, entering <code>pwd</code> or <code>ls</code> I get messages like <code>pwd is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file.</code>. Any suggestions? </p>
  
  <p>I used this reference, but it does not seem to help with my situation:</p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.nongnu.org/emacsdoc-fr/manuel/shell.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.nongnu.org/emacsdoc-fr/manuel/shell.html</a></p>
  
  <p><strong>Extra Info</strong>
  I am using Windows 7 OS. I also have cygwin64 installed, if that matters. Is emacs just connecting to an external shell, or is the shell built into emacs? If the shell is external, can I connect to cygwin64 (although it may not be worth the trouble). </p>
  
  <p>Any suggestions on how to configure this properly? I found the following resource, but I am not sure whether this is the right direction: <a href="http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsApp" rel="nofollow">http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsApp</a></p>