How do I specify C Program Files without a space in it for programs that can t handle spaces in file paths

Question

A configuration file needs position of another file   but that file is located in  C  Program Files    and the path with space in it is not recognized   Is there another way to specify the location without space in it

User · Answer

As an alternative to the other answers  you can try symbolic links    Create the symbolic link first and install the application based on the link   Depending on the case  this may be way easier to do  for instance when the application has n mentions of the target folder throughout its code         A symbolic link will create something similar to a shortcut to a folder  but seen as an actual folder by other applications      This is how you do it    Run cmd as administrator     User this command  mklink  D  C  LinkToProgramFiles   C  Program Files    And then  you start using  C  LinkToProgramFiles  in the applications that can t handle spaces   This link can be seen in Windows Explorer as a folder with the symbol of a shortcut     Be very careful not to create circular links if you start playing too much with this

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There should be a way to use the full c  program files path directly  Often  it involves encapulating the string in quotes  For instance  on the windows command line   c  program files Internet Explorer iexplore exe    will not start Internet Explorer  but    c  program files Internet Explorer iexplore exe     will

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I think the reason those suggesting using the C  PROGRA 1 name have received downvotes is because those names are seen as a legacy feature of Windows best forgotten  which may also be unstable  at least between different installations  although probably not on the same machine   Also  as someone pointed out in a comment to another answer  Windows can be configured not to have the 8 3 legacy names in the filesystem at all

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Never hardcode this location  Use the environment variables  ProgramFiles  or  ProgramFiles x86     When specifying these  always quote because Microsoft may have put spaces or other special characters in them     ProgramFiles  theapp app exe    ProgramFiles x86   theapp app exe    In addition  the directory might be expressed in a language you do not know  http   www samlogic net articles program-files-folder-different-languages htm   gt set findstr  i  r    program     CommonProgramFiles C  Program Files Common Files CommonProgramFiles x86  C  Program Files  x86  Common Files CommonProgramW6432 C  Program Files Common Files ProgramData C  ProgramData ProgramFiles C  Program Files ProgramFiles x86  C  Program Files  x86  ProgramW6432 C  Program Files   Use these commands to find the values on a machine  DO NOT hardcode them into a program or  bat or  cmd file script  Use the variable   set   findstr  R   Program  set   findstr  R   Common

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you should be able to use     c  Program Files   note the quotes  c  PROGRA 1  the short name notation    Try c    dir  x  in dos shell      This displays the short names   generated for non-8dot3 file names     The format is that of  N with the   short name inserted before the long   name  If no short name is present    blanks are displayed in its place

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No   Sometimes you can quote the filename    C  Program Files Something    Some programs will tolerate the quotes   Since you didn t provide any specific program  it s impossible to tell if quotes will work for you

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You can use the following methods to specify C  Program Files without a space in it for programs that can t handle spaces in file paths    Path to Continuum Reports Subdirectory - Note use DOS equivalent  no spaces  RepPath    c  progra 1 continuum reports   or RepPath   C  Program Files Continuum Reports   si es para 64 bits     Path to Continuum Reports Subdirectory - Note use DOS equivalent  no spaces  RepPath    c  progra 2 continuum reports    or RepPath   C  Program Files  x86  Continuum Reports   si es para 32 bits

User · Answer

You can just create a folder ProgramFiles at local D or local C to install those apps that can be install to a folder name which has a SPACES   Characters on it

User · Answer

Try surrounding the path in quotes  i e  C  Program Files Appname config file

User · Answer

You could try to use    C  PROGRA 1

User · Answer

Either use the generated short name  C  Progra 1  or surround the path with quotation marks

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The Windows shell  assuming you re using CMD exe  uses  ProgramFiles  to point to the Program Files folder  no matter where it is   Since the default Windows file opener accounts for environment variables like this  if the program was well-written  it should support this   Also  it could be worth using relative addresses   If the program you re using is installed correctly  it should already be in the Program Files folder  so you could just refer to the configuration file as   config file txt if its in the same directory as the program  or    other program config file txt if its in a directory different than the other program   This would apply not only on Windows but on almost every modern operating system  and will work properly if you have the  Start In  box properly set  or you run it directly from its folder

User · Answer

I think that the other posts have answered the question  but just some interesting for your information  from the command prompt    dir c    ad  x  This will provide a listing of only directories and also provide their  Short names

User · Answer

Use the following notations    For  C  Program Files   use  C  PROGRA 1  For  C  Program Files  x86    use  C  PROGRA 2    Thanks  lit for your ideal answer in below comment      Use the environment variables  ProgramFiles  and  ProgramFiles x86

[windows] How do I specify C:\Program Files without a space in it for programs that can't handle spaces in file paths?

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