> On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 8:22 AM, Michel Bardiaux wrote: >> >> 1. Is USER supposed to be set? > > Yes. > >> 2. If yes, by what script or process? > > /etc/profile
Then mine is indeed damaged, it contains just this: PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:$PATH" Looks like it was *lost* and this was a pathetic attempt by me at recreating it. But with your info I could do a web search (could not before, cygwin+variable+USER finds way too many hits) and that led me to /etc/defaults/etc/profile. Thanks again.