How to set environment variables in win 98

[hvig]

Used to be in wins 3.1 it was easy-- just set the environment variable in the autoexec.bat which ran before windows booted.

I'm trying to set up my web server as a service that starts when the machine boots before anybody logs in to the machine. If I use the same autoexec.bat method, the environment variable (which happens to be a pathname) doesn't get set until after the machine has a user log on at the console. The web server session that started before the user log on has a blank pathname and is not reachable from the web. If I start the server from after the user log on, everything works fine.

Is there another place (and of course, in what file) that I can put the SET command, or equivalent, to get the variable set before the server is started?

Thanks for any help.

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[Sparky625]

Well, I don't know about loading before or after login, but I do know that you can set variables in autoexec.bat and config.sys, like you were saying, and I believe that it can be done in system.ini as well but I can't find anything on the MSKB. Try playing with system.ini or maybe win.ini, and see what you get. http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm7.gif

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[compaqman]

Best option, don't use Win 9x as a web server. If you feel you must, upgrade to ME. Microsoft removed DOS mode out of the OS so all environment variables are put into the sytem files and loaded at startup. Best option for a basic web server would be 2k Pro running IIS 5 which comes with the OS and its much better then Micorosoft Personal Web Server.

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