Windows 2000 Administration in a Nutshell

Name

environment variable

Synopsis

Add, delete, and set environment variables.

Procedures

Environment variables are created, deleted, and configured using the System utility in the Control Panel (see System for more information). You can also right-click on the root node of the Computer Management console to display or modify the environment variables for the computer to which the console is currently connected.

Add or Delete an Environment Variable

Start → Settings → Control Panel → System → Advanced → Environment Variables → {New | Delete}

Set an Environment Variable

To set (modify the value of ) an environment variable from the GUI, you can use System in the Control Panel:

System → Advanced → Environment Variables → select a variable → Edit → specify value

You can also rename variables this way, but you should exercise caution as renaming system variables could cause boot failures.

To set a variable from the command line, use the set command (see Chapter 7).

Notes

• Only a member of the Administrators group can add, delete, or set the value of a system environment variable.

• Changes made by the currently logged-on user only affect the user environment variables for that user.

• You may have to reboot your system or close and reopen your application for the new value of an environment variable to take effect.

• Use the setlocal and endlocal commands to set environment variables that are local to a particular batch file.

See Also

environment variable, logon script, System