After trial and error, encountering several contradictory posts on a variety of forums, I finally found the right text to include in the Windows environmental path statement:

%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\gs\gs9.09\lib;C:\Program Files (x86)\gs\gs9.09\bin

ref: https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/858341

Just can't understand why it does not work without these.. Don't know what these statements are either, but they work! LOL!
For the record, I am using ps postscript exports from Cartes du Ciel to create starcharts in Inkscape.

Best regards, OJ, Sola, Norway

Hi

Great tip! The environment path statment "helps" your operating system find the necessary executables to perform the task at hand.

Best Regard
Ragnar - Stavanger / Houston

I'm using Windows 8 x64. Is it the same thing? Do I have to write everything, including the '%' signs?