Refresh environment variables for open VS solution

Question

Using visual studio 2008, I had a solution open and realized I need to install another program that the project I was working on used. I did this with visual studio open and attempted to debug the program, however the environment variables added by the program I installed were not visible. I could not get them to refresh until I exited VS and reloaded the solution. Is there a way to get visual studio to "refresh" its environment variable list without exiting and reloading the solution?

As an additional note, I did use process explorer to look at the environment variables for the application and could confirm that it was not aware of the environment variable I needed.

Answer 1

Nope. Environment variable changes on Windows only take effect for new processes. You'll have to exit Visual Studio and restart it.

Answer 2

I don't think there's any way round this. You have to restart the VS process so it can pick up the changes to the environment.