Can I Move an Installed Application to Another Drive?

❌ Because of the files an installed application usually leaves behind, it's prohibitively difficult move it to another drive.

❌ Moving an installed application from one drive to another
Because of the complexity of how applications are set up, it’s almost impossible to know everything that might need to be adjusted if an application were moved from one drive to another. The correct solution is to uninstall and reinstall the application in its new location.

Chapters
0:00 Move Application to Another Drive
0:35 It's prohibitively difficult move it to another drive
0:50 File locations
1:30 Setup issues
2:15 The “right” solution
3:10 The exception
3:50 Portable applications

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#askleo #harddrive #application

[NoEggu]

There is a way to "mostly" transfer all of an application's data from one drive to different drive, regardless of how that application works.
You can use symbolic links.

A symbolic link creates a file that references a different location.
Any file can be referenced via a symbolic link.

You can have a video file (some-video.mp4), or any file be referenced via a symbolic link.
You can have a directory be referenced via a symbolic link.

Windows has a "junction.exe" command, as well as a "mklink" command.
The "junction" command might not be installed -- I think it is part of a developer's pack. But "mklink" is easy to use and will get the job done.

Note that symbolic links might not be supported by all file systems.
The default file system for Windows is "NTFS", and NTFS supports symbolic links. So unless you went out of your way to use some other file system, then you should be fine.

Running either one of the above (junction or mklink), from the command prompt, with no arguments will produce a help screen of output.

I find the "mklink" easier to use, and it will definitely be on your computer.

To relocate an application:
1) Make sure that the application is not in use (you will be copying files, and none of those files should be open / in use/ busy).
2) Create a directory on your new hard drive, where you want to store that application.
3) Copy everything (all files and sub-directories, etc) from the current location to the new location.
4) Delete everything from its original location, including the directory name where the data used to reside.
5) Via the command prompt, create a directory symbolic link, with the exact same name as the directory that you just deleted, and have that directory symbolic link point to the new directory (see #2, above).

Note that if you use your file manager to navigate to your old location, where you now have a symbolic link, your file manager will still show you that you are on your c: drive (because, technically, that is where your symbolic link is). But if you did everything correctly, then you will, indeed, be accessing the files in their new location.

Down the road, you might find that your application was storing data in yet some other directory. So you will then have to decide whether you want to repeat the above, again, for this newly discovered directory.

I suggest that you practice, before trying this on important data.

Create a temp-directory, and dump some unimportant files into it.
Then follow the above steps, and confirm that when you access the temp-directory (which at this point should be a symbolic link), you should see the unimportant files in the other drive where those files now exist.

In any event, do a full backup before you try this. If you screw up your application, you will regret not having a full backup.

[reefhound]

I use Portable Apps to the extent possible. You might lose a bit of functionality and convenience but gain flexibility in storage and transport.

[noexcuses]

Long Live DOS - used to be able to do this >>> back in the day

[GeekIWG]

Another exception is with Valve Steam. You can create another game library on your second drive and then have Steam move your games to it. Other game launchers might have this ability too. Of course this falls into the category of the application (in this case, Steam) being designed to do this.

[renedelapena]

Absolutely no to some but not all. There are some apps that works only to a single setup location in the program files or the default location will set in the drive C.
You can just copy and paste the setup folder to another system drive and it works fine. I am a system administrator, i encountered a lot.

[anewdeal]

this is a video that needed to be made. Thanks 🙏

[Falk]

Lotus Notes can be moved to a differend drive, too.

[garymack]

Like you said sometimes it works and others times no, according to the program but I am not sure how to distinguish.

[bazoo]

Yeah, sane Windows applications (that is, very few) and most of Linux applications "regulate" their placement by several, often just one, environment variable. For example, move your Oracle installation and change ORA_HOME accordingly, put the new location of executables on the PATH and you are all set.

[myobmyob]

I could have sworn I did that to a two drive CPU BUT I couldn't open it normally, had to change settings. Maybe it was just parked in drive 2 (save space)

[danni]

Hello, Leo!
I'm old, I have a tower computer, and everything is wired...even my mouse.
I'm still running Windows 7 because I can't learn anything anymore. I basically just watch YouTube.
I have a window on my screen that I can't get rid of 'McUIC.exe...The procedure entry point BCryptHash could not be located in the dynamic link library
bcrypt.dll.
It's right in the middle of my screen. I can't close it, I can't delete it, and I can't move it. I can't even watch a movie.
I didn't order it and I don't know how to get it off my computer, can you give me some direction, please?

[BradleySmith]

Steam will allow you to move most games, adobe will allow you to move the app.

[markanderson]

The same rule holds true for smart phones and tablets. Which stinks, because no matter how big your storage is your vendor automatically takes half of it.

ATT, Verizon, T Mobile, Consumer Cellular, etc. They all do. Yes you can install extra storage like a micro SD card, but that is mostly only good for files, backups etc.

[WantnSup]

Use Macrium reflect to back it up to the new drive. Then boot with the new drive. Seems too simple to be true.