I use several DOS based programs on my server, which is currently a Novell 3.2, and i can not seem to create any search maps in Windows 2000. The way that i run the programs on win98 is through a simple batch file which inserts a search map to the executable file and when the program exits it deletes the search path. However with Win2K it won't allow me to create a search path, just a drive map. MAP INS S2:=SYS:LIMS SET DFPATH=.;\LIMS SET DFPROG=\LIMS FLEX MAP DEL S2: SET DFPATH= SET DFPROG= As you can see the first step of the program will work fine, except it creates a drive map instead of a search map, so it will not find the executable file to launch the program. I have been trying several variations to the map ins command, but i still can't figure out how i can get the search map to be created. After i run the batch file my mappings look like this. Does anyone know how to fix this problem. I have been looking into this for some time now and can't seem to get anywhere with it. Thanks, Robert

According to Novell TID 10063443: Windows NT and Windows 2000 "assemble" the environment string from three different places in the following order: the system environment (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment), the user's environment (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment) and the volatile environment (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Volatile Environment). This is a fundamental design difference between MS-DOS and MS-DOS-based operating systems such as Windows 9x. The environment on MS-DOS platforms is stored only in memory, whereas on Windows NT the environment is registry-based with persistence. (i.e. Normally if you set a variable, it remains set and does not disappear at reboot.) Microsoft provided for functionality that required the more "volatile" nature of environment variables that MS-DOS exhibited by use of the "Volatile Environment" in Windows NT. Any variables set in the volatile environment do not persist and are cleared at logout/reboot. Search drive mappings are added to the PATH variable by virtue of the volatile environment so that drives added to the path do not persist past the user's current logged-on session. Windows assembles the PATH variable using information from the "Volatile Environment" last, so paths added via "MAP INS Sx:" are relative only to other PATH entries also in the "Volatile Environment". Putting the drives into the system environment would not be appropriate because the system environment is machine-wide and affects more than the current user. LP