Is there a short cut command in Windows command prompt to get to the current users home directory like there is in Linux?

Question

I am used to using

cd ~

to get right into my home directory. In windows command prompt I have to do

cd Users\username

to get there. Is there a shortcut like the Linux one? It would be nice if I could get there by doing

cd username

Any ideas on how to do this in Windows Vista?

Thanks,
Adam

Answer 1

You can always put a .bat-File somewhere in your %PATH% which does the path changing for you.

Answer 2

Dunno if its a feature of our work login script or a windows default, but I can use cd %HOMEPATH% to achieve that, where HOMEPATH is an environment variable.

Answer 3

Yes, you can use %HOMEPATH%, which is the full path of the user's home directory.

There are quite a few other useful variables available, such as %OS% (Operating System), or %WINDIR% (Windows system directory). See e.g.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/ntcmds_shelloverview.mspx?mfr=true

for a list.

Answer 4

If you want all user's commmand prompts to start in their "home" directory, create the following registry key as an Expandable String Value (sans quotes, of course):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun : "cd /d %USERPROFILE%"

If you want only your command prompts to do it:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun : "cd /d %USERPROFILE%"

I make it a practice to keep a c:\Scripts folder in which I keep an "autoexec"-type batch file which I invoke via this key.