Need help in Powershell for Python programming

Question

So, I bought this book called "Learn Python the Hard Way" and in the learning progress as it is my first programming language.

The problem I'm facing now is I couldn't create a directory in Powershell for Windows 7. I followed exactly like what the book said "mkdir mystuff" and I got the following error.

All I want is to make the directory becomes like this

C:\Documents and Settings\User\mystuff

How do I solve this ? Your help is greatly appreciated.

Everything works fine in WindowsXP but not Windows 7.

    PS C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0> mkdir mystuff
    New-Item : Access to the path 'mystuff' is denied.
   At line:38 char:24
    +         $scriptCmd = {& <<<<  $wrappedCmd -Type Directory @PSBoundParameters
    }
         + CategoryInfo          : PermissionDenied: (C:\Windows\Syst...ll\v1.0\mys
      tuff:String) [New-Item], UnauthorizedAccessException
     + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CreateDirectoryUnauthorizedAccessError,Microsoft
   .PowerShell.Commands.NewItemCommand

Well you don't have the permissions to create that directory. Either elevate your privileges using UAC or create a directory somewhere you're allowed to write — Niklas B.
– Niklas B., Commented Jul 3, 2012 at 13:15
"learn python the hard way" - is the "hard" part about using powershell? i would advise you to use cygwin, which brings you the power of a linux shell to the windows desktop (and has python already included). — l4mpi
– l4mpi, Commented Jul 3, 2012 at 13:20

Dave · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-03 13:15:53Z

5

Windows is preventing you from adding a directory to the System32 folder. You don't have permission to do so by default, because really you shouldn't do that.

Instead try changing directory to somewhere more reasonable and making the directory there. %UserProfile% is an alias for your home directory.

cd %UserProfile%
mkdir mystuff

The reason this works in XP, by the way, is that XP isn't very strict about security or permissions. Which is wrong. : )

answered Jul 3, 2012 at 13:15

Dave

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2 Comments

Niklas B. Over a year ago

%USERPROFILE% should point to a writable path on all Windows systems. If you need the full path, it's probably something like C:/Users/[username]

Dave Over a year ago

Heh although %HOME% looks right I could only get %UserProfile% to work in WinXP...? <Haha now this comment makes no sense>

Shay Levy · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-03 13:16:23Z

2

Based on the prompt you're trying to create a folder in the PowerShell directory path and you don't have the appropriate permissions to do so. Try this instead:

mkdir $env:USERPROFILE\mystuff

answered Jul 3, 2012 at 13:16

Shay Levy

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Michael F · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-03 13:35:45Z

0

If you wanted to create the directory C:\Documents and Settings\User\mystuff, try to be explicit about it:

cd "C:\Documents and Settings\User\"
mkdir mystuff

Have fun learning Python. :-)

answered Jul 3, 2012 at 13:35

Michael F

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