i was installing sdk tools on my computer and was prompted to add the sdk's primary tool's dir to my system's PATH. so i was promted to right click on my computer, and select properties. under the advanced tab i hit the environment variables button, and in the dialog that came up i double clicked on PATH (UNDER SYSTEM VARIABLES). i deleted whatever was on there and added the dir i was prompted to which was (c:/program files/sdk/tools) well im afraid i made a big mistake cause now my computer will not work properly. like when i try to run other programs which require java i get a message that java is not installed when it is. also my System restore tool wont work, i recieved an error #(0x81000202) says the volume shadow copy service (vss) used by system restore is not working. i dont know if this is directly related to that but i need some help. thanks. using windows vista, service pack 1, 32-bit

What operating system and service pack? Maybe more or less but at least %SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem; My 2008 x64 %SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies\ 2003 x86 C:\Program Files\Support Tools\;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\80\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\Binn\VSShell\Common7\IDE\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies\ (also watch those foward slashes) Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft MVP [Windows]

im using windows vista,service pack 1,32-bit. do i just copy all that and paste in PATH?

Surprised you asked in a server group. Here's from a vista box. %CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\ Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft MVP [Windows]

sorry! im new here and wasnt sure of where to post. anyways thanks that worked! really apreaciate that! do you know anything about my system restore problem? unfortuanately that still doesnt work. i get the same vss not working problem.

Good to hear it worked. I'd ask them here about system restore. http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/windowsvista Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft MVP [Windows]