Can I do this?

[laurandavid]

Is it even worth it or do you see any improvement if you install the OS on one partition and make another partition just to install programs on?

Thanks.

[quartet-man]

You can do it and it would probably have your startup a little faster as well as make it easier to transfer data perhaps (say your OS portion was screwed up, your other would be accessible) plus things would be somewhat segregated.

One thing to be mindful of is that everything that you install will likely have a default location of C: you would have to change.

[laurandavid]

Could someone point me in the right direction to do this?

Thanks.

[EzyStvy]

There is no real benefit to do it..If the OS partition gets messed up and you reinstall - you have to reinstall all of your apps.

[Anomo]

Originally Posted by EzyStvy There is no real benefit to do it..If the OS partition gets messed up and you reinstall - you have to reinstall all of your apps.

A lot of your apps, not all of them. There are programs that don't require re installation after a fresh OS. Ex. ventrillo and steam (+ their games).

[Strider]

I know there are some programs that act a little flaky if they are not installed on the same drive as the OS. Of course that was years ago when I did that. Another thing to consider is some programs (Adobe that comes off the top of my head) you have to know where the program is installed in order to change things (I'm talking inside the program such as Photoshop) and sometimes they still put a folder on the OS drive, which essentially defeats the purpose of doing this in the first place.

[Anomo]

The only positive thing i can think of is that if you have to reinstall you ONLY loose your OS, and keep the rest. Then you at least can refer to what you had when reinstalling and not forgetting something. Plus if you store things on the OS drive it disappears too.

Personally I like it. It makes reinstalling so much easier (don't have to remember every little detail), but I do prefer two drivers, not one with two partitions.

[EzyStvy]

Anomo - how do you replace all the registry entries from apps if the new OS install creates a brand new registry? Then there's the part where apps installl all sorts of files in the Windows folder.

[Anomo]

Originally Posted by EzyStvy Anomo - how do you replace all the registry entries from apps if the new OS install creates a brand new registry? Then there's the part where apps installl all sorts of files in the Windows folder.

I don't do anything. There are actual programs (like steam, thus including all its games) that don't need it. I don't know why it works but I have NEVER had to reinstall steam + games after a fresh OS and that has been 10+ times :P

[strollin]

I use separate drives, one for the OS/programs and another for purely data. The advantage is that I can reformat/replace/reinstall the OS/apps without affecting my data. There is NO performance advantage.

[laurandavid]

If I decided to put them on a whole seperate hard drive, do I need to create a folder called program files or can I just install them on the root of the additional drive?

Thanks.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Best if you create a folder called "Programs" or so as you may be putting something else on that drive besides the apps.

Note that due to poor coding, some programs may not uninstall correctly if you put them anywhere that is not "C:\Program Files".

[Anomo]

Originally Posted by laurandavid If I decided to put them on a whole seperate hard drive, do I need to create a folder called program files or can I just install them on the root of the additional drive? Thanks.

I just change the instalation place from C to D. Changing the actual driver, but not the rest of the name will make the folders automaticly.

Why do you want to do this?

[laurandavid]

I guess I just thought there may be some advantage to doing this is all. I see that there is really no advantage to doing it.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Not really. What you really don't want in your OS partition/drive are your personal files, those under "Documents", "Pictures" and the like. You can easily change their predetermined locations in Windows 7, and have the OS move them to another drive and take care of all the redirectioning details.

[Anomo]

Agreed.

Unless you are putting the OS on a SSD drive and the remaining programs on a HDD it would be time and money spent poorly. And even then I'm not sure it would be worth it :P (prices of ssd's are so high compared to the size). But in the end its up to you and what you think is best for yourself.

[sgtspector]

All new programs installed to my pc default to "d:/programfiles/put program name here". Now if I could just remember how I did it. Stay tuned.

[laurandavid]

Originally Posted by sgtspector All new programs installed to my pc default to "d:/programfiles/put program name here". Now if I could just remember how I did it. Stay tuned.

I am staying tuned haha.

[Nuclear Krusader]

I haven't moved my browser window from this thread.

[Anomo]

Googled it a while ago. If I remember right you have to change it in the registry.

[sgtspector]

How To Change The Default Installation Drive or Folder

Step1: Click Start and select Run.

Step2: Type "Regedit" and click OK.

Step3: Locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version

Step4: In the Right Hand Pane you can see ProgramFilesDir.

Step5: Double click on the ProgramFilesDir and change the value of C:\Program Files to X:\Program Files (where X is where you wish make your default directory for installation).

Default Installation Directory


As on longer go you install all your installed programs on to a separated drive you get a sense of lesser load on the Operating System thereby on to your PC.

[laurandavid]

Since there seemed to be no difference in doing this, I just reinstalled windows 7 and reinstalled all my programs. It is amazing how long it takes to reinstall programs.

[glc]

That's why we recommend imaging your drive after you get everything installed and running right. It makes for a lot quicker reload if you have to start from scratch again.