Files, Folders and Windows OS Questions

How do I find out what Windows operating system I'm running?

You'll need to go to Control Panel/System to find out:

Choose Control Panel from the start menu (or click on the Control Panel tile in Windows 8.x and later):

Click on "System" in the Control Panel:

The System dialog will show you the pertinent information. This computer is running Windows 7 and it is the 64-bit edition of Windows 7:

The program msinfo32 is also useful to find out information about your system. In a command prompt window, enter the command msinfo32.exe to run the program.

How can I find out where my home directory and temp directory are located?

A quick way to find out where important folders are located is to start a command prompt window and type in the command 'set':

The set command shows you the current settings of your environment variables. Here are some important ones you should know about:

TEMP		The folder where temporary files can be safely created and deleted by software applications. This folder must exist and have read/write permissions by your login. AMT applications use the temp folder for a variety of purposes so it is important that this is correctly setup.
HOMEDRIVE		The drive letter where your home directory is located.
HOMEPATH		The folder where your home directory is located. HOMEDRIVE + HOMEPATH = full path to your home directory. When an AMT application starts, it will want to begin in your home directory initially so it is important that your home directory be correctly set and that the folder allows your login read/write access to the folder.
APPDATA		The folder where applications will store data files unique to your login. For example, ExpertCAD configuration files (e.g. ExpertCAD.cfg) are saved in the directory: APPDATA + AMT Software\ExpertCAD (C:\Users\Dewey\AppData\Roaming\AMT Software\ExpertCAD for the login shown above)
ProgramData		The folder under which applications will put data files and folders they need to run properly. Folders and files are created when the application software is installed. Unless you have Administrator rights, these folders and files are read-only. For example, ExpertCAD needs it's stroked font files to draw and print text. It creates the directory: ProgramFiles + AMT Software\ExpertCAD\Fonts on installation and then addes the font files to this directory. The data files stored here are independent of the operating system and processor type (i.e. the same data files are installed for 32 bit and 64 bit versions of the software.
ProgramFiles		The folder under which applications will create folders to install their executable programs. Unless you have Administrator rights, these folders and files are read-only. For example, when installing ExpertCAD 2014, all programs are installed in the path: ProgramFiles + AMT Software\ExpertCAD 2014\
ProgramFiles(x86)		The folder under which applications will create folders to install their executable programs if you are installing 32-bit software on a 64 bit Windows operating system. Unless you have Administrator rights, these folders and files are read-only. For example, when installing the 32-bit version of ExpertCAD 2014, all programs are installed in the path: ProgramFiles(x86) + AMT Software\ExpertCAD 2014\