Below are a few basic examples of how to read and set Environment Variables using a VBS Script.
Create a new Permanent System Environment Variable
The below example creates a new permanent System Environment variable called “test” with the value “Hello World!”
If you get an Access Denied message on Vista the fault of “User Account Control”
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objEnv = objShell.Environment("SYSTEM")
objEnv("test") = "Hello World!"
Create a new Permanent User Environment Variable
The below example creates a new permanent User Environment variable called “test” with the value “Hello World!”
If you get an Access Denied message on Vista the fault of “User Account Control”
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objEnv = objShell.Environment("USER")
objEnv("test") = "Hello World!"
Reading a System Environment Variable
The below example shows how to read a System Environment Variable called “test”
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objEnv = objShell.Environment("System")
wscript.echo objEnv("test")
Reading a User Environment Variable
The below example shows how to read a User Environment Variable called “test”
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objEnv = objShell.Environment("User")
wscript.echo objEnv("test")
Practical Example: Appending to the System Environment Variable “Path”
One of my more common reasons for playing around with Environment Variables
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objEnv = objShell.Environment("System")
'What we want to add
PathToAdd = "C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Notes"
'Get the current value of Path
oldSystemPath = objEnv("PATH")
'Build the new Path
newSystemPath = oldSystemPath & ";" & PathToAdd
'Set the new Path
objEnv("PATH") = newSystemPath
wscript.echo "Complete"
