Where Are NI-VISA Aliases Stored?

Issue Details

I am unable to locate the NI-VISA aliases in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX). Where are my VISA aliases stored?

Solution

The file that contains these aliases is visaconf.ini, and its location depends on both your operating system and the version of NI MAX that you are using. To determine your version of MAX, open the program and go to Help»About. The splash screen should display the version.

NI MAX 4.2 and later: 
The file containing VISA aliases is located in the Windows data directories. 

Windows XP and earlier:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\NIvisa\visaconf.ini 

Windows Vista and later:
C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\NIvisa\visaconf.ini

Note: The ProgramData folder is hidden by default. See Microsoft's support page on how to show hidden files.

If you need to modify your aliases, you can use the VISA Alias Utility in MAX. You can access this utility in MAX by selecting Tools»NI-VISA»VISA Options and selecting Aliases from the My System list. This utility will allow you to view and modify all the VISA aliases stored on your computer. A screen shot of the utility is shown below: 
For MAX versions earlier than 4.2:

Windows XP and earlier:
C:\VXIPNP\WinNT\NIvisa\visaconf.ini

Note: You can access aliases directly in your system by browsing to a configuration file called visaconf.ini. This file can typically be found in the following location:

Windows Vista or later: C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\NIvisa\visaconf.ini
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\NIvisa\visaconf.ini
Windows 2000/NT: C:\VXIPNP\WinNT\NIvisa\visaconf.ini
PharLap ETS: ni-rt\system\vxipnp\WinNT\nivisa\visaconf.ini
NI Linux Real-Time: /etc/ni-visa/visaconf.ini