Variables that are processed for the operating system and in the context of each user
You can use these variables within sections in the .xml files with
context=UserAndSystem,context=User, andcontext=System.
TABLE 1 Variable Explanation ALLUSERSAPPDATA Same as CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA. ALLUSERSPROFILE Refers to %PROFILESFOLDER%\Public or %PROFILESFOLDER%\all users. COMMONPROGRAMFILES Same as CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES_COMMON. COMMONPROGRAMFILES(X86) Refers to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files folder on 64-bit systems. CSIDL_COMMON_ADMINTOOLS Version 10.0. The file-system directory that contains administrative tools for all users of the computer. CSIDL_COMMON_ALTSTARTUP The file-system directory that corresponds to the non-localized Startup program group for all users. CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA The file-system directory that contains application data for all users. A typical path Windows is C:\ProgramData. CSIDL_COMMON_DESKTOPDIRECTORY The file-system directory that contains files and folders that appear on the desktop for all users. A typical Windows® XP path is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop. A typical path is C:\Users\Public\Desktop. CSIDL_COMMON_DOCUMENTS The file-system directory that contains documents that are common to all users. A typical path in Windows XP is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents. A typical path is C:\Users\Public\Documents. CSIDL_COMMON_FAVORITES The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for favorites common to all users. A typical path is C:\Users\Public\Favorites. CSIDL_COMMON_MUSIC The file-system directory that serves as a repository for music files common to all users. A typical path is C:\Users\Public\Music. CSIDL_COMMON_PICTURES The file-system directory that serves as a repository for image files common to all users. A typical path is C:\Users\Public\Pictures. CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS The file-system directory that contains the directories for the common program groups that appear on the Start menu for all users. A typical path is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. CSIDL_COMMON_STARTMENU The file-system directory that contains the programs and folders which appear on the Start menu for all users. A typical path in Windows is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu. CSIDL_COMMON_STARTUP The file-system directory that contains the programs that appear in the Startup folder for all users. A typical path in Windows XP is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. A typical path is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. CSIDL_COMMON_TEMPLATES The file-system directory that contains the templates that are available to all users. A typical path is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Templates. CSIDL_COMMON_VIDEO The file-system directory that serves as a repository for video files common to all users. A typical path is C:\Users\Public\Videos. CSIDL_DEFAULT_APPDATA Refers to the Appdata folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_LOCAL_APPDATA Refers to the local Appdata folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_COOKIES Refers to the Cookies folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_CONTACTS Refers to the Contacts folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_DESKTOP Refers to the Desktop folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_DOWNLOADS Refers to the Downloads folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_FAVORITES Refers to the Favorites folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_HISTORY Refers to the History folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_INTERNET_CACHE Refers to the Internet Cache folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_PERSONAL Refers to the Personal folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_MYDOCUMENTS Refers to the My Documents folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_MYPICTURES Refers to the My Pictures folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_MYMUSIC Refers to the My Music folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_MYVIDEO Refers to the My Videos folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_RECENT Refers to the Recent folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_SENDTO Refers to the Send To folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_STARTMENU Refers to the Start Menu folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_PROGRAMS Refers to the Programs folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_STARTUP Refers to the Startup folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_TEMPLATES Refers to the Templates folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_DEFAULT_QUICKLAUNCH Refers to the Quick Launch folder inside %DEFAULTUSERPROFILE%. CSIDL_FONTS A virtual folder containing fonts. A typical path is C:\Windows\Fonts. CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILESX86 The Program Files folder on 64-bit systems. A typical path is C:\Program Files(86). CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES_COMMONX86 A folder for components that are shared across applications on 64-bit systems. A typical path is C:\Program Files(86)\Common. CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES The Program Files folder. A typical path is C:\Program Files. CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES_COMMON A folder for components that are shared across applications. A typical path is C:\Program Files\Common. CSIDL_RESOURCES The file-system directory that contains resource data. A typical path is C:\Windows\Resources. CSIDL_SYSTEM The Windows System folder. A typical path is C:\Windows\System32. CSIDL_WINDOWS The Windows directory or system root. This corresponds to the %WINDIR% or %SYSTEMROOT% environment variables. A typical path is C:\Windows. DEFAULTUSERPROFILE Refers to the value in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList [DefaultUserProfile]. PROFILESFOLDER Refers to the value in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList [ProfilesDirectory]. PROGRAMFILES Same as CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES. PROGRAMFILES(X86) Refers to the C:\Program Files (x86) folder on 64-bit systems. SYSTEM Refers to %WINDIR%\system32. SYSTEM16 Refers to %WINDIR%\system. SYSTEM32 Refers to %WINDIR%\system32. SYSTEMPROFILE Refers to the value in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\S-1-5-18 [ProfileImagePath]. SYSTEMROOT Refers to the root of the system drive. WINDIR Refers to the Windows folder located on the system drive.
Variables that are recognized only in the user context
You can use these variables in the .xml files within sections with
context=Userandcontext=UserAndSystem.
TABLE 2 Variable Explanation APPDATA Same as CSIDL_APPDATA. CSIDL_ADMINTOOLS The file-system directory that is used to store administrative tools for an individual user. The Microsoft® Management Console (MMC) saves customized consoles to this directory, which roams with the user profile. CSIDL_ALTSTARTUP The file-system directory that corresponds to the user’s non-localized Startup program group. CSIDL_APPDATA The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for application-specific data. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data or C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming. CSIDL_BITBUCKET The virtual folder that contains the objects in the user’s Recycle Bin. CSIDL_CDBURN_AREA The file-system directory acting as a staging area for files waiting to be written to CD. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\MasteredBurning\Disc Burning. CSIDL_CONNECTIONS The virtual folder representing Network Connections that contains network and dial-up connections. CSIDL_CONTACTS This refers to the Contacts folder in %CSIDL_PROFILE%. CSIDL_CONTROLS The virtual folder that contains icons for the Control Panel items. CSIDL_COOKIES The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for Internet cookies. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies. CSIDL_DESKTOP The virtual folder representing the Windows desktop. CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY The file-system directory used to physically store file objects on the desktop, which should not be confused with the desktop folder itself. A typical path is C:\Users\username\Desktop. CSIDL_DRIVES The virtual folder representing My Computer that contains everything on the local computer: storage devices, printers, and Control Panel. The folder may also contain mapped network drives. CSIDL_FAVORITES The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for the user’s favorites. A typical path is C:\Users\Username\Favorites. CSIDL_HISTORY The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for Internet history items. CSIDL_INTERNET A virtual folder for Internet Explorer. CSIDL_INTERNET_CACHE The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for temporary Internet files. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files CSIDL_LOCAL_APPDATA The file-system directory that serves as a data repository for local, non-roaming applications. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Local. CSIDL_MYDOCUMENTS The virtual folder representing My Documents.A typical path is C:\Users\Username\Documents. CSIDL_MYMUSIC The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for music files. A typical path is C:\Users\Username\Music. CSIDL_MYPICTURES The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for image files. A typical path is C:\Users\Username\Pictures. CSIDL_MYVIDEO The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for video files. A typical path is C:\Users\Username\Videos. CSIDL_NETHOOD A file-system directory that contains the link objects that may exist in the My Network Places virtual folder. It is not the same as CSIDL_NETWORK, which represents the network namespace root. A typical path is C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts. CSIDL_NETWORK A virtual folder representing My Network Places, the root of the network namespace hierarchy. CSIDL_PERSONAL The virtual folder representing the My Documents desktop item. This is equivalent to CSIDL_MYDOCUMENTS. A typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents.
CSIDL_PLAYLISTS The virtual folder used to store play albums, typically C:\Users\username\My Music\Playlists. CSIDL_PRINTERS The virtual folder that contains installed printers. CSIDL_PRINTHOOD The file-system directory that contains the link objects that can exist in the Printers virtual folder. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts. CSIDL_PROFILE The user’s profile folder. A typical path is C:\Users\Username. CSIDL_PROGRAMS The file-system directory that contains the user’s program groups, which are themselves file-system directories. A typical path is C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. CSIDL_RECENT The file-system directory that contains shortcuts to the user’s most recently used documents. A typical path is C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent. CSIDL_SENDTO The file-system directory that contains Send To menu items. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo. CSIDL_STARTMENU The file-system directory that contains Start menu items. A typical path in Windows XP is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu. A typical path in Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 is C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu. CSIDL_STARTUP The file-system directory that corresponds to the user’s Startup program group. A typical path is C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. CSIDL_TEMPLATES The file-system directory that serves as a common repository for document templates. A typical path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates. HOMEPATH Same as the standard environment variable. TEMP The temporary folder on the computer. A typical path is %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp. TMP The temporary folder on the computer. A typical path is %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp. USERPROFILE Same as CSIDL_PROFILE. USERSID Represents the current user-account security identifier (SID). For example, S-1-5-21-1714567821-1326601894-715345443-1026.
Source: Recognized Environment Variables (Windows 10) – Windows Deployment | Microsoft Docs
