diff --git a/server/scripts/start-hidden.vbs b/server/scripts/start-hidden.vbs
index 701b8af..6448bea 100644
--- a/server/scripts/start-hidden.vbs
+++ b/server/scripts/start-hidden.vbs
@@ -1,9 +1,23 @@
+' Launch wled_controller silently (no console, no window).
+' Used by the Start Menu / autostart / desktop shortcut created by the
+' NSIS installer. Must set the same env vars as LedGrab.bat, otherwise
+' the server runs with built-in defaults (wrong config path, wrong data
+' dir) and the UI appears to be unconfigured on every startup.
+
 Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
 Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
+
 ' Get the directory of this script (scripts\), then go up to app root
 scriptDir = fso.GetParentFolderName(WScript.ScriptFullName)
 appRoot = fso.GetParentFolderName(scriptDir)
 WshShell.CurrentDirectory = appRoot
+
+' Set environment variables for the child process. WshShell.Environment("Process")
+' is writable and child processes spawned via Run inherit it.
+Set procEnv = WshShell.Environment("Process")
+procEnv("PYTHONPATH") = appRoot & "\app\src"
+procEnv("WLED_CONFIG_PATH") = appRoot & "\app\config\default_config.yaml"
+
 ' Use embedded Python if present (installed dist), otherwise system Python
 embeddedPython = appRoot & "\python\pythonw.exe"
 If fso.FileExists(embeddedPython) Then