Impossible to use TL 2023 on Windows

[Zdenek Wagner]

so 13. 5. 2023 v 10:15 odesílatel Siep Kroonenberg <siepo at bitmuis.nl> napsal:
>
> On Fri, May 12, 2023 at 10:20:25PM +0200, Denis Bitouzé wrote:
> > Le 12/05/23 à 20h44, Peter Flynn a écrit :
> >
> > > On 12/05/2023 16:54, Denis Bitouzé wrote:
> > >> Le 11/05/23 à 21h43, Siep Kroonenberg a écrit :
> > >>
> > >>> C:\Windows\System32 is missing from the path.
> > >> Good catch! Problem solved: many thanks!
> > >
> > > Very happy to hear this.
> > >
> > > Next steps: in my ignorance of Windows —
> > >
> > > 1. Do we know the reason why C:\Windows\System32 was missing from the path?
>
> No. This is not easy to do by accident; one might cause this e.g. by
> making a mistake while modifying PATH manually.
>
> > > 2. Is this a common problem? Something the average Windows user is likely to
> > > experience?
>
> No.
>
> > I haven't used Windows in years, but this student seemed to know it
> > well. On the other hand, he didn't know the concept of PATH until
> > I suggested we take a look at it. So it's not impossible that this
> > happened when TL 2021 was deleted.
>
> I don't see how.
>
In Linux, we use a text editor to modify PATH in a file like .bashrc
or bash_profile, in Windows you have to open system properties and
edit the PATH in a relatively short window. It is possible to delete
too much if you modify it manually but C:\Windows\System32 is at the
beginning and the PATH to TeX Live was at the end. Thus I do not see
how it could happen. Probably it is not even connected with
reinstallation of TL. A typical Windows user starts programs by
clicking icons of files or icons on a desktop and the programs are
then started using the full path, thus C:\Windows\System32 might have
been missing for a long time without notice. Did you know that you can
use the "black window" to open a .docx or .xlsx file? You can open the
command prompt and "cd" to a directory with the file, since Windows
2000 tabulator can complete file and directory names, so that you can
go there by typing a few characters and pushing a tabulator a few
times. You the type the name of a file (again using the tabulator for
name completetion) as if it were a program name and press Enter.
Windows will find that it is not a program thus it will look to
associations and open the file in the app which is the default
(exactly as if you clicked the icon of the file).

Zdeněk Wagner
https://www.zdenek-wagner.eu/


> --
> Siep Kroonenberg