Nomad1 Posted July 17, 2005 Report Share Posted July 17, 2005 A simple question I think, but I have no idea about where to look for an answer so I turn to you...Like most people I have 2 hard drives. One is intended to be my OS HD and the other a programs HD. The annoying part is that whenever I go to install a program it defaults to C:\Program Files (x86)\Blah... when I'd rather it go to E:\... If anyone has an idea on how I'd make that happen I'd be greatly appreciative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micken Posted July 17, 2005 Report Share Posted July 17, 2005 Install shield for each program will ask you where you would like the program placed. You should choose E:\ and create a folder called Program Files that you can put your programs in.You can quite often just replace the C with an E in the text box prior to starting the actual installation process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madboy33 Posted July 17, 2005 Report Share Posted July 17, 2005 Click start>run and type regedit and back the registry up first pleaseNow go to Hot Key Local machine>SOFTWARE>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersionNow on the right hand side you will see ProgramFilesDir. Double click it and you will see C:\Program FilesNow change the directory path to your other drive ie D:Program Files Remember to have a folder (of the same name) that is in the directory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted July 17, 2005 Report Share Posted July 17, 2005 The common procedure with multiple drives is to have the O/S and programs an the same drive and then place the data generated/used on the alternative drives.Programs additional to your operating system make important and necessary changes to the registry so if you have programs on one drive and the registry on another, this can potentially lead to problems.Can I ask why you want to do this and not use the conventional way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomad1 Posted July 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2005 The drive that WinXPx64's on is an IDE drive (ATA/100) and the second hard drive is an SATA drive that I couldn't install the OS onto in the first place. Because I play a lot of games I'd rather they be stored on the slightly faster drive and thus run from them.But thanks all of you for your input. It was very informative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 TweakUI also does it, but I am not sure about x64 support.-pops-, installing to a secondary drive (espically sata) can sometimes improve performance of games. Just as an addition, a secondary drive formatted as fat32 can be even faster. (no index... :P ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 -pops-, installing to a secondary drive (espically sata) can sometimes improve performance of games. Just as an addition, a secondary drive formatted as fat32 can be even faster. (no index... :P )Aah! Another world. My knowledge of computer gaming would, written down, sit on the top of a single one of the million+ transistors present in a CPU. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micken Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 What would be really useful would be a brief essential guide on how to set up a second drive for data so that it runs from Windows. For example I have a small home network with different machines used by different members of the family in various ways.Our main machine is used by all five members of the family and it would be useful to have office documents, images, music files etc on a separate drive from the system. I currently move images and Nero CD backup images manually. The aim is to keep the C drive small so that backup is fast.Any links, ideas or comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 Do you want a guide to network drives? or a guide to local drives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 -pops-, installing to a secondary drive (espically sata) can sometimes improve performance of games. Just as an addition, a secondary drive formatted as fat32 can be even faster. (no index... :P )Aah! Another world. My knowledge of computer gaming would, written down, sit on the top of a single one of the million+ transistors present in a CPU. :)On the contrary -pops- You are absolutley right in saying having a program on one drive and having the registry on another can cause problems, but ususually only when something is changed or removed. As the program installs, if you tell it to go to E:\Program Files, every config file in the program (and registry) will be written to look in that folder for the file it needs. As for fat32, check out this: http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htmThe site shows ntfs as the obvious choice for users, but does not outline that ntfs also uses an "index" for every file located on the partition. Thus, fragmentation is A LOT easier, and causes more problems than a fat32. NTFS is of course still recomended for your windows partition for security reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micken Posted July 18, 2005 Report Share Posted July 18, 2005 Hi Scarecrow Man, a guide to setting up local drives would be a good starting point. I am also interested in shared drives on a home network that is not running as a domain.Thanks for your interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 I'll try.. very busy lately! remind me if I forget :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micken Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 Will do :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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