Macros to Return Windows and System Directory Paths

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This article was previously published under Q108278

Summary

In Microsoft Excel, there are no Visual Basic for Applications functions to determine either your \Windows or your \Windows\System directories.

NOTE: It may be possible to work around this situation by creating a macro that makes calls to the Windows application programming interface (API). This type of programming is supported by the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) and the Visual Basic, Professional Edition, support groups. The level of support you can receive from these groups depends on the individual support policies of the group. (Microsoft support professionals may not be able to assist in specific construction of macros that use API programming.) If you have limited programming experience, you may want to consult one of the Microsoft Solution Providers. Solution Providers offer a wide range of fee-based services, including creating custom macros. For more information about Microsoft Solution Providers, call Microsoft Customer Information Service at (800) 426-9400.

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More information

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. In Microsoft Excel, you can create a macro to return the path to the \Windows or \Windows\System directory by using the Declare Functions to access built-in functions in Microsoft Windows version 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows NT versions 3.51 and 4.0, and Windows 2000. The following macros use the GetWindowsDirectory and GetSystemDirectory function calls to retrieve the desired directory information.

Microsoft Excel versions 7.0, 97 and 2000

'The following two declare statements need to be entered each on a single 'line in the module sheet.

'The following two declare statements need to be entered each on a single
'line in the module sheet.

Declare Function GetSystemDirectory Lib "kernel32" Alias _
    "GetSystemDirectoryA" (ByVal lpBuffer As _
    String, ByVal nSize As Long) As Long

Declare Function GetWindowsDirectory Lib "kernel32" Alias _
    "GetWindowsDirectoryA" (ByVal lpBuffer As _
    String, ByVal nSize As Long) As Long

Sub Get_Windows_Directory()
    'sets the buffer length for both variables to 144
    Dim Win_Dir As String * 144
    Dim Sys_Dir As String * 144
    y = GetWindowsDirectory(Win_Dir, 144)
    'returns the \Windows directory
    wd = Left(Win_Dir, y)
    'Displays the windows directory in a Message box
    MsgBox wd
    'Returns the Windows\System directory
    x = GetSystemDirectory(Sys_Dir, 144)
    sd = Left(Sys_Dir, x)
    'Displays the \Windows\System directory in a Message box
    MsgBox sd
End Sub

Microsoft Excel version 5.0

'The following two declare statements need to be entered each on a single 'line in the module sheet.

'The following two declare statements need to be entered each on a single
'line in the module sheet.

Declare Function GetSystemDirectory Lib "KERNEL" (ByVal lpBuffer As _
    String, ByVal nSize As Integer) As Integer

Declare Function GetWindowsDirectory Lib "KERNEL" (ByVal lpBuffer As _
    String, ByVal nSize As Integer) As Integer

Sub GetDir()
    'sets the buffer length for both variables to 144
    Dim Win_Dir As String * 144
    Dim Sys_Dir As String * 144
    'returns the \Windows directory
    y = GetWindowsDirectory(Win_Dir, Len(Win_Dir))
    'Displays the windows directory in a Message box
    MsgBox Win_Dir
    'Returns the Windows\System directory
    x = GetSystemDirectory(Sys_Dir, Len(Win_Dir))
    'Displays the \Windows\System directory in a Message box
    MsgBox Sys_Dir
End Sub

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