Question: How do I change default startup directory for command prompt in Windows 7?

I usually do the following to start command prompt from C:\

```

  WIN-R (Run Prompt)
  cmd /K cd C:\

```

I want to do the following to start command prompt from C:\

```

  WIN-R (Run Prompt)
  cmd

```

Answer: 
Edit: It actually seems that editing the file shortcut breaks the `Win`+`x`, `c` key shortcut. (Moral of the story: only change system files you know how to fix! Eventually after a Windows update it repaired itself.)

What I ended up doing is creating a new customized Command Prompt shortcut in the start folder and pinned to the taskbar that I launch instead of `cmd.exe`

---

As other answers point out, changing the registry Autorun cmd start location is a bad idea because it silently will break other programs that shell out for tasks, like Visual Studio Code.

You should just change whatever shortcut you use to open cmd to have a Start In entry.

If you use `Win`+`x`, `c` to launch cmd, you can edit the Start In for 

```
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\WinX\Group3\02 - Command Prompt.lnk"

```
In the new Windows Terminal, you can click Settings and edit the line "startingDirectory" to achieve something similar.

Please note, however, that this changes the default startup directory only in Windows Terminal, and not for the command prompt globally.