1

I've built a rig with a small SSD for C: which I want to be pretty much only for the OS, and a HDD D: drive. Problem is, even when I tell them to install and run from D: a lot of programs keep sending stuff to C: anyway, which constantly fills it up. In short, can I somehow tell any program when it opens a folder "go here"? Is there some sort of script I can write for it or setting I can tweak?

Unlike other questions, this is more about being proactive about installing new programs on a new machine rather than rebuilding an existing machine or moving files around. I'm running Windows 10 (home). EDIT: This question applies to things like globally installed software/plugins and databases as I'm a web developer. (To be specific, NPM and other Node.js dependencies for the former and MongoDB for the latter).

Improve this question
6
  • 2
    If you make C:\Program Files, C:\Program Files (x86), C:\ProgramData and C:\Users into links pointing at corresponding directories on D:, then nearly all installed programs and data will go into D:. Some installers add files to the Windows directory, and these will of course go into C:.
    – AFH
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 19:18
  • Sounds about right for what I need. How do I do that properly?
    – Daniel Braunstein
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 19:22
  • -Ramhound Unfortunately, some programs still install stuff into C:/Program Files even If I specify a D: drive location.
    – Daniel Braunstein
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 19:28
  • @DanielBraunstein yes, that is why Ramhoud posted a duplicate for mklink, which can be used to move the program files physically to the D drive, while placing a reference link on the C drive. Programs install to the C drive, but the reference link automatically redirects the files to the D drive. Opening C:\Program Files still shows your files, but they are actually stored on D.
    – LPChip
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 20:09
  • Ramhoud basically answered your question to AFH, on how to do what AFH suggested.
    – LPChip
    Commented Jun 5, 2018 at 20:11

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
-1

You may have to copy and paste things like IE over to D: to prevent breakage.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

  • CommonFilesDir
  • CommonFilesDir (x86)
  • CommonW6432Dir
  • ProgramFilesDir
  • ProgramFilesDir (x86)
  • ProgramW6432Dir

And of course you need to move common files and etc to the D: drive. You will probably break already installed software, and may have to manually search and replace the registry to make everything point to C: now point to D:. Re-installing might be faster.

Improve this answer
0

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .