Java thinks my home folder is the C drive?

Question

For some reason, I must have changed some configuration or something, because, in a brand new project, I am entering this:

System.out.println(System.getProperty("user.home"));

and getting the following output:

C:\

Whereas before, it used to return something like C:\Users\...

Is there a configuration file I need to clear?

that actually returns the literal text `%HOME%` in Windows XP... — Redandwhite, Oct 02 '12 at 15:20
@pb2q That just prints `%HOME%`, even on my machines (Win7/8/XP/Server 2003). There is no `HOME` on Windows like there is in Unix, and Java almost certainly doesn't use it if you define it. — Brian, Oct 02 '12 at 15:20
type set in the command prompt and look at the HOMEPATH environment variable. — george.zakaryan, Oct 02 '12 at 15:22
bah windows. sorry: type `echo %HOMEDRIVE%`, `echo %HOMEPATH%` — pb2q, Oct 02 '12 at 15:22
Does it have anything to do with this: http://www.timehat.com/javas-user-home-is-wrong-on-windows/ ? — davidfmatheson, Oct 02 '12 at 15:30
@davidfmatheson I found it in a search, but it sadly has nothing to do with this. — Redandwhite, Oct 02 '12 at 15:32
**AFTER A RESTART** of my virtual environment, the problem completely cleared up. I would like to investigate why this happened... — Redandwhite, Oct 02 '12 at 15:34
@Redandwhite check if this is the bug http://bugs.sun.com/view_bug.do?bug_id=4787931 — gtgaxiola, Oct 02 '12 at 15:35

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 02 '12 at 16:57

When you invokes the “System.getProperty("user.home");” in your code, the JVM does not use the Windows environment variable to determine the location of the user’s profile, but instead access the registry key that references the user’s desktop directory. It then takes the parent directory of the desktop and assumes that is the user’s profile directory. So please check the registry entry of your Desktop directory in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders\ & update it accordingly. If the value of registery key for your Desktop directory is “C:\\”, the JVM returns the value “C:\” while you invokes “System.getProperty("user.home");” in your code. For example if you could modify the Desktop key entery in the registery to “C:\Users\YourName\Desktop”, you will get “C:\Users\YourName” while invoking the “System.getProperty("user.home");” in your code.

Thank you!

It should also be noted that this logic is wrong - there's no guarantee that the parent of the desktop folder is a sensible place. It might not even belong to the user, e.g., if the desktop folder is something like `\\fileserver\desktops\alice`. So it is probably best to avoid using the `user.home` property altogether. — Harry Johnston, Oct 02 '12 at 21:29

Java thinks my home folder is the C drive?

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