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change location of Program Files

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by lynne

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Windows 95 - I want to change the location of Program Files so that installation programs find it on the D drive as opposed to the C drive. I know there's a way to do this, but I can't find it. How?

13 replies

by jnlguy

Lynne, Try this, copy the Program Files folder over to the D:\. Then right-click on any shortcuts you have that point to the programs already installed and simply change the path to point to the D drive. Once you see that everything is working O.K. you can then proceed to clear out the Program Files folder on the C drive. I do know that not all programs will work on any other drive but the C drive, that is why I suggest to make sure everything is working before deleteing anything out of the C drive. Any new programs loaded afterwards can be installed directly to your new D:\Program Files folder. Hope this helps you out. Jerry

by dmiles

The possible solution would be to open Windows Explorer and drag and drop the selected files to the drive that you would prefer,any program files that you load on your computer you can specify where you want to install by changing the directoy when the installation is in progress it will give you the option to change directory.

by fish128

The two solutions given do not mention anything about changes which need to be made to the registry to allow your programs to run from D:. If you simply move the files you will leave a ton of "orphaned" registry entries and your programs WILL NOT work. What you need is software which revises all registry entries, links, shortcuts, etc and moves the files. Most of the commercial uninstaller software programs do this. However, PC Magazines put out a free utility which is specifically designedfor this. The name of the program is COA32 (COA stands for Change of Address). I believe this is what you really need. Good luck.

by lynne

not the solution I'm looking for - i know there's a way to hack the registry so that the programs are set up to automatically install to a Program Files location on the D drive

by fred_e944

Partition Magic has a Program Mover feature that allows installed programs to be moved to a different drive without reinstalling. It makes the necessary changes to the registry automatically.

by jeff kraft

Somebody beat me to half my answer but I'm going to repeat it anyways. The method of copy/paste to new location doesn't take into account any registry issues. However, PowerQuest does include a application called Magicmover in Partition Magic. Magicmover takes care of all files/registry/and I believe .INI file adjustments as well. Also, Symantec's Clean Sweep does the same thing. CleanSweep is included with Norton System Works.

by bgriffith

I don't think the solution you're looking for is possible. The location of C:\PROGRAM FILES isn't specified by Windows at all, but by each program's install program. It is simply the recommended location and has become a standard.

I've never tried it, but you could delete the Program Files, and create a shortcut by the same name in the same place, but directed to your D:. This would work on most newer programs, but you might have problems with pre-Win98 programs.

by lynne

Well, no one came up with the solution I was looking for....but I did finally find it. For anyone who's interested....here it is:

CHANGING THE DEFAULT LOCATION FOR INSTALLING APPLICATIONS

Most programs install in C:/Program Files by default. You can change this default by editing the registry. Open the Registry Editor (regedit). Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version
In the right pane, double click ProgramFilesDir and change the path in the StringEditor to the drive and folder you want (i.e. D:\Program Files). You must also modify the entry for ProgramFilesPath. Exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer. (Be aware that some programs still require installation in the C:\Program Files folder.)

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