[node.js] Installing Node.js (and npm) on Windows 10

I had some issues trying to install Node on Windows 10 and found the solution.

The error was as follows:

C:\Users\Stephan>npm
Error: ENOENT, stat 'C:\Users\Stephan\AppData\Roaming\npm'

The solution is below.

I had the same problem, what helped we was turning of my anti virus protection for like 10 minutes while node installed and it worked like a charm.

New installers (.msi downloaded from https://nodejs.org) have "Add to PATH" option. By default it is selected. Make sure that you leave it checked.

In addition to the answer from @StephanBijzitter I would use the following PATH variables instead:

%appdata%\npm
%ProgramFiles%\nodejs

So your new PATH would look like:

[existing stuff];%appdata%\npm;%ProgramFiles%\nodejs

This has the advantage of neiter being user dependent nor 32/64bit dependent.

Everything should be installed in %appdata% (C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming), not 'program files'.

Here's why...

The default MSI installer puts Node and the NPM that comes with it in 'program files' and adds this to the system path, but it sets the user path for NPM to %appdata% (c:\users[username]\appdata\roaming) since the user doesn't have sufficient priveleges to write to 'program files'.

This creates a mess as all modules go into %appdata%, and when you upgrade NPM itself - which NPM themselves recommend you do right away - you end up with two copies: the original still in 'program files' since NPM can't erase that, and the new one inn %appdata%.

Even worse, if you mistakenly perform NPM operations as admin (much easier on Windows then on *nix) then it will operate on the 'program files' copy of NPM node_modules. Potentially a real mess.

So, when you run the installer simply point it to %appdata% and avoid all this.

And note that this isn't anything wierd - it’s what would happen if you ran the installer with just user priveleges.

go to http://nodejs.org/

and hit the button that says "Download For ..."

This'll download the .msi (or .pkg for mac) which will do all the installation and paths for you, unlike the selected answer.

You should run the installer as administrator.

1. Run the command prompt as administrator
2. cd directory where msi file is present
3. launch msi file by typing the name in the command prompt
4. You should be happy to see all node commands work from new command prompt shell

The reason why you have to modify the AppData could be:

1. Node.js couldn't handle path longer then 256 characters, windows tend to have very long PATH.
2. If you are login from a corporate environment, your AppData might be on the server - that won't work. The npm directory must be in your local drive.

Even after doing that, the latest LTE (4.4.4) still have problem with Windows 10, it worked for a little while then whenever I try to:

$ npm install _some_package_ --global 

Node throw the "FATAL ERROR CALL_AND_RETRY_LAST Allocation failed - process out of memory" error. Still try to find a solution to that problem.

The only thing I find works is to run Vagrant or Virtual box, then run the Linux command line (must matching the path) which is quite a messy solution.