SOLVED KEEPING C: LIGHTWEIGHT

[AgTip]

I detest programs that by default load themselves to the C drive. I've found that most programs work just fine on a Programs File I have on D. I wish to keep my C drive light because I made the mistake of making its partition rather small -- 30 GB. I thought that would be fine. But there are a slough of programs out there that only want C as their home base ... pretty damned presumptuous!

Any suggestions? Can I FORCE them to load to the D drive?

 

[AgTip]

Incidentally

1) I hate to be thought rude, but I don't know how to THANK the folks that have helped me in the past. I'm something of a newbie to forum life.

2) Can I change the size of partitions once the machine is in operation? My C drive is far too small. I have two other partitions on the same harddrive and they are large.

 

[clifford_cooley]

C:\ can be expanded if there is free space behind the drive. You may need to shrink or even delete your second partition to get the free space you need. Anyway once you have free space to expand C: into there is no problem expanding the drive.

 

[Veedaz]

As Clifford says, and Partition Wizard (freeware) is a great tool for expanding / shrinking partitions, works in Windows 7 - 32 and 64-bit

Link > http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html

 

[yodap]

Incidentally

1) I hate to be thought rude, but I don't know how to THANK the folks that have helped me in the past. I'm something of a newbie to forum life.

If you are logged in there is a thank you button at the lower right of every post. Go ahead and try it on my post. I just thanked you for being here.

I also like Partition Wizard

 

[TrainableMan]

AgTip, like Yoda said, the THANKS button is only visible if you have logged in to your member account, then go to the threads with useful posts and you click the "Thanks" button on each post that you consider helpful, you can do this even if you did not start the thread.

Now, about your question, If you install 32bit programs on a 32-bit OS or 64bit programs on a 64-bit OS "well behaved" Programs are supposed to install under the %ProgramFiles% directory, which by default is "C:\Program Files". A 32-bit program under a 64-bit OS should install under %ProgramFiles(x86)% which by default is "C:\Program Files (x86)". These environment variables are set on boot up based on registry settings. You can change them but IF you do it is best to do it right after a fresh OS install, before any programs are installed. If you want to change it on an install by install basis, some install programs allow it on the first screen, for many you may need to choose "Custom" install.

If you are interested in the other environment variables check here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_variable#Default_Values_on_Microsoft_Windows

If you want to know how to change default system directories let me know and I'll look it up.

 

[catilley1092]

I sure hope that this is a better tool than GParted. It can take hours to move a partition, and you can only hope that it boots up afterwards.

 

[Digerati]

I have never liked it when programs assume you want to install on C either. I try to reserve C drive for the OS and HW drivers only. There really is no reason for it other than lazy programming, with few exceptions. For this reason, along with preventing extra junk being load on my system, I ALWAYS choose the custom option and NEVER allow the default installations. In the vast majority of cases, the program will allow you to choose the drive and folder.

I don't think you can change this in the registry because it is the install routine that sets that up. You can, however, change the default locations for My Documents, My Downloads and your Temp files.

 

[TrainableMan]

In regedit ...
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Modify ProgramFilesDir and "ProgramFilesDir (x86)" to where you want the default to be. As I said before you should do this before installing any programs.

(Possibly you could move programs already installed to your new location but you are taking a big chance. Uninstall routines that point to the old path won't function properly if you need them. If the programs themselves have registry entries pointing to the old path it may cause the application to fail etc.)

 

[Digerati]

As I said before you should do this before installing any programs.

Here's a test. Belarc Advisor is a great program that unfortunately does not allow you to select where you want it installed - it installs in the system32 folder. See if the above registry trick works.

BUT I caution that dinking with the registry comes with inherent risks and you should backup the registry before making any changes. You can use regedit to backup, or my favorite, ERUNT

• Download, install, and run ERUNT,
• When prompted to add ERUNT to the Start-up folder, click No,
• Start ERUNT, select Ok to continue,
• In the box that opens, select the save location for the backup (the default is recommended),
• Ensure the "System registry" and "Current user registry" options are checked,
• Click OK,
• When prompted, click Yes to create a new folder,
• When Registry backup is complete notice appears, note restore instructions, then click OK.

Also, I would advise against trying to move any applications. It would be much better to uninstall and re-install to the new location. If you do move, run the install program and many, such as MS Office, will find that it is already installed, but not in the right place and the install routine will then modify the registry for you, leaving your Office customizations in place.

 

[TrainableMan]

If it installs in the System directory then it isn't a "well behaved" program following Microsoft programming standards of using subdirectories under %ProgramFiles Dir% therefore it would not be affected in any way by that registry change. i.e., if the program isn't designed to use the environment variable then of course changing the environment variable will have no effect.

 

[yodap]

Here's a test. Belarc Advisor is a great program that unfortunately does not allow you to select where you want it installed - it installs in the system32 folder. See if the above registry trick works.

BUT I caution that dinking with the registry comes with inherent risks and you should backup the registry before making any changes. You can use regedit to backup, or my favorite, ERUNT

• Download, install, and run ERUNT,
• When prompted to add ERUNT to the Start-up folder, click No,
• Start ERUNT, select Ok to continue,
• In the box that opens, select the save location for the backup (the default is recommended),
• Ensure the "System registry" and "Current user registry" options are checked,
• Click OK,
• When prompted, click Yes to create a new folder,
• When Registry backup is complete notice appears, note restore instructions, then click OK.

Also, I would advise against trying to move any applications. It would be much better to uninstall and re-install to the new location. If you do move, run the install program and many, such as MS Office, will find that it is already installed, but not in the right place and the install routine will then modify the registry for you, leaving your Office customizations in place.

Thanks Digerati. I have expounded on the importance of Erunt on this forum before. It runs seemlessly with W7 as it has with all windows os's going back forever. I've been using it on all my computers for 5 years.
There was one poster that was having trouble with system restore. Unfortunately I was not able to help him wrap his mind around the concept of Erunt.

If you never have to use it, more power to you. However it has saved my bacon a half dozen times over the years.

Glad to have a second (or first) intelligent opinion on this topic.

Sorry for the H.J.