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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?

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    Try renaming the Windows 10 version of pbrush.exe to something else
    – wysiwyg
    May 11, 2018 at 18:45
  • 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
    May 11, 2018 at 18:55
  • wysiwyg: 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
    May 12, 2018 at 21:53
  • 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
    May 12, 2018 at 21:55

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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You can directly put a shortcut (.lnk file) to your executable under: %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu.

That should be enough, however, it may be that it cannot overwrite default names, so you would have to change "Paintbrush" to something else like "PaintbrushXP".

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  • Thanks for the suggestion, but this doesn't seem to work.
    – equin0x80
    May 12, 2018 at 21:52
  • Ah, I misread your question. You actually don't have to use Win+R for launching a program. With my solution you just press the Win Key and directly enter the program/link name.
    – T Nierath
    May 13, 2018 at 4:19
  • I don't want to do that because Winkey+R works instantly, but Winkey alone (opening Start menu) is very slow. My computer is old and it's important to me that I can work very quickly.
    – equin0x80
    May 19, 2018 at 3:10
  • I see. You could try Launchy. It's old, but should still work after some adjustments, or maybe creating a Hardlink mklink /H to change the programs name could work? Hope something works out for you.
    – T Nierath
    May 19, 2018 at 4:23

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