Changing default startup directory for command prompt in Windows 7

The following solution worked well for me. Navigate to the command prompt shortcut in the start menu:

C:\Users\ your username \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Command Prompt

Right click on the shortcut file to open the properties dialog. Inside the "Start in:" textbox you should see %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%. If you want the prompt to start in C:\ just replace the variables with "C:\" (without quotes).

update

It appears that Microsoft has changed this behavior recently and so now an additional step is required. After performing the steps above copy the modified shortcut "Command Prompt" and rename it to "cmd". Then when typing "cmd" in the start menu it should once again work.

Open regedit and browse to this path

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor

Create new string vale named Autorun. Set its value to cd /d C:\.

Run cmd again. Voila!

Make a shortcut pointing to cmd.exe somwhere (e.g. desktop) then right-click on the copy and select "properties". Navigate to the "Shortcut" menu and change the "Start in:" directory.