[Issue]: SYMLINK create not working properly when username contains ^

[LucasWongC]

What happened?

My windows username is ^Clox^
I installed nvm windows, installed node version 20.
When I try to nvm use 20, it says Now using node v18.20.4 (64-bit), but it doesn't recogize node as a command.
I found out that SYMLINK dir was pointing to C:\Users\Clox\AppData\Roaming\nvm\v20.16.0 instead of C:\Users\^Clox^\AppData\Roaming\nvm\v20.16.0

What did you expect to happen?

I am expecting it to point exact location

Version

1.1.11 or newer (Default)

Which version of Windows?

Windows 10 (Default)

Which locale?

English (Default)

Which shell are you running NVM4W in?

Command Prompt

User Permissions?

Administrative Privileges, Elevated

Is Developer Mode enabled?

No (Default)

Relevant log/console output

No response

Debug Output

Running NVM for Windows with administrator privileges.

Administrator: Command Prompt - nvm  debug
Windows Version: 10.0 (Build 19045)

NVM4W Version:      1.1.12
NVM4W Path:         C:\Users\^Clox^\AppData\Roaming\nvm\nvm.exe
NVM4W Settings:     C:\Users\^Clox^\AppData\Roaming\nvm\settings.txt
NVM_HOME:           C:\Users\^Clox^\AppData\Roaming\nvm
NVM_SYMLINK:        C:\Program Files\nodejs
Node Installations: C:\Users\^Clox^\AppData\Roaming\nvm

Total Node.js Versions: 1
Active Node.js Version: none
(run "nvm use <version>" to activate a version)
panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
[signal 0xc0000005 code=0x0 addr=0x18 pc=0x868195]

goroutine 1 [running]:
main.checkLocalEnvironment()
        C:/Users/corey/OneDrive/Documents/workspace/libraries/oss/coreybutler/nvm-windows/src/nvm.go:1144 +0x1c35
main.main()
        C:/Users/corey/OneDrive/Documents/workspace/libraries/oss/coreybutler/nvm-windows/src/nvm.go:169 +0x80b

Anything else?

No response

[github-actions]

This issue is stale because it has been open 30 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 7 days.

[LucasWongC]

Can I have any update on this?

[coreybutler]

I'll see what I can do, but this is a low priority.

Generally speaking, most apps don't support the caret in Windows usernames because it is the escape character for Windows command-line operations. It can lead to a lot of screwy behavior.

[Brett-Clifford]

Hey im having the same type of issues where with installing the symlink. But mine is deleting the folder i tell it to install in.

so far i can no longer see my user/documents folder and i have lost multiple other folders that no longer exist on my pc.

[github-actions]

This issue is stale because it has been open 30 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 7 days.

[LucasWongC]

just heads up on this to prevent autoclose :)

[coreybutler]

@Brett-Clifford I did not see your post (would have been better as a separate issue). You've likely already found an answer, but for anyone else stumbling across this, symlnks on Windows cannot exist before you create them. It is default Windows behavior to remove the folder, because you cannot link to a target that already exists.