Add or change environment variables

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To add or change environment variables

Open Computer Management.
In the console tree, right-click Computer Management (Local), and then click Properties.
On the Advanced tab, under Environment Variables, click Settings.
Select a user in the User variables for list.
Click the name of the user or system variable you want to change or delete.
- Click New to add a new variable name and value.
- Click Edit to change a current variable name and value.
- Click Delete to remove a variable name and value.

Notes

You are not required to have administrative credentials to create, edit or delete variables under User variables for. Therefore, as a security best practice, consider performing this task as a user without administrative credentials. You must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer in order to create, edit or delete the variables listed under System variables. For more information, see Default local groups.
To open Computer Management, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
To perform this procedure on a remote computer, right-click Computer Management (Local), click Connect to another computer, select Another computer, and then type in the name of the remote computer. You can then follow the steps in this procedure, starting at step 2, and substituting Computer Management (remote computername) for Computer Management (Local). You must be a member of the Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority, on the computer that you specify for remote computername.
Changes in the registry are saved so they are available automatically the next time you start your computer.
Changes do not affect programs that are running and may not take effect until you restart your computer.

Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.