maverick02 Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 Hi guys, I'm wondering if there is a way to use vlite to change the default Programs install directory from the C:\ drive to the D:\ drive. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormlifter Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 I'd imagine it wouldn't be to hard, just make a batch file that runs after installation.Batch file would just run the necessary registry edit. Don't see it being hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oskingen Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 (edited) Nope vlite cannot do that. Like said above you can do it using a batch file that will change the value in registry. I'd say it's better to do this manually than with in vlite. Everytime i install windows i change my personal shell folders using a reg file. You can also do that with WAIK from microsoft. Edited May 17, 2008 by hannubys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranceEnergy Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I used to do this concistently, err spelling, with xp 64 and 32bit. But over the years i moved more and more to portable programs and finding other solutions. Now i only install software that goes with system updates, and keep programs and games totally off the c:\ harddrive. I use registry files which have the installations captured so i dont need to ever install anything apart from windows updates etc. The end result being a lot less log files, registry bloat, and installer files that are STILL kept on c:\, unless you move that as well. It's too much work in the end imho, unless it's for setting up a server and part of securing it etc, i dont see the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herg Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Hello Guys I, too, wondered how to set alternative directory paths. Specifically, I want the \ProgramData and the \Users folders to be on partitions different from C:\The reason is simple:a ) I want to keep the Windows drive cleanb ) I want to do an easy back-up with all relevant data of \user (documents as well as application settings), this becomes more difficult if I have the settings in C:\ but the Documents moved via the explorerIn the tool nLite (for Win XP), there has been the possibility to set paths for "Documents and Settings", "Program Files", and "Temp". Via google I have seen that there might be some possibilities to move the folder using WAIK oder manual registry edits. But I would greatly appreciate a vLite-integrated solution, simply because it would be easier for me as non-it-pro and because it would cause less problems if from the beginning of the setup, Windows itself uses the alternate \ProgramData and \Users folders.Thanks for the work done so far with developing vLite and please, please try to integrate an option to change paths into the next version.Thanks a lot!Herg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oskingen Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 in this case, why don't you just make a reg tweak that you apply at the end of the installation. before using WAIK i was doing it that way specially for my personal folders where i modify the user shell folder in registry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herg Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 in this case, why don't you just make a reg tweak that you apply at the end of the installation. before using WAIK i was doing it that way specially for my personal folders where i modify the user shell folder in registryBecause I don't know who to do exactly. Do you mean I shall manually edit the registry after installing Vista? Wouldn't that be much work plus the chance to forget any reg entry? Anyways, after Vista is installed, many programs are located in C:\ProgramData . I suggest some cannot be moved because the belong to process running.If you have any idea on an easy-to-use way, e.g. an existing reg-editing-script, please let me know.Thanks, Herg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herg Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 (edited) I finally did move my user folder (only mine, not the whole 'users' folder) via changing dozens of registry entries manually and it works.Anyone tried this with C:\ProgramData\ ? Edited June 21, 2008 by Herg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zereal Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I finally did move my user folder (only mine, not the whole 'users' folder) via changing dozens of registry entries manually and it works.Anyone tried this with C:\ProgramData\ ?What abour using NTFS junctions? I explain:1.- I have 2 partitions, C:\ and D:\, first for system, apps, etc., second one for user data (documents, desktop, etc. profile as well)2.- in D:\~ZEREAL~\ make a copy of ALL data contained on C:\users\MY_USER\* (u can do it via MiniPE, ghost image, etc)3.- I modify c:\User\MY_USER to point a NTFS directory..voila.I did it under XP, long time ago. Maybe not this exaclty way, but that's the idea.Now, if you do it directly in the .WIM file, and rebuild it to make a Vista installation DVD with this modified, you can acomplish, cause:1.- You didn't delete original C:\Users\MY_USER, only "redirected" to a NTFS junction in D:\2.- This will be transparent to system and apps, cause they uses original paths, not modified ones.Try it, surely i'm wrong in the exactly way, correct order, etc. but that's the idea, and i do it sucessfully in XP.(sorry for my bad english, i'm drunk now xD ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herg Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Thanks for this idea, it sounds good. I might try this later. For now, I have my Vista Business x64 system running, so I can start working Next tinkering with next re-install Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zereal Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 I'll try this method this week, and if sucessfull, notify here, and write a "how-to", ok?I'm an IT in a PC-BOX expert's center, and repairing-reinstalling 10-15 PC's a day is enough for try to do this mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herg Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Thank you in advance... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
premiergeeks Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Any light on this, or a how-to guide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeMSFN Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 If you can get the "link" (soft, hard, symbollic) or "redirect" or whatever the buzzword is for it, it can be a fabulous space (and time) saver. I've done this with a server that everything was installed on the C:. I copied the larger user folders, as well as the IIS website datafiles to a different drive. I don't remember if I copied the permissions at file copy time, or just restored the permissions to the destination files/folders after the copy. I then deleted all the data in the source. Finally I created a link from the destination to where the source folder used to be. I now have successfully avoided editing the registry for all the possible places where C:\whateverpath\whateverfile and changing it to some other letter. It also had the upshot of being able to move deep folders to near the root thus avoiding too long paths, or just moving things to a single letter subfolder for easy remembering that things were on the c drive originally. I also didn't have to worry about an identical directory path on say X drive.I believe I did some if not all of that in safe mode to avoid file locking problems.It worked like a champ. C drive was available to fill up with other system junk. If you can get the new folder destination linking to happen at install time, that would be a fantastic data saver as well as a time saver of registry editing or doing all that after install (the permissions part was a bit of a challenge if I recall). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
premiergeeks Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Yes, but I'm not sure how to perform this operation in the Windows Vista setup. I've read a little about creating batch commands that are performed after the install, but have no clue where to start and what commands to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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