Microsoft KB Archive/821761

= Changes that you make to environment variables do not affect services that run under the Local System account until you restart Windows =

Article ID: 821761

Article Last Modified on 6/25/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

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SYMPTOMS
If you update environment variables or add new environment variables, you must restart the computer before the changes that you make affect services that run under the Local System account.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs because services that run under the Local System account inherit their environment from the Services.exe process. The Services.exe process receives the environment settings for the Local System account when Windows starts. Because the Services.exe process does not use Windows Messaging, when it receives messages that indicate that a value has changed after Windows starts, the Services.exe process does not update its environment settings. You cannot force a service that is running to acknowledge a dynamic change to the environment of the Local System account.



MORE INFORMATION
For more information about environment variables, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

311843 How to create system variables in Windows 2000

Keywords: kbwinservsetup kbprb KB821761

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