Original post:
When I start cmd.exe normally, my PATH variable only contains the paths from the system environment variable. Only when I start cmd.exe as admin does PATH contain a concatenation of the system and user variable.
Why is that and what can I do to change that behavior?
User PATH variable:
C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenVPN\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin;C:\Users\user.name\AppData\Roaming\npm
System PATH variable:
C:\app\user.name\product\11.2.0\client_1;C:\app\user.name\product\11.2.0\client_1\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\GEFASOFT;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\;C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\syswow64;C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\bin\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intel\WirelessCommon\;C:\Program Files\Intel\DMIX;C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Services\IPT\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Shared;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\OEM\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\OEM\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\OEM\12.0\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\OEM\AudioCore\;C:\Program Files (x86)\NTRU Cryptosystems\NTRU TCG Software Stack\bin\;C:\Program Files\NTRU Cryptosystems\NTRU TCG Software Stack\bin\;C:\Program Files\Dell\Dell Data Protection\Access\Advanced\Wave\Gemalto\Access Client\v5\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft ASP.NET\ASP.NET Web Pages\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\lynx\;%systemroot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Windows Performance Toolkit\;%systemroot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Windows Performance Toolkit\;C:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\nodejs\
PATH content in cmd with admin:
C:\app\user.name\product\11.2.0\client_1;C:\app\user.name\product\11.2.0\client_1\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\GEFASOFT;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\;C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\syswow64;C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\bin\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intel\WirelessCommon\;C:\Program Files\Intel\DMIX;C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Services\IPT\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Shared;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\OEM\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\OEM\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\OEM\12.0\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\OEM\AudioCore\;C:\Program Files (x86)\NTRU Cryptosystems\NTRU TCG Software Stack\bin\;C:\Program Files\NTRU Cryptosystems\NTRUTCG Software Stack\bin\;C:\Program Files\Dell\Dell Data Protection\Access\Advanced\Wave\Gemalto\Access Client\v5\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft ASP.NET\ASP.NET Web Pages\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\lynx\;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Windows Performance Toolkit\;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Windows Performance Toolkit\;C:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\nodejs\;C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenVPN\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin;C:\Users\user.name\AppData\Roaming\npm
PATH content in cmd without admin:
C:\app\user.name\product\11.2.0\client_1;C:\app\user.name\product\11.2.0\client_1\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\GEFASOFT;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\;C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\syswow64;C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\bin\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intel\WirelessCommon\;C:\Program Files\Intel\DMIX;C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Services\IPT\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Shared;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\OEM\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\OEM\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Roxio Shared\OEM\12.0\DLLShared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Roxio\OEM\AudioCore\;C:\Program Files (x86)\NTRU Cryptosystems\NTRU TCG Software Stack\bin\;C:\Program Files\NTRU Cryptosystems\NTRUTCG Software Stack\bin\;C:\Program Files\Dell\Dell Data Protection\Access\Advanced\Wave\Gemalto\Access Client\v5\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn\;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft ASP.NET\ASP.NET Web Pages\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\lynx\;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Windows Performance Toolkit\;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Windows Performance Toolkit\;C:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\nodejs\
Also I'm logged in as an administrator and by "run as admin" I mean "run elevated", so it's always the same user.
Update:
The link suggested by smc in the comments mentions a size limit of the system PATH variable (1920) in Windows Server 2003 beyond which the two variables won't be merged. So I started testing, here are my results:
- In non-elevated mode the combined size of the already expanded user and system path variables must not exceed 2045. 2045 + 1 (for the ";" Microsoft inserts between the two variables) = 2046, which (coincidentally?) seems to be an old command line length limitation in Windows 2000.
- In elevated mode the full length of both variables (2047 each, at least in the UI) can be used.
Another difference I've noticed is that in non-elevated mode the only variable that gets expanded is %SystemRoot%. %UserProfile%, %AppData% etc. aren't expanded. Interestingly this behavior can also be seen in the environment variables UI editor: %SystemRoot% gets expanded in the overview while other variables do not. When using an elevated command prompt all variables get expanded. This is regardless of the length of the PATH variables.
So my question still stands: Why is there a difference between elevated and non-elevated mode?
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