Change the default installation location

Question

Hello, I would like to change the default location for program installation, but I cannot, the option is "grayed out" and I can't click on it. Does anyone have a solution, please? Thank you

jeannets · Accepted Answer

Good evening,

I can talk about it from my humble opinion, as I have been practicing this method for quite a long time (since XP already)

I have partitions on my HDD ... I also have a 120GB SSD on the same PC
As @ledruide mentioned, which I greet, Windows and its boot must be installed on drive C:

That's also my case, Windows, and only Windows, is installed on the SSD
My data is on drive D: on the HDD named Data
All my programs are installed on drive E: and except for a few cases, they are all there
I should add that all my drives are partitioned and I prefer having two 500GB drives rather than one 1TB one. All this for security and protection purposes... if Windows crashes, only Windows will be affected, everything else is preserved without any collateral damage... and I have a backup that reloads in eight minutes... and everything is back to normal... crashes on the other partitions are much, much rarer.

To answer your question, beyond my introduction, you cannot move already installed software, pure and simple...NO

Every time you install a new program, you have to install it on E:. Indeed, during installation, you are offered a default installation folder that starts with C:\ Program... etc. You type E: instead of C: and your program will install on E:

Let’s specify that in E: you also created the same structure with the folder
E:\Program Files (x86)\ADWcleaner and you choose this folder...

If you want to move your programs, you need to uninstall them from C: to reinstall them in E:

If you want to change the default installation folder, you can read https://forums.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-37641561-modifier-dossier-d-installation-par-defaut-c-programfiles
it happens here: Open the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

modify the data of this key with the new path of the installation folder in the key: ProgramFilesDir

It is advisable to have a real backup, tested and verified through "restoration" but we stray from the subject.

Here’s something to ponder... it doesn't happen in five minutes.

le druide · Answer

Hi,

Since Windows has existed, it installs on a partition (most often C:\) along with the applications. It's not possible to move it; if you're running out of space on the C:\ partition, you either need to enlarge that partition or delete applications that are rarely used. You also have the option to use portable applications, which require no installation, everything is in a folder, and you can store them on a different partition than C:\, for example: D: \ Application folder\Ccleaner

Mars13001 · Answer

Hello, thank you for your responses, but the issue I have is that I want to uninstall GeForce Experience which is on my SSD to reinstall it on my HDD, but the installer does not give me the option to choose which hard drive to install it on, that’s why I was asking for answers ^^
Now if someone tells me that directly changing the Windows files causes problems, I’d prefer to avoid that, I'm not technical enough to fix that kind of issues ^^.
So if someone has a simple and safe idea for my problem, I’m all ears.
Thanks again!

Change the default installation location

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