The environment variable: GIMP and emacs on Vista

Just registered for this one question, not going to lie, don't use tech forums much, use the google and my knowledge to solve my own problems, but I can't find ish on this.

The issue is with the HOME environment variable.
GIMP doesn't need it set (I believe anyways...), but will use c:/users/name/ per default for setting files.
When I installed emacs, I had to set the HOME variable to a directory it could use (so I can add mdoes etc) and set it to C:/emacs
Now that works fine, but then GIMP loads up and creates all of its settings and such anew in that folder, because it'll take that over the actual home variable.

If I set home to c:/users/name then it'll work again, but emacs break. Tried listing two with a semicolon seperation, but as expected (more than one home?), that doesn't work. GIMP will take it if users is first, but emacs breaks either way.

I don't really use GIMP much, but when I do I have to switch around the environment variable. Often times I'd use both at once, but I am unsure of what'll happen if I switch the HOME var around while the apps are running. I was in the process of creating a batch file to apply a regedit then launch the app, but to me, it's not the ideal solution.

So really, my question is, does someone know some way around this?