windows 7 : environment variable not working

Question

I added an environment variable "qt" with the value "C:\qt\4.3.4\bin" and also added the path in system variable. the path had the below value and I added new value "C:\qt\4.3.4\bin" to the end of it. but still it doesn't work , any idea what's the problem ?

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\;C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\syswow64;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\RationalSDLC\ClearCase\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\RationalSDLC\common;C:\qt\4.3.4\bin"

Answer 1

This problem occurs because windows has a limit of 1024 or 2048 chars length in PATH variable. I wrote a small application to take care this problem and reduce unnecessery text from the PATH environment variable in windows 7. It simply removes duplicates and removes paths that are no longer valid.

you can try it out here: https://github.com/AsafShochet/Environment-Path-Variable-Minimizer

Answer 2

Remember to close and re-open the command prompt after applying changes to environmental variables!!!!