How to append a registry key value that has spaces in it?

Question

I found the following page (How do I modify the data of an existing registry key value name from cmd?) and it was extermely helpful, but I have a further question.

My PATH has a value that includes "c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\", and I'd like to add "P:\SQL" to it. When I run the script below, my PATH will then look like "C:\Program;P:\SQL". What needs to be modified so my PATH will look like "c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;P:\SQL"?

Here is what I have:

for /F "skip=2 tokens=3" %%r in ('reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment" /v Path') do set oldVal=%%r    
echo previous=%oldVal%    
set newVal=%oldVal%;P:SQL    
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment" /v Path /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d %newVal% /f

Thanks.

Answer 1

How do I add a value to my PATH?

My PATH has a value that includes "c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\", and I'd like to add "P:\SQL" to it

Why are you reading/writing the registry?

Just use setx to add a value to your PATH:

setx PATH "%PATH%;P:\SQL" /m

Note:

• /m Set the variable in the system environment HKLM.

  (The default is the local environment HKCU)

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Further Reading

• An A-Z Index of the Windows CMD command line - An excellent reference for all things Windows cmd line related.
• setx - Set environment variables permanently, SETX can be used to set Environment Variables for the machine (HKLM) or currently logged on user (HKCU).
• What are PATH and other environment variables, and how can I set or use them?

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Answer 2

If you really want to tamper the registry you do so the following, but at your own risk

@echo off
set new_value=;P:/SQL     ::set the new value here

set key="HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment"
for /F "delims= skip=2" %%r in ('reg query %key% /v "Path"') do set old_value=%%r
set old_value=%old_value:    Path    REG_SZ    =%
set new_value=%old_value%%new_value%
reg add %key% /v "Path" /d "%new_value%" /f

I must say, this is rather very crude way to do this. Always remember to take a backup of the registry before altering it.