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On Windows 10 I use the old (WinXP) pbrush.exe instead of the new "ribbon UI" version (never mind why; that is not the question). I had to obtain the old exe from an XP image and keep it in a separate folder, since if I replace the primary version then it periodically gets reverted by Windows File Protection.
I want the command "pbrush" to launch my XP version and not the Win10 version. So I tried adding the extra folder to my PATH system variable. That works from a command prompt, but for some reason it doesn't work from the Start>Run box (the one that appears when you press WinKey+R); that Run box still launches the Win10 pbrush. Why is that, and how can I fix it?
1Try renaming the Windows 10 version of pbrush.exe to something else – wysiwyg – 2018-05-11T18:45:40.290
EDIT: I actually can't find a pbrush.exe here, and I've only used
mspaint
in the past. Perhaps it's an alias or something? – wysiwyg – 2018-05-11T18:55:07.060wysiwyg: I don't believe this will help because, as I stated, Windows File Protection periodically restores things to how they were. I suppose I should just choose another filename to use, but it seems stupid that I can't fully control my own computer any more. – equin0x80 – 2018-05-12T21:53:05.603
By the way, I think there might be some special cases in the guts of Windows that associate certain old names with new names, like "mspaint/pbrush" and "write/wordpad". I can't source it but I feel as though I've read this somewhere -- it might perhaps have been Microsoft's Raymond Chen (of the "Old New Thing" blog). – equin0x80 – 2018-05-12T21:55:50.703