"Duplicate directory name" Bug at Startup

It all started when I opened MatLab to find that the startup folder had been cleared (it opened in C:\Windows\system32) and my path had been defaulted. No idea why. Then I changed the startup folder with

userpath('C:\Users\Joe\Documents\MATLAB')

I restarted MatLab and it went to this startup folder fine. Then I added one of my folders to the path with the Set Path dialog box. I closed and started up MatLab again. This time MatLab gave the warning

Warning: Duplicate directory name: C:\Users\Joe\Documents\MATLAB.

I tried using the fix at http://www.mathworks.com/support/bugreports/363196, but with no change.

Any ideas what is going on?

Answer 1

[Aurelien Queffurust]

As you have tried the bug report 363196, try also this solution :

Why do I receive many "Duplicate directory name" warnings at startup right after installing and starting up MATLAB 7.8 (R2009a)?

[Joe]

I did tried this solution also. The warning stopped appearing, but resumed after I added a folder to the path. The first time I encountered this problem on a separate machine, the 363196 solution worked, but not this time.

Answer 2

[Ryan]

Try this (where PATH is a string of your path):

rmpath PATH savepath userpath PATH

This will make your startup directory PATH, while making it the first directory in the MATLAB path.