SprinklerHead
25th June 2003 15:52 UTC

Path Manipulation - Windows 2000
I am having a problem with the Path Manipulation function on a Windows 2000 machine. The installer runs successfully, but even after a reboot the path does not get added [System Properties --> Advanced Tab --> Environment Variables]. In this particular case the PATH variable doesn't exist at all. Any ideas as to why this might be happening? Thanks.

SprinklerHead
25th June 2003 16:50 UTC

OK, the user installed as an Admin, but then changed to a Power User. So the Path gets set for whoever you are when you install, but not for other users I guess.

So, if I change the path manip function so that it writes the path key to HKLM instead of HKCU, wouldn't that do the trick? Is there a reason not to do it that way?

Joost Verburg
25th June 2003 23:25 UTC

I think that should work. Try it :)

kichik
26th June 2003 11:34 UTC

Almost. It should be HKLM "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment".

bigfooot
2nd July 2003 15:19 UTC

Originally posted by kichik
Almost. It should be HKLM "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment".

SprinklerHead
9th July 2003 16:07 UTC

A few more questions about this.

Which Sendmessage should I use given that I am going to right to HKLM "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment"?

SendMessage ${HWND_BROADCAST} ${WM_WININICHANGE} 0 "STR:Environment" /TIMEOUT=5000

SendMessage ${HWND_BROADCAST} ${WM_SETTINGCHANGE} 0 "STR:Environment" /TIMEOUT=5000

What is the difference between WM_WININICHANGE and WM_SETTINGCHANGE?

kichik
10th July 2003 13:30 UTC

WM_SETTINGCHANGE is the exact same thing as WM_WININICHANGE. It's even defined this way in MSVC's header files:

#define WM_SETTINGCHANGE           WM_WININICHANGE