Start > Run > cmd is getting lost

When I hit Start, then go to Run... and type in "cmd" I end up on a prompt in my E:\long complex path/My Documents and Settings

I would prefer to get to C:\ since that is where my Windows installation is. I followed the instructions here, but no change.

 

Command Prompt - Change the command prompt to C:

Start/Run/Regedit

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun. In the right pane, double click Autorun and type in: cd\ as the value data.

Other options:

This setting allows you to change the format of the command prompt to show additional information instead of just the current drive and path ("C:\>"). To do so, go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment. In the right pane, double click the REG_EXPAND_SZ string named PROMPT and modify the Value data accordingly:

Special Codes

$A - & (Ampersand)
$B - | (pipe)
$C - ( (Left parenthesis)
$D - Current date
$E - Escape code (ASCII code 27)
$F - ) (Right parenthesis)
$G - > (greater-than sign)
$H - Backspace (erases previous character)
$L - < (less-than sign)
$N - Current drive
$P - Current drive and path
$Q - = (equal sign)
$S - (space)
$T - Current time
$V - Windows XP version number
$_ - Carriage return and linefeed
$$ - $ (dollar sign)

Variables

%USERNAME% - Current Username
%COMPUTERNAME% - Local computer name
%USERDOMAIN% - Local domain name

The default prompt is "$P$G" (e.g. "C:\>"), some alternatives include:

[%computername%]$S$P$G to show the computer, drive and path
[%username%]$S$P$G to show the current user, drive and path

Restart or log-off Windows for the change to take effect.

 

Or~ Just paste this into a New Shortcut Wizard:
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /k cd \

 

You might also try using a shortcut icon. If you right-click on the desktop and select New=>Shortcut you'll get the Create Shortcut wizard. Just enter C:\WINNT\system32\CMD.EXE or if your's is different choose Browse and search in the System32 directory for CMD.EXE. Once the shortcut is on the desktop, right-click on it and choose Properties. On the property dialog, you'll see the line Start in:. Edit this so that it shows C:\. Click on Apply and OK. It's a bit quicker than Registry editing.

 

So apparently I have a C:\Windows directory and an E:\WINDOWS directory. the one on C:\ has a Temp folder and nothing else. The one on E: has all the Windows things. Bizzarre. I found cmd.exe in E:\WINDOWS\System32, so I created a shortcut to it on the desktop.

It takes me to a DOS prompt at "E:\WINDOWS\System32>_" which looks similar enough to the terminal from my Ubuntu installation that I am happy with it.