Path for installing programs in Windows 10. Changing the location of automatic installation of programs in Windows
Every long-time computer user is familiar with the situation when, due to lack of disk space, they had to delete a program or even several, since Windows does not have a simple function with which one could move the application to another disk/partition or even external USB hard drive disk and flash drive.
In 2014, on Lumia and other smartphones with Windows Phone there is an opportunity to transfer installed applications and games on the memory card. The exact same function is available on the desktop Windows versions 10, where it is especially useful when there is a limited amount of built-in storage (32-64 GB), which many tablets running the new operating system have.
So, let's understand how this function works.
Note: regular universal applications from Microsoft cannot be moved to another drive.
Save and move applications to a new location
In Windows 10, the process of transferring applications will be approximately the same as in Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile. To change where applications are installed or move some of them, you need to go straight to Settings > System > Storage, where you will see a list of drives currently connected to your computer.
To move an application to an external drive/another hard drive or partition:
- select the drive (by default, all applications are installed on system disk);
- then go to the “Applications and Games” section;
- now find the right application in the list (to speed up the search, enter the application name in the search bar), select it and click “Move”. Then select the drive you want to move this app to and click Move again.
2 In Windows 10 version 1703 (build 15063), the application transfer function is also available in the Applications section > Applications and features.
3 Now let's answer some questions you might have:
- What are the three folders created in external memory? The first folder simply contains the user's profile name. Windows Apps– the folder where applications are installed. Finally, the folder WpSystem designed to store application data.
- Why folder names inside WpSystem might be highlighted green? Because their contents are encrypted. That is, if you lose your external storage, no one will be able to read the contents of these folders.
- Do I need to format my external drive? No. You can use it along with your files that are already stored on it, confident that nothing will happen to them.
- What happens if you turn it off external drive? Nothing. You just won't be able to run applications installed on it until you connect the drive to your computer.
If you want all new applications to always be installed on an external drive/other hard drive or partition:
go to the “Storage” section and in the “Other storage options” block, which follows the “Storage Control” function, click on the “Change where new content is saved” link. Next, specify the drive on which the system should install applications. By the way, here you can specify other places to save new documents, music, images and videos.
Remember, not so long ago I wrote an article - “Do you still save documents and programs on the system drive?” Well, this particular note will be a continuation of the first! So let's begin.
You can read the first note (if you haven’t read it) several times below on my blog to keep up to date with events. There I told you that you do not need to install programs on the system drive in Program folder Files. System disk - where installed operating system. However, there are programs that are installed only on the system drive, and it is impossible to reassign their installation path manually. What to do then? And everything is very simple, we will use the system registry of the operating system. To put it simply, the system registry is a kind of database that stores the parameters of the entire computer, operating system and installed programs. For example, even when we change the screensaver on the desktop, all changes to the change of this screensaver occur in the system registry. It's just that the operating system provides us with a convenient GUI for her convenience and fine tuning for yourself.
Here is the system registry itself. It has a tree structure, with each heading expanding.
So, let's move on to reassigning the program installation folder. All this works in both Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Attention, strictly follow the instructions described below! Do not change any other registry settings. This can lead to the operating system crashing.
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By default, operating Windows system installs all programs in the “Program Files” folder located on the system drive (where the system is located). If you want programs to be installed in a different folder, for example the “Programs” folder located on a nearby drive where there is no operating system. So, three steps.
Step 1. Open the registry editor (“Start” – “Run” – “regedit”). That is, sequentially - first Start, then click Run and enter “regedit” in a special field and OK.
P.S If the “Run” command is not displayed, then right click Click on the “Start” button, go to properties and on the “Start Menu” tab, click the “Customize” button.
Then check the box next to “Run Command”
All settings are identical to both Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Step 2. Go to the branch - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE then SOFTWARE then Microsoft then Windows then CurrentVersion
Step 3. Open the “ProgramFileDir” key (double click), in the “Value” field there will be an entry “your drive:\Program Files” (for example, your drive H:\ is the system one. Enter in this field the address of the desired folder for installing programs, for example – “D :\Programs". Click “Ok” and restart the computer. It is better to give the name of the folder for the programs in English.
Now all programs will be installed by default in new folder! All of the above settings work in Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Strong knowledge to you with respect Artyom Yushchenko!
Let's talk about the process of changing paths automatic installation programs from the system disk to any other, for example, from "C:\Program Files" to "D:\Installed programs". This method works in Windows XP, Windows 7 And Windows 8.
At breaking down hard drive, those who carry out this software operation often forget that the times of low-demanding Windows XP, minimalist programs and casual games are long gone. Windows 7, Windows 8 And Windows 8.1, professional software packages and resource-intensive large-scale games from famous developers require much more space on the system disk than some 3-5 GB, which a few years ago was quite enough for full-fledged work from PC.
This problem can be thoroughly solved by a new repartition hard drive- you need to snatch a certain number of gigabytes from non-system disk partitions and transfer them to the system one. But this is a serious operation that requires certain skills, and it is unlikely that all users will be able to do it on their own. Moreover, if the disk is repartitioned inappropriately, the installed operating system may crash and you will need to install it again. So it is better to entrust this procedure to experienced users.
But if the computer’s system drive is already full, you can solve this problem yourself by simply installing games and programs on another drive - a non-system drive, where there is plenty of space. Since all programs and games are installed by default on drive C, usually in the “Program Files” folder, you can change it to a folder located on a non-system drive by selecting another appropriate path during the installation process - for example, “D:\Installed programs\Installation folder for a specific program." And so that every time you install another program or game you do not have to manually register your installation path, you can change the automatic installation directory - for example, from drive C to drive D.
To change the automatic installation path of programs and games, you will need to make some changes to the Windows registry.
To get into the editor system registry Windows 7 necessary in search bar enter "regedit" and go to the registry editor. IN Windows XP You need to select the "Run" command from the "Start" menu and enter "regedit" in its field.
Users Windows 8 can use the search that appears when you hover the mouse over the corners right side screen, and enter "regedit" in the search form field.
A system editor window will open, and here, in the mass of directories, you need to find the one you need in order to make the planned settings. We go this way:
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" - "SOFTWARE" - "Microsoft" - "Windows" - "CurrentVersion"
The required directory has been found, then you need to go to the right side of the registry editor double click open the parameter "ProgramFilesDir" or "ProgramFilesDir (x86)" - this is an entry for automatically installing programs and games on a particular computer drive. And in most cases, the default value here is the classic version of the value - “C:\Program Files”.
Before setting a new value for automatic installation of programs and games on a non-system drive, you must create a separate folder, which will be a kind of analogue of “Program Files”. It doesn’t have to be called “Program Files 2”, it can be any name, as long as no stranger who has access to the computer thinks what is stored there unnecessary files and did not delete this folder.
So, if the folder for installing programs and games on a non-system drive has already been created, all that remains is to change the value of the “ProgramFilesDir” parameter. Needs to be removed existing option- "C:\Program Files" - and enter a new one, for example, "D:\Installed programs". The changes made, of course, need to be saved - click "OK".
