Trying to set environment variables in windows powershell

I'm trying to set the %systemroot% environment variable in powershell on windows 10. It's not working.

Here's what I've tried and the results:

$env:SystemRoot = "C:\Windows"
echo %SystemRoot%
%SystemRoot%
setx SystemRoot "C:\Windows"
SUCCESS: Specified value was saved.
echo %SystemRoot%
%SystemRoot%

What am I doing wrong?

1 Answer

You are mixing up PowerShell and DOS syntax.%SystemRoot% is DOS syntax, the PowerShell syntax is $env:SystemRoot.

The following example will perhaps clarify the difference:

Please note that the change of the value of SystemRoot only applies to this one PowerShell instance (is not system-wide).

Reference:How To Work with Environment Variables in PowerShell.