Is it possible to move Program Files folder?

[CamaroRacing]

I was wondering if anyone knew if it was possible to place the Program Files folder on a different drive from the one the Windows directory was installed on.

 

[DougLite]

Yes it is. The \Common Files subfolder can be moved as well. Here's how you do it, on XP.

Create the new home for Program Files, wherever you want to put it. Copy everything in the old C:\Program Files to the new one. Open up regedit. Navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion. You will see Reg_SZ values for ProgramFilesDir and CommonFilesDir, change them to reflect their new locations. This has worked flawlessly for me - new program setups even default to the new location when they check this key, as most well written install routines do. It is probably even possible to make a custom XP install routine that uses an alternate location from the beginning, but it's not that big of a deal to me.

However, I have not exhaustively tested this. There are likely situations where this causes problems. Proceed at your own risk.

 

[oVerCaffeinated]

That's cool but I'm not going to try it now. Maybe next reformat