Moving Program Files Folder

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:52:02 +0100, "Samuel"
<samuel.shulman.TakeThisOut@ntlworld.com> wrote:


> I would like to move the Program Files folder to another partition


First of all, why? Most people who do this do it because they think
that if they ever have to reinstall Windows, their installed programs
will be safe and won't have to be reinstalled.

They are wrong. Except for an occasional program (usually a small
one), all programs have many entries in the registry and associated
files and pointers to the programs within \Windows. If Windows is
reinstalled, all that is lost, and the programs have to be reinstalled
anyway.

Unless yours is an unusual special situation, this is not a good idea;
for almost everyone it's best for installed programs to be in the same
partition as Windows.


> Is it possible do move and keep all the programs running?


Basically, no. All those registry entries and pointers will be
pointing to the wrong places and the programs will fail to run. There
is third-party software which purports to seek out all these entries
and change them, but my experience with such programs has been less
than satisfactory. The safest and best way to move a program is to
uninstall it and reinstall it where you want it.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

The parrtition is full because it is abou 11gb and the OS takes 8-9 what can
be done?

"Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:OQ5hw8b7IHA.4536@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Only during setup. You use an answer file to define the "ProgramDir" (see
> 'ref.chm' in 'Deploy.cab' in the setup media)
>
> --
> Please use the Communities guidelines when posting.
> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm
> Use the "Ratings" feature. It helps the new users.
> Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
> https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Mark.Ferguson
>
> "Samuel" <samuel.shulman RemoveThis @ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:uKEvd5b7IHA.3480@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>
>> Hi
>>
>> I would like to move the Program Files folder to another partition
>>
>> Is it possible do move and keep all the programs running?
>>
>>
>>

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:26:52 +0100, "Samuel"
<samuel.shulman.TakeThisOut@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>The parrtition is full because it is abou 11gb and the OS takes 8-9 what can
>be done?

How big is the drive?? Why is that partition so small?

>"Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>message news:OQ5hw8b7IHA.4536@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Only during setup. You use an answer file to define the "ProgramDir" (see
>> 'ref.chm' in 'Deploy.cab' in the setup media)
>>
>> --
>> Please use the Communities guidelines when posting.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm
>> Use the "Ratings" feature. It helps the new users.
>> Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
>> https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Mark.Ferguson
>>
>> "Samuel" <samuel.shulman.TakeThisOut@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>> news:uKEvd5b7IHA.3480@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> I would like to move the Program Files folder to another partition
>>>
>>> Is it possible do move and keep all the programs running?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>

Are you sure that you have not confused which Partition is which?

The Recovery Parttion(usualy D, installed by computer manufacturer to
recover your system in case of system failure back to factory condition, is
about 10G!

If the above is correct, leave it alone!
--
Mick Murphy - Qld - Australia


"Samuel" wrote:

> The parrtition is full because it is abou 11gb and the OS takes 8-9 what can
> be done?
>
> "Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> message news:OQ5hw8b7IHA.4536@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> > Only during setup. You use an answer file to define the "ProgramDir" (see
> > 'ref.chm' in 'Deploy.cab' in the setup media)
> >
> > --
> > Please use the Communities guidelines when posting.
> > http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm
> > Use the "Ratings" feature. It helps the new users.
> > Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
> > https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Mark.Ferguson
> >
> > "Samuel" <samuel.shulman.DeleteThis@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> > news:uKEvd5b7IHA.3480@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> >>
> >> Hi
> >>
> >> I would like to move the Program Files folder to another partition
> >>
> >> Is it possible do move and keep all the programs running?
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

One thing you could try is to move the swap file to another drive or
partition.
Next run the disk clean tool and see what that does for you.
Also remove all but the last restore point.
11gb is not enough for the C drive, it should have been 20GB for a
decent install

Mike

Samuel wrote:
> The parrtition is full because it is abou 11gb and the OS takes 8-9 what can
> be done?
>
> "Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> message news:OQ5hw8b7IHA.4536@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Only during setup. You use an answer file to define the "ProgramDir" (see
>> 'ref.chm' in 'Deploy.cab' in the setup media)
>>
>> --
>> Please use the Communities guidelines when posting.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm
>> Use the "Ratings" feature. It helps the new users.
>> Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
>> https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Mark.Ferguson
>>
>> "Samuel" <samuel.shulman.TakeThisOut@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>> news:uKEvd5b7IHA.3480@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> I would like to move the Program Files folder to another partition
>>>
>>> Is it possible do move and keep all the programs running?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>

"Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake.TakeThisOut@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
news:8amh849ehjk7u78s0ldihl7k8k86j5d9kt@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:52:02 +0100, "Samuel"
> <samuel.shulman.TakeThisOut@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>
>> I would like to move the Program Files folder to another partition
>
>
> First of all, why? Most people who do this do it because they think
> that if they ever have to reinstall Windows, their installed programs
> will be safe and won't have to be reinstalled.

I do it so that I can limit space usage across partitions. I know that I
will not be able to use my programs after reinstall, but it does make it a
cinch to reinstall straight over the top of them and sometimes that means
that your program-related data is preserved.

> They are wrong. Except for an occasional program (usually a small
> one), all programs have many entries in the registry and associated
> files and pointers to the programs within \Windows. If Windows is
> reinstalled, all that is lost, and the programs have to be reinstalled
> anyway.

They are wrong only if they did it for the exact reason you defined. Which I
don't doubt many people do.

>
> Unless yours is an unusual special situation, this is not a good idea;
> for almost everyone it's best for installed programs to be in the same
> partition as Windows.

Please explain why it is best. I have several "Program Files" folders across
my partitions. Again, purely for space management. So I have:

C:\Program Files - which will contain common Windows stuff and anything
OS-related - like AV etc,
F:\Program Files - which contains all of my normal office-type applications
G:\Program Files - contains any games
S:\Program Files - contains any simulators (flight sim etc)

JW