Windows 10: Trouble with batch files and paths

Running win 10 v 1909 build 18363.720.

I am pretty green with batch files and paths. I am trying to automate and editing process with mkvpropedit on a bunch of MKV files.
I put the bat file in the same folder as the mkvs.
Batch file contains:

@echo off
for %%a in (*.mkv) do mkvpropedit --edit track:s1 --set flag-default=1 "%%~na.mkv"
pause

When run mkvpropedit is not recognized as a command etc. I notice that the errors are written back to the bat file replacing the commands. How to avoid this?

I have added the registry key
"Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\mkvpropedit.exe" with data "C:\Program Files\mkvpropedit.exe" and the system restarted.

I believe the path to mkvpropedit is the problem. The path to MKVToolNnix GUI executes fine. mkvpropedit.exe is in the same folder as MKVToolNnix GUI.exe. I don't understand why it is not found.
I notice that the icons for the exes are all slightly different, does this have any bearing on the issue?
I have read that it is better to edit the registry rather than environment variables. What is generally recommended and why doesn't the key given above provide the path?
Any help will be much appreciated.

:)

 

Batch files fail pathing and [%04d]

1 When running in Administrator mode batch files automatically take on the Windows\System32 folder unless a prefix is added to the top of the file.

command example: copy file1.txt "C:\Users\Public\Test\."

result copies file in current folder to "C:\Users\Public\Test\file1.txt"

result from batch file as admin is an error stating "File not found" because Admin mode attempts to call commands listed in file from [Windows\System32] folder.

include [cd %~dp0] at top of batch file to ensure commands run from the folder the batch file resides in.

2 When running ffmpeg.exe in one folder and writing files to another folder from a batch file Windows automatically pastes the entire path and the batch file name prior to every attempted file write.

ffmpeg command example :

bin\ffmpeg.exe -i "C:\Users\JoeMatize\Videos\Logitech Webcam\video 3.wmv" -r 15 "frames-%04d.bmp"

then windows creates 15 frames per second naming files [frames-0001.bmp] through [frames-0015.bmp] for the 1st second and continuing through the entire file

But ffmCmd.bat file contains the command attempts to create the output file as...

"C:\_dev\_Video\FFMPeg_Zeranoe\ffmpeg-20160517-git-af3e944-win64-static\ffmCmd.bat4d.bmp"

ffmpeg fails when it is unable to acquire a new name for the sequential files.

is there another command that will fix the batch call to ffmpeg, like the one that fixes the administrative mode path?

When will Microsoft fix the batch files so they work consistently across the board?

 

Batch Files Knowledge Base

Don't use batch files very much but one I find useful is for creating a list of files in a directory.
Just copy the text below into Notepad and save as Filelist.bat

dir /a /-p /o:gen >filelist.txt

When you run it from a folder it will create a Filelist.txt file,in the same folder, that lists all the files in that folder.Useful when you are too lazy to type all the files out yourself.

 

Batch Files Knowledge Base

Very nice and usefull thanks for contributing.