How do you use environment variables, such as %CommonProgramFiles%, in the PATH and have them recognized by services.exe?

Posted by Brad Knowles on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by Brad Knowles
Published on 2010-06-09T23:13:29Z Indexed on 2012/12/16 5:07 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 470

Filed under:

Windows

|

environment-variables

|

path

|

sysinternals

I'm trying to add C:\Program Files\Common Files\xxx\xxx to the system PATH environment variable by appending %CommonProgramFiles%\xxx\xxx to the existing path.

After rebooting, I open a command prompt and check the PATH. It expands correctly. However, when using Process Explorer from Sysinternals to view the Environment variables on services.exe, it shows the unexpanded version. Coincidentally, the paths using %SystemRoot% expand and are recognized just fine.

I've tried altering the PATH through the Environment Variables window from System Properties and through direct Registry manipulation, neither seems to work.

Is it possible to use other environment variables, besides %SystemRoot% in PATH and have services.exe understand it?

© Server Fault or respective owner

Related posts about Windows

Server 2012 DFS New Member Issue

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I am trying to add a new member to our DFS topology. We have 3 DCs (VMs - VMware) running Windows server 2012, two servers are located in or Primary site and the third at our DR site. Currently the two servers at our primary site are currently replicating DFS (full mesh) and are working fine. I have… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
Microsoft Management Console stops working when I add snap-in to it

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have Windows 7 Ultimate OS. I'm opening mmc.exe as administrator and trying add Certificates or any other snap-in, then while loading that snap-in MMC breaks and displays following message and after that it closes automatically once I click on close button on that message. What could be the problem… >>> More
Handling keyboard and mouse input (Win API)

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
There is a number of ways to catch mouse or keyboard under Windows. So I tried some of them, but every of them has some advantages and drawbacks. I want to ask you: Which method do use? I've tried these: WM_KEYDOWN/WM_KEYUP - Main disadvantage is that, I can't distinguish between left and right-handed… >>> More

Related posts about environment-variables

System Expandable-String Environment Variables Can’t Reference User Environment Variables

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi, I’ve run into a bit of a situation with Windows environment variables. I’ve narrowed it down to what may or may not makes sense and/or possibly be by design. It seems that expandable-string environment variables of the local machine cannot reference environment variables of the current user. For… >>> More
PowerShell: can't modify environment variables

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have an environment variable set via "system properties - advanced - Environment Variables". I modified the variable's value. In cmd, I see the new value. In PowerShell, the value is still the old value. Trying to set it with [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable doesn't have any effect. >>> More
Set environment variables from within a bash shell

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Hi, Is there a way to set environment variables from within a (bash) shell script? I want to set some environment variables on some servers using a small script rather than typing. Some forum posts believe it is impossible. Any Ideas? >>> More
Is there a way to set Windows environment variables from the command line PERMANENTLY

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Is there any way to set permanently set an environment variable system wide from the command line in Windows? something like >systemset newVar=foo or a file to edit would work well too. >>> More
Change environment variables as standard user (Windows 7)

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
When clicking on "Advanced system settings", I need to login as the administrator and hence only edit the administrators environment variables (in addition to the machine wide ones). How do I edit the environment variables of a standard user? Details With the migration to Windows 7, I decided to… >>> More