[Q & A]Weirdness About Python 2.3x and Its Environment Vars Under Windows

[The Jetman]

I just spent the last hour or so trying mightily to 'fix' Python (2.3.3)
under WinME. Have been using it on various Win9X/XP systems for
years (since 1.52) for routine scripting. LOVE IT !!! Heretofore,
the ONLY environment variable I've EVER used for ANY Pythonstallation
was PYTHONPATH (ie. SET PYTHONPATH=.;C:\MYPY;) However, today I
started working on a 'new' development machine and I couldn't get
IDLE or PYTHONWIN to operate at all. I finally tracked it down to
one thing: the absence of the PYTHONHOME env var.

PYTHONWIN would crap out w/ an error dialog about not finding
pywin.framework.startup and IDLE would simply display an hourglass
for a sec, then nothing. I recently heard about PYTHONHOME, added it
to my AUTOEXEC, and suddenly all was working again.

Another problem was that the cmd-line version of PYTHON wouldn't
find ConfigParser (ie. a std Python module) from a very short, working
script of mine.

Anyway, my question (at last) is: has anyone had this occur to
them ? I've NEVER had a problem like this, altho I suspect this is
the 1st time I've installed Python 2.3. I figure someone else will
get stumped like this and the thread will help. Later....Jet