Command to restart the command promp itself (in Windows 7)?

Question

Whenever I change environment variable(in Windows 7) I have to exit and start the command prompt. This is necessary or the changes are not reflected.
Is there any command (or simple method) to restart the command prompt at the same location ?

Update: techie007's original solution start cmd && exit did answered what my question literally meant. But it did not solve my problem. Looks like there is no simple method. I tried the scripts given at Stack Overflow. The scripts worked for me so I mark techie007's answer as accepted.

Answer 1

C:\> start cmd should do the trick to open a new command prompt window in the current folder.

You could also use C:\> start cmd && exit to open a new CMD prompt and then close the window you launched it from, if it managed to open it successfully.

Use just one & to have it close the launching window regardless of success.

edit: Now that grawity was nice enough to point out that I didn't comprehend... :)

There's (intentionally) no inherent way to do this in Windows.

This question was also asked on Stack Overflow and there's some good explanations and a possible script-based work-around there:

Is there a command to refresh environment variables from the command prompt in Windows?

Answer 2

Try this script: update-env.cmd

Edit: Inline script removed due to tab→space mangling by SuperUser. Use the "Raw" link in the above page to download.

This works since, when ran interactively, batch scripts run in the parent context for historical reasons, and have the ability to update the interactive shell's environment.

Answer 3

You're not actually setting any environment variables of any form when you modify the registry via My Computer.

Environment variables are not kept in the registry. What is kept in the registry is a template, from which programs like Windows Explorer (re-)construct their environment variables when notified to do so. Actual environment variables are per-process and are stored in each process' own address space, initially inherited from its parent process and modifiable thereafter at the process' whim. The programs like Windows Explorer participate in a voluntary protocol, whereby they will re-read the template, and update their own per-process environment whenever a Windows message is broadcast to all (top-level) windows on a desktop.

Many Win32 programs do not participate in this voluntary protocol. Microsoft's command interpreter is one such program. To modify an environment variable within a running Microsoft command interpreter process, one uses the ordinary command interpreter commands for modifying environment variables, such as SET, DPATH, and PATH. The modified environment will be inherited by every process that the command interpreter spawns.

Similarly, the modified environment in a Windows Explorer process is only inherited by processes that are spawned by Windows Explorer after it has received the message and re-read the template. The environment variables of an already running process are not affected by modifications made by other processes to their own environment variables. An already running Microsoft command interpreter won't magically gain a changed environment from the Windows Explorer process that spawned it before the change. Furthermore, grandchildren of Windows Explorer only inherit from their parent, the command interpreter, and so don't inherit any environment changes that Windows Explorer has made to its own environment.

Other command interpreters differ. JP Software's TCC, for example, itself participates in the voluntary protocol. It will recognize the Windows message, and update its own per-process environment from the template in the registry, when its "Update Environment on System Change" setting is enabled.