Sounds like you’re hitting a classic issue that many new Python users face! First off, it’s great that you’re diving into Python. The fact that the command isn’t recognized usually boils down to the PATH environment variable not including the directory where Python is installed.

Here’s a simple way to check if Python is installed correctly:

1. Open Command Prompt (you can search for “cmd” in your start menu).
2. Type py --version or python --version and hit Enter.
3. If you see a version number, then Python is indeed installed. If not, read on!

To add Python to your PATH, follow these steps:

1. Find out where Python is installed. This is usually something like C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\PythonXX (XX is the version number).
2. Go to your Control Panel and search for “Environment Variables.”
3. Click on “Edit the system environment variables.”
4. Click the “Environment Variables” button.
5. In the “System variables” section, look for the “Path” variable and select it, then click “Edit.”
6. Add a new entry with the path to your Python installation (e.g., C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\PythonXX) and also add the Scripts directory (it’s usually C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\PythonXX\Scripts).
7. Click OK to close all windows.

Once you’ve set that up, restart your terminal (or Command Prompt) and try running python or python3 again. Fingers crossed!

As for running a simple “Hello World” script, once Python is recognized, create a new file called hello.py using any text editor and add the following:

print("Hello, World!")

Save it, then navigate to the directory where your file is using the terminal and run:

python hello.py

That should work smoothly if everything is set up correctly. Don’t get discouraged—once you get past this hurdle, it’ll be smooth sailing!