npm not running

[prabeshkunwar12]

Version

v20.12.2

Platform

windows

Subsystem

No response

What steps will reproduce the bug?

Context

• The issue occurs after upgrading Node.js from a previous version to 20.12.2.
• Prior to the upgrade, npm was functional.
• The error message indicates that the npm module cannot be found in the specified path.

Steps Taken

• Attempted to reinstall npm using both prebuilt installer and Chocolatey package manager.
• Verified that Node.js is installed correctly and accessible via the node command.
• Checked system environment variables and verified that the PATH includes the directory where npm should be installed.

Resolution Steps

• Check the npm installation directory for any missing or corrupted files.
• Ensure that the PATH environment variable includes the directory where npm is installed.
• Try reinstalling npm using a different method.
• Consider downgrading Node.js to a previous version where npm was functioning correctly.

How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

Everytime

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

Expected Behavior

• After upgrading Node.js, npm should continue to function as expected without any errors.
• Running npm -v should output the version of npm installed.

# verifies the right NPM version is in the environment
npm -v # should print `10.5.0`

What do you see instead?

After upgrading Node.js to version 20.12.2, the npm command is not functioning as expected. When attempting to run npm -v, the following error is encountered:

npm -v                                                                                              
node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1146                                                                                     
throw err;                                                                                                              
^                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
Error: Cannot find module 'C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\bin\node_modules\npm\bin\npm-cli.js'                    
at Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1143:15)                                                   
at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:984:27)                                                               
at Function.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:135:12)                                  
at node:internal/main/run_main_module:28:49 {                                                                          
code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',                                                                                               
requireStack: []                                                                                                     
}                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
Node.js v20.12.2

Additional information

No response