These are the steps that worked for me, no guarantees for anyone else... That said, this should work for most cases.
- Go to the Node.js downloads page
- Click on Other Downloads, DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE INSTALLER. Download the binary zip for your operating system, for Windows grab the Windows Binary matching your 32 or 64 bit system.
- Extract the zip file to an easy place to remember on your system, I use
C:\Node
- Open the "Edit Environment Variables for Your Account" tool by searching for the term "env" in the search bar next to your start button.