On 8/13/22, Jonathan Owah <owahjonat...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I've been trying to configure my laptop to run python scripts. > This is the error I keep getting: > Python was not found; run without arguments to install from the Microsoft > Store, or disable this shortcut from Settings > Manage App Execution > Aliases.
If you keep seeing this message, then the shell is finding and running Microsoft's default "python.exe" redirector app execution alias that's located in "%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps". By default, this directory is set at the beginning of the user "Path" value in the registry and thus takes precedence (but not over the system "Path"). Confirm this by running `where.exe python`. An app execution alias is a special type of filesystem symbolic link to a store app's executable. These aliases are created in a user's "%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps" directory. Store apps themselves are usually installed in "%ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps", which is a system managed directory that even administrators can't easily modify (and shouldn't modify). Each user on a system has their own set of installed store apps, even though the apps are installed only once at the system level. By default, Windows creates "python.exe" and "python3.exe" aliases for the "App Installer" PythonRedirector app. In the alias manager, these two will be clearly listed as aliases for "App Installer". If you run this redirector app with one or more command-line arguments, it will print the above quoted message to the console. If the redirector app is run without arguments, it will open the Microsoft Store to install the latest version of the Python store app distribution. Currently that means Python 3.10. In my experience, the app execution alias manager component of Windows is unreliable. A disabled alias might still exist in "%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps", or an old alias might be left in place when an app is installed. Once the real Python store app is installed, go back into the alias manager and toggle the "python.exe" and "python3.exe" aliases off and back on. If that doesn't resolve the problem, manually delete the "python.exe" and "python3.exe" aliases from "%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps". Then toggle them off and on again in the alias manager. Hopefully they'll be created to correctly alias the real Python app instead of the "App Installer" redirector. -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
