Environment variables in Windows Vista, 7, and 8|What they are and how to find them

Much of the discussion given in the article on Windows XP environment

variables is applicable to Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 . However, there
are some differences and some new variables and we will look at what has
changed. The table below shows common preset environment variables in the
two operating systems. Changes from Windows XP are noted in red. More
technical terms about things like the processor architecture are omitted.

Table I. Some more common predefined environment variables in

Windows Vista, 7, 8
Variable
Typical value (may vary)
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%

C:\ProgramData

%APPDATA%

C:\Users\(username}\AppData\Roaming

%CommonProgramFiles% C:\Program Files\Common Files

%COMPUTERNAME%

{computername}

%COMSPEC%

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe

%HOMEDRIVE%

C: or sometimes D:

%HOMEPATH%

\Users\{username}

%LOCALAPPDATA%

C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local

%PATH%

Varies. Includes
C:\Windows\System32\;C:\Windows\

%PATHEXT%

.COM; .EXE; .BAT; .CMD; .VBS; .VBE;

.JS ; .WSF; .WSH; .MSC

%ProgramData%

C:\ProgramData

%PROGRAMFILES%

Directory containing program files,

usually C:\Program Files

%ProgramFiles(x86)%

In 64-bit systems, directory containing

32-bit programs. Usually C:\Program
Files (x86)

%PROMPT%

Code for current command prompt

format. Code is usually $P$G

%Public%

C:\Users\Public

%SYSTEMDRIVE%

The drive containing the Windows root

directory, usually C:

%SYSTEMROOT%

The Windows root directory, usually

C:\Windows

%TEMP% and %TMP%

C:\Users\{Username}
\AppData\Local\Temp

%USERNAME%

{username}

%USERPROFILE%

C:\Users\{username}

%WINDIR%

Usually C:\Windows

Note the changes from Windows XP for the locations of many of the personal
files and settings. For example, the "Documents and Settings" folder is gone

http://windows7tips.com/environment-variables-windows-vista-7.html[10/19/2015 11:57:58 PM]

Environment variables in Windows Vista, 7, and 8|What they are and how to find them

and there is now a "Users" folder. There are also four new environment
variables listed in Table I. These are:
%CommonProgramFiles%
%LocalAppdata%
%ProgramData%
%Public%
The common dynamic variables are similar to those given for XP.

Changes in environment variables between

Vista and Windows 7 or 8
There are few changes in the common variables in going from Windows Vista to
Windows 7 or Windows 8. As far as I can tell, there is only one worth
mentioning. Windows 7 and 8 come with the newer Microsoft command line
shell called Powershell. There is an environment variable %PSModulePath%
that gives the path to the files for the command line shell. This is usually
C:\windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\

List environment variables in Windows 7 or 8

using PowerShell
In the classical command line, environment variables can be listed with the
"set" command. Beginning with Windows7, Microsoft began including the newer
command shell called "PowerShell". The command for listing environment
variables in this newer shell is Get-ChildItem Env:

http://windows7tips.com/environment-variables-windows-vista-7.html[10/19/2015 11:57:58 PM]