Resetting/Restoring the Windows PATH

Problem:

For some reason you lost your Windows PATH settings and want to restore the previous version:

Solution:

First of you may reset it to the original setting to:

Windows XP:     C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;{plus program paths}
Windows 7:     C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;{plus program paths}

Alternatively you could look for some previous version of the path in the registry. In Windows 7 you would look for "Path" name under Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Environment. If you do not see the previous version of what you would expect, continue down the list "ControlSet002", "..03", etc. The current version will be under Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\....