Proper Directory Structure / Path for Rails Install

I have Ruby installed & working but I’ve been having all kinds of
trouble installing Rails on Win XP. For example, if I just do the “gem
install rails” command, it does not recoginze gem as a proper command.
If I cd into the ruby\bin directory, it does but then cannot find the
local rails file. If I specify the full path for rails, it finds the
file & begins the install but errors out complaining, “No metadata
found!”

All this leads me to believe I need to know what directory / file
structure and what Path command I need to set up and use.

Anyone know where some good documentation on this can be found? Or,
could you easily share yours with me?

Thanks, -Rhe.