Used the registry editor to add 2 new string varaibles to the regular user's profile. Can't do it through the Control Panel GUI because I'm always forced to use elevated credentials to access the control panel. And then when I do edit the User's environment vars, it's for the admin account only. So now when I open up a command window and run the "set" command, it includes these two variables:

NVM_HOME=C:\Users\<nonAdminUser>\AppData\Roaming\nvm
NVM_SYMLINK=C:\Program Files\nodejs

And now everything just works.

Answer from dot on Stack Overflow
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GitHub
github.com › coreybutler › nvm-windows
GitHub - coreybutler/nvm-windows: A node.js version management utility for Windows. Ironically written in Go.
A node.js version management utility for Windows. Ironically written in Go. - coreybutler/nvm-windows
Starred by 44K users
Forked by 3.7K users
Languages   Go 72.3% | Inno Setup 25.9%
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SourceForge
sourceforge.net › projects › nvm-for-windows.mirror
NVM for Windows download | SourceForge.net
NVM for Windows
This is an exact mirror of the NVM for Windows project, hosted at https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows. SourceForge is not affiliated with NVM for Windows. Manage multiple installations of node.js on a Windows computer. Similar (not identical) to nvm, but for Windows. This has always been a node version manager, not an io.js manager, so there is no back-support for io.js. However, node 4+ is supported. Remember when running nvm install or nvm use, you must have Windows administrative rights (to create symlinks). There are situations where the ability to switch between different versions
Rating: 5 ​
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Author
opensource.author.io › nvm-for-windows-v120
NVM for Windows v1.2.0
January 1, 2025 - Since these are native desktop notifications (not temporary dialog windows), they will remain in the system notification center until processed/dismissed. This means you won’t miss them if you don’t happen to be at your computer the moment a new version is available. Thanks to this contribution, NVM for Windows 1.2.0 supports ARM64 versions of Node.js.
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freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org › news › node-version-manager-nvm-install-guide
Node Version Manager – NVM Install Guide
September 9, 2022 - NVM is mostly supported on Linux and Mac. It doesn't have support for Windows. But there's a similar tool created by coreybutler to provide an nvm experience in Windows called nvm-windows.
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Microsoft
winget.run › pkg › CoreyButler › NVMforWindows
Download and install NVM for Windows with winget
winget install -e --id CoreyButler.NVMforWindows · A node.js version management utility for Windows. Ironically written in Go. managernodenodejsnvmnvm4wversionwindows ·
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DEV Community
dev.to › mesonu › how-to-install-nvmnode-version-manager-on-windows-2ij1
How to install NVM(Node Version Manager) on Windows - DEV Community
June 25, 2024 - However, there’s a similar tool called nvm-windows created by Corey Butler, which provides a similar experience for managing Node.js versions on Windows.
Find elsewhere
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GitHub
github.com › coreybutler › nvm-windows › releases
Releases · coreybutler/nvm-windows
A node.js version management utility for Windows. Ironically written in Go. - Releases · coreybutler/nvm-windows
Author   coreybutler
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Medium
medium.com › @diego.coder › instalar-nvm-node-version-manager-en-windows-80d6768fa183
Instalar múltiples versiones de Node.js en Windows con NVM (Node version Manager) | by Code & Chill | Medium
May 25, 2024 - Si instalaste Node.js utilizando el instalador de Node.js para Windows, busca “Desinstalar Node.js” en el menú de inicio y sigue las instrucciones. ... Si instalaste Node.js manualmente, puedes desinstalarlo eliminando la carpeta donde lo instalaste y eliminando las referencias en las variables de entorno del sistema. 1- Lo primero es dirigirnos al repositorio de: https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows
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Whatthetechjimmy
whatthetechjimmy.com › home › blog › how to install nvm for windows
How to install NVM for Windows » What the Tech Jimmy!?
September 15, 2021 - Next, we will want to download the latest release of NVM for Windows which at the time of writing is v1.1.7. https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows/releases/download/1.1.7/nvm-setup.zip
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/programminghelp › install nodejs with nvm
r/programminghelp on Reddit: install Nodejs with nvm
November 23, 2022 -

C:\Users\tgmjack\Desktop\chromedriver for lambda>nvm use 18.12.1
Now using node v18.12.1 (64-bit)

and node looks good too

but whenever i try to install

C:\Users\tgmjack\Desktop\chromedriver for lambda>nvm install -g serverless
panic: runtime error: slice bounds out of range [:1] with length 0
goroutine 1 [running]:
main.versionNumberFrom({0x120160b8, 0x2})
C:/Users/corey/OneDrive/Documents/workspace/libraries/oss/coreybutler/nvm-windows/src/nvm.go:496 +0x116
main.getVersion({0x120160b8, 0x2}, {0xd09d26, 0x2}, {0x0, 0x0, 0x0})
C:/Users/corey/OneDrive/Documents/workspace/libraries/oss/coreybutler/nvm-windows/src/nvm.go:233 +0x367
main.install({0x120160b8, 0x2}, {0xd09d26, 0x2})
C:/Users/corey/OneDrive/Documents/workspace/libraries/oss/coreybutler/nvm-windows/src/nvm.go:273 +0xbb
main.main()
C:/Users/corey/OneDrive/Documents/workspace/libraries/oss/coreybutler/nvm-windows/src/nvm.go:87 +0xaea

ive always used python, and have no idea whats wrong. searching for the error "panic: runtime error: slice bounds..." seems to bring up such a variety of errors (from docker to github to this) i'm not finding anything useful.

Because im new to node.js (suddenly need it for aws) it must be something basic i'm missing (maybe its because im treating it too much like pip...)

why can i not install serverless?

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DEV Community
dev.to › skaytech › how-to-install-node-version-manager-nvm-for-windows-10-4nbi
How to install Node Version Manager (NVM) for Windows 10? - DEV Community
September 8, 2020 - Sorry for the late reply (I don't use this site very often). There's a guide for these kinds of errors at github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows...
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Microsoft Learn
learn.microsoft.com › en-us › windows › dev-environment › javascript › nodejs-on-windows
Set up Node.js on native Windows | Microsoft Learn
September 7, 2022 - You will likely need to switch ... to install multiple versions of Node.js, but is only available for Mac/Linux and not supported on Windows....
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Gitter
gitter.im › coreybutler › nvm-windows
coreybutler/nvm-windows - Gitter
A node.js version management utility for Windows. Ironically written in Go. ... Hi, I'm trying to install v5 using this. But getting this · C:\> nvm install 5.0.0 64 Downloading node.js version 5.0.0 (64-bit)... Download failed. Rolling Back. Rollback failed.
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O'Reilly
oreilly.com › library › view › node-js-web-development › 9781788626859 › 9f95e1e3-f2f5-477f-8788-92600638a1d7.xhtml
Installing nvm on Windows - Node.js Web Development - Fourth Edition [Book]
Fortunately, a couple of Windows-specific clones of the nvm concept exist: https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows · https://github.com/marcelklehr/nodist · Another route is to use the WSL. Because in WSL you're interacting with a Linux command line, you can use nvm itself.
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TecAdmin
tecadmin.net › install-nodejs-with-nvm-on-windows
How To Install NVM on Windows – TecAdmin
April 26, 2025 - Visit the below link to download the NVM installer for the Windows systems. https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows/releases