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This page was last updated on February 07, 2010

Sometimes you are told by a software (especially the development tools like Python, GCC etc) to add their folder's path to the system PATH variable. The effect of adding a folder to the system PATH variable is that when you issue a command in the command line window, or in the Run box, Windows would search all the folders listed in the system PATH variable.

Open System Properties by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Properties. You can also open the System Properties window by pressing the key combination Windows logo key + Pause. The Windows key is the key on the side of the Alt key with a Windows logo printed on it.

1. Click on the Advanced tab to select it.
2. Click on the button labeled Environment variables.
3. Click on the PATH in list of System variables to select it.
4. Click on the button labeled Edit.
   
5. Click in the text field labeled Variable value and move the cursor to the end by pressing the End key. Append a semicolon (;) in the end if not already there. After the semi-colon you just type in the end, type the folder path you wanted to add to the system PATH variable. For example, if you wanted to add c:\python25, type c:\python25.
6. Click the button labeled OK to save the changes. Close all the windows opened in the process, by clicking on the respective OK buttons.