Moving programs to another logical drive in Windows. How to move a program, game or browser profile to another drive without reinstalling Transferring installed programs to another drive
Beginners, inexperienced users do not see the difference between the computer's logical drives. These people tend to save their documents created in office applications, such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel, or files downloaded by the browser from the Internet, to where the application writes such files by default. And by default, both office suites and browsers upload their files to drive C in the subdirectories of the "My Documents" folder. This in itself is not very scary. Problems can arise only in two cases. Firstly, drive C is usually made smaller than other logical drives, it is intended mainly for installing and operating the operating system. But, when such an inexperienced user overloads the disk With movies, music and other large files, the operating system simply does not have enough space left for normal functioning.
In fact, transferring these system folders is very simple and easy, it is much more important to understand why it is desirable to do this. My task in this article is to convince you of the expediency of this operation, of its necessity.
Why move system folders
Here are a few reasons why I strongly recommend that you move the folders "My Documents", "Downloads" and "Desktop" from the system drive to another ...
The first reason is that their content fills the “C” drive with minor files very quickly and quickly, which eventually slows down the system…
The fact is that for normal, fast operation of the operating room Windows system 10% free space required on your disk.
Download the application distribution. Initially, the program was developed to move installed Steam games, but now the utility can handle many other tasks. It is important to note that for the program to work correctly, Windows Vista or Windows Seven must be installed on the computer, and all disks must be formatted in NTFS.
The program does not require installation; to run it, open the executable file contained in the archive. You will see a window that is divided into two parts. On the left, specify the source folder where the application to be moved is located, and on the right side of the window, select a new location for your utility.
After that, select all the items in the list and click the right arrow in the lower left corner of the program. Next, you will see a command window, after closing which the desired utility will be completely moved to a new folder. Links will be created in the old place, so the launch of all applications will occur as before.
If you want to return the utility to its old place, then press the left arrow button, and the program will be moved back.
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Steam Mover can be a very useful tool if you need to free up hard drive space very quickly. There are more powerful utilities, but they are slower and not suitable for moving files quickly.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to transfer already installed programs With disk C to drive D. The reason may be a banal lack of space on drive C, as a result, the operating system may become unstable. It should immediately be clarified that simply copying the folder with the program will not help here, because programs require installation and it would not be entirely correct to talk about their simple transfer. Need to reinstall programs to a new hard drive partition.
You will need
- - Computer with Windows OS.
Instruction
The following steps assume that the C drive is your system drive and the operating system is installed on it. First you need to uninstall the program from disk C. You need to do this using the uninstaller of this program. To do this, click "Start", then - "All programs” and find the program you want to uninstall. On the menu of this programs, respectively, select "Delete" and use the "Uninstall Wizard" to remove it.
If through the "Start" you could not find the uninstaller programs, then you can delete it like this. Click "Start" and select "Control Panel". Next, find the "Add or Remove Programs" component. Depending on the operating system and from the type of menu, it can be in different subsections. Find the program you will be uninstalling. Click on it right click mouse and select Delete. Remove everything this way programs, which will be reinstalled on drive D.
To install you will need the installers of these programs. Create on drive D Program folder files. This folder will be re-installed you need programs. Start the installation of the desired programs, regardless of where it is installed from (flash drive, disk), you can double-click on the Setup or Autotorun file with the right mouse button. These files are in the root folder programs.
The Software Installation Wizard will appear. Install the program using the wizard's prompts. Please note that during the installation process there will definitely be a browse button, by clicking on which you can change the folder in which you want to install the program. This must be done, since by default all programs are installed on drive C. By clicking the browse button, select to install programs D/Program Files folder.
Proceed in this way, reinstall all the necessary programs to disk D. After the process is completed, everything programs With disk C will be uninstalled and installed on drive D. The Program Files folder you created on drive D should only contain installed programs. Do not dump any third-party information into this folder.
Move an object another background You can use the Photoshop program, which involves working with raster images. The process is quite laborious, it requires scrupulousness and accuracy. Carelessness during the move can result in the photomontage being immediately noticeable.
You will need
- Adobe Photoshop program, two raster images.
Instruction
Open the image from which the object will be taken. In this case, a spaceship. Then cut out the object. To do this, use the Magic Wand tool from the toolbar in the Add to Selected Area mode (on the top line of the program). Use it to select the ship by clicking on the background surrounding it. If the background is not uniform, you will have to make more frequent mouse clicks. After selecting an object, it will be surrounded by a "live" dotted line. But not only the spaceship will be selected, but also the images along the perimeter.
In order for the selection to touch only the object, invent the image by pressing the "hot" keys Shift+Ctrl+I. As a result, the dotted line will be only around the ship. At this stage, the goal is achieved - the selection of the object.
Right-click inside the selection to set precise boundaries. After pressing the button, a menu will appear in which you need to select the “Refine Edge” function. This function has its own parameters, adjusted by moving the corresponding sliders. "Radius" refines the edge of the selection, "Contrast" is needed to adjust the contrast of the edge of the selection. The Smooth slider helps smooth out jagged edges, while Feather helps make them softer and more natural. "Compression/Expansion" is responsible for the size of the selected area. In the Refine Edge function window, set all these parameters to zero. In this way, the ship will be highlighted very accurately.
Then open the image that will be object moved, and drag the ship there with the mouse. After setting it in the right place, slightly blend the edges of the cut out image and adjust the brightness / contrast. This is necessary in order for the photomontage to be of high quality. After the ship is "set", flatten the layers and save the new image.
note
If, after working with the Magic Wand tool, you transfer without using the Refine Edge option, pixels from the previous background will be visible.
When working with the Refine Edge window, if you hover your mouse over the slider, at the bottom of the window you can read tips on how to use each of them.
Sources:
- how to move photoshop
In order for the programs installed on the computer to work correctly, on the logical disk there must be enough free space. If there is not enough space, you can try to free it in different ways.
Instruction
Acronis DiskDirectorSuite is used to allocate disk space between partitions. It is assumed that the utility does not damage files on disks, however, for safety, copy important information to external media.
Run the program and select the automatic mode of operation. In the left part of the window in the "Wizards" section, check the "Increase disk space" item.
In the "Expand Space Wizard" window, check the C: drive and click "Next" to continue. On the new screen, select D: and continue by clicking "Next". In the "Partition size" window, set a new size D. To do this, change the position of the slider or enter data in the "Partition size" field.
Click "Next" again. The system will display a window with a new disk structure. If everything suits you, click "Finish", if you want to cancel the changes, use the "Back" button. In the final window, press the button in the form of a checkerboard flag, after which the program will start working.
By default, on drive C: is the paging file - the place where Windows records intermediate results of calculations and the most requested data. To free up space on the system drive, the paging file can be moved to a different logical drive.
Call the context menu by right-clicking on the "My Computer" icon and check "Properties". In the "Performance" section of the "Advanced" tab, click "Options" and again go to the "Advanced" tab.
In the "Virtual memory» Click Edit. Mark the C drive with the cursor and in the "Paging file size ..." section, set "No paging file". Click "Set" to confirm the changes. Then select drive D and in the same section set the minimum and maximum size of the paging file. The minimum size is recommended to be 1.5 times the amount of RAM on the computer.
Before changing disk space, clear the C drive of temporary files. From the Start menu, select Find and select Files and Folders. Enter temp in the search bar, assign the C drive as the search area, and in the additional parameters specify "Search in system folders", "Search in hidden folders" and "Search in subfolders".
Open the found folders named Temp and Temporary Internet FilesContent.IE5 and delete their contents - this way you can free up a lot of space on your system drive.
The memory card in the camera is fully loaded, and you are thinking about how to move the photo to your computer now. For this, special cords and programs from the disk are usually used. But if you have a laptop and a modern camera, then no additional devices are needed.
You will need
- - digital camera;
- - memory card with photos (SD card);
- - a laptop with a slot for reading SD-cards;
- - folders on the computer.
Instruction
Create multiple folders on your computer. Assign them special names corresponding to the events captured on the camera. Thus, you will save time so as not to get confused in the future in numerous photographs. You can immediately allocate a special flash card for storing pictures.
Remove the SD card from the camera. Usually it is under the same cover as the battery. Open the special compartment, press the card with a light touch. It will automatically come out of the holder. Remove it completely from the camera to transfer photos to your computer.
Find a special slot on the laptop, the so-called. "SD card reader". In order to avoid dusting or ingress of foreign bodies into it, it is closed with a special cap with a flat plate. The easiest way to find the slot is to look closely at the front of the laptop. It will be marked along the contour with the names of readable cards: MMC, MS, MS-pro, SD, XD (example taken from Lenovo laptop). Lightly press the cover or lift it with your finger, and it will open the space where you need to insert an SD card with photos.
Turn the card face up to you. On the sticker with the name and amount of memory, you will see a small arrow. It indicates which side of the card should be inserted into the reader. Be careful: the meager switch, located on the map on the left, must be raised up. Otherwise, the card will be blocked from copying.
Bring the card to the slot at the same slope as the laptop. It should slide smoothly into the hole. If there is a feeling of the presence of any obstacles, do not press hard on the card. You can damage both it or the information contained on it, as well as the laptop.
If you have autoplay enabled, please wait a few seconds for it to activate. Select "Open folder to view files" from the list of suggested actions. Transfer photos to previously created folders, immediately packing them by subject. If there is no AutoPlay function, go to "My Computer" and select your SD card in the "Connected Devices" section. Move the photo to your computer.
When on system partition there is little space left, the user can take the following measures. Firstly, secondly, reluctantly remove some of the applications, thirdly, compress system disk built-in function. But there is also a fourth option. Installed applications can be transferred to another partition or disk, and moreover, so that they will still work as if nothing had happened.
The small utility FolderMove will help in this task. This tool allows you to transfer directories with programs and games, leaving symbolic links in their place, thereby maintaining the correct paths to executable files and their relationship with entries in the system registry.
FolderMove is extremely easy to use. The utility window has two fields "Move From" and "Move To", the first indicates the source directory, the second - the place where it should be moved. The "Move and set Symbolic Link" button starts the moving procedure. Additionally, you can check the "Set Symbolic Link to hidden" checkbox, in which case the "Hidden" attribute will be set for the directory with the symbolic link label.
When working with FolderMove, however, keep the following in mind. The utility cannot be used to transfer system applications, as this may cause them to stop running. It is also not recommended to transfer programs that deeply integrate into the system, if the transfer fails, the program may also stop working. In general, use the tool at your own risk.
Download current version FolderMove is available from the developer's site foldermove.com. The utility is distributed free of charge, does not require installation, the language of the simplest interface is English. You should run the utility as an administrator, if you suddenly need to return the moved directory to the Program Files folder, you will have to do this manually, after deleting the symbolic link.
43499Almost all programs during installation are installed in the folder Program Files, which lies at the root of the system partition. But this is by default, if desired, the user himself can set the installation directory and it is not at all necessary that it be located on the disk C. Now imagine that you have a need to move the installed programs to another partition. In what cases might this be needed?
For example, when Windows migration With HDD on SSD disk or for the sake of obtaining on the system partition extra bed when repartitioning the disk is impossible for some reason.
How to carry out such a transfer correctly? For this there is special utility entitled . It's completely free, doesn't require installation, and is very easy to use. Its main purpose is to transfer to another disk or partition Steam-games while maintaining their performance, however, with a few exceptions, it can be used with the same success to move most desktop programs.
Working window consists of two columns and both of them are empty by default. To start the transfer procedure, you first need to specify the path to the main folder with the programs - Program Files. After a short scan, you will receive a list installed applications, or rather their directories. In field Alternative Folder specify a new path, select the desired entries with the mouse and press the transfer button. If there are no errors during copying, the record from the left column will be transferred to the right one.
This will mark the corresponding program folder in the source directory with a shortcut icon. It is only curious that overwriting paths in shortcuts on the desktop and deleting program files from the original folders, that is, if you delete them manually, you will have to run the programs from the new location, but if you do not delete them, they will be launched from the previous location.
With the removal of transferred programs, too, not everything is so simple. Some applications after manually deleting the source files in the section "Installation and removal of programms" are designated as empty shortcuts, others are apparently removed by the wizard, but all their main files still remain on the disk. Although there is nothing to be surprised about, because the utility has not been updated for five years already. It's strange that she does her job at all. However, maybe the point here is not at all in the special algorithms of the utility, but in the banal copying of program files from one partition to another? At least such conclusions can be drawn from the data in the command line that starts during the transfer.
To save disk space, you can transfer installed programs to another disk or flash card. Moreover, you can transfer not only applications, but also games. But, before proceeding with the transfer, it is worth making a small remark. This instruction will only work for applications (including games) that are installed from the Windows Store.
So, in order to transfer the application you will need:
1. Open panel " Options", Further " System" And " Applications and Features". Here you should select the program and press the button " Move".
2. In the proposed list, select the disk to which we will transfer the application and click again "Move". If applications from another device are found on the selected drive, you will be prompted to delete them. If you do not want to remove these programs, then you should select a new drive.
3. In order not to transfer programs manually, you can configure automatic installation on desired disk. To do this, go to Settings-System-Storage-Storage Locations. Then select the desired disk from the list " New applications will be saved here:", now press " Apply".
If you have a lot of apps and programs installed on your Windows 10 system, you can move them to another drive to free up space. You may also need to change the default installation location. Fortunately, all this is possible.
Windows has a built-in utility that allows you to move modern apps to any location you choose. Although this method does not work for traditional desktop programs, it is still possible to transfer these programs to another drive.
Let us show you how to transfer an application or program to another drive.
Most relatives Windows applications can be moved quickly, but the process of moving anything else will require extra work. We first describe the process for Microsoft applications Store, then we'll look at traditional desktop programs.
Modern Applications
Click Windows key+ I to open the Settings menu and click Apps. You should be on the apps and features page of the left navigation.
Here you will find a list of all applications and programs installed on your system. Some of these applications may have come with your system, others you may have installed yourself. This method will only work with the last group.
Highlight the app you want to move and select it from the list. Now click Move . Select a new drive location from the dropdown list, then click the Move button again.
You can repeat the process if you want to move the app back or to a different drive.
If the Move button is greyed out, it means it's a Windows 10 app that can't be moved. If you see an Edit button instead, it is a traditional desktop program and you will need to follow the method below.
Desktop programs
Microsoft does not recommend moving file locations installed programs, because it can cause problems such as program termination. A safer (albeit less effective) method is to uninstall the program and then simply reinstall it on the desired drive.
If you want to continue, create a restore point so you can undo your changes if something goes wrong.
We recommend using a program called Steam Mover. It was originally designed to move Steam games between drives, but will actually work with any program. You can use it to transfer programs from hard drive on solid state, for example.
Please note that any drive you want to use with this program, no matter where the installed program is or where you want to move it, must be in NTFS format. You can check this by loading File Explorer and then clicking This PC on the left navigation bar. Now right-click on the drive and select Properties. Talk to File system to see if it's using NTFS.
Open Steam Mover. First, click the … button next to the Steam Apps Shared Folder to select the path to the folder that contains the program you want to move (for example, your program files). Now click on the … button next to Alternative folder and select the path to the folder where you want to move the program.
Next, select the program from the list that you want to move. You can select multiple programs by holding down the CTRL key. When you're ready to move, click the blue right arrow at the bottom to get started. Command line will open and process the movement. When completed, you will see the path to the new folder next to the program in the Junction Point column.
How to change the default installation location
If you just want to change the default install location for apps, it's easy. Change it to standard programs a little more difficult.
Modern Applications
Press the Windows key + I to open the settings menu. From here, click "System" and then select "Storage" from the menu on the left.
under the heading Extra options storage, click Edit where the new content is stored. To change the default drive for new applications, use the New Applications dropdown.
You'll notice that this page also allows you to change the default location for things like documents, music, and pictures.
Desktop programs
Microsoft does not recommend changing the default installation path for programs. This may cause problems with existing programs and some Windows features. It is best to perform this operation on a clean system. If that doesn't work, create a restore point so you can roll back if necessary.
Most programs will allow you to change the installation path when installing them, which can be best solution than fiddling with the system.
Once the program has opened, click "Enable Editing" and then click "Yes" when the User Account Control window appears. You will now be able to select the default installation path using the … button to navigate to the folder path if necessary.
Program Files installs 64-bit applications, while Program Files (x86) installs 32-bit applications. If you're not sure what that means, read our guide on the difference between 32- and 64-bit Windows versions. In bit versions But you still probably want both of them on the same disc.
With the new path selected, click Apply Changes. Now all new programs you install will use these folder paths by default.
Clean up your drive
Now that you know how to move your apps and programs and how to change their default installation location, you can free up space on your drives. But remember to take all precautions when using third-party programs.
