Solved Change installation folder

Sheikh · Sunday at 11:31 AM

Hi
Whenever I want to install an application, it will ask me the installation directory. some apps like "ADATA SSD toolkit" or "Cloudflare warp" will install in program files folder in C drive by default. how can I change the installation destination without any problem for some specific installers? don't want to change registery or group policy. want to force the installer.
maybe some switches like /silent for change the default directory?

wiganken · Sunday at 1:31 PM

Sheikh said:
will install in program files folder in C drive by default.

At the point where it shows you where the program will be install then that is the point at which you can specify a different folder by changing the installation path yourself before the installation begins.
Having said that, I believe that C: drive is the best partition for installing programs/apps. Installing to other partitions has been known to cause problems.

garlin · Sunday at 2:16 PM

Many installers or apps don't support running from a different folder. The program files path is hard-coded.

Your best option is to move the folder, and leave behind a symbolic link or junction point in the original location. This way you don't have to mess around with any reg keys. To expand @wiganken's advice: Don't move critical Windows apps to another drive, in case that drive goes offline for any reason.

Sheikh · Sunday at 3:16 PM

wiganken said:
At the point where it shows you where the program will be install then that is the point at which you can specify a different folder by changing the installation path yourself before the installation begins.
Having said that, I believe that C: drive is the best partition for installing programs/apps. Installing to other partitions has been known to cause problems.

Hello dear @wiganken and thanks for your explanation.
Unfortunately, some installers do not ask for destination and when you hit install, they will install the app to their default installation folder.
Some apps need to be installed on C drive because they are complicated or use some system services, but some of them are not like that and are very similar to portable apps. I tried to cut their installation folder to another drive, and they worked well, but I'm not sure if they are 100% reliable or not because I'm sure these apps will save some registry keys which use the installation path as default. so when you modify the installer, you can make sure that it will work well.
that's the reason I'm asking for some recommendations or switches like /DIR="x:\dirname"

pseymour · Sunday at 3:26 PM

The switches available are going to vary based on what type of installer it is, so there's no universal answer to that. The /DIR="x:\dirname" switch you mentioned is for Inno Setup installers, but others may just ignore it. The Nullsoft installer (NSIS) supports /D, but the dev who made the installer can disable that functionality.

garlin · Sunday at 3:41 PM

The dev is ultimately responsible for picking their package installer (and some don't even use one). If they're not interested in making the program folder portable, then you have to link a target folder. You don't know (unless you "strings" the executable or DLL files) if they hard-coded a path inside the app.

There is no universal format. There are common conventions, but there is no enforcement except when an app is distributed on the Microsoft or Steam Stores. Those Stores will mandate how programs get installed.

As devs get more experienced, they're more likely to grant users the option to install to a different path.

Symbolic links get around this problem because using the original path will resolve to where you've relocated the folder. And unless they're using relative paths to move up and sideways, like " ..\..\other_folder", then you're fine.

pseymour · Sunday at 3:45 PM

Agreed. Symbolic links are your friend here. I've actually moved the Program Files folders and ProgramData using symbolic links. I'm not recommending anyone do that, but the point is, symlinks work a treat.

Sheikh · Sunday at 5:18 PM

Thanks my friends. I will recheck your comments and will try your solutions on two of my installers tomorrow.

Sheikh · Sunday at 5:22 PM

pseymour said:
The switches available are going to vary based on what type of installer it is, so there's no universal answer to that. The /DIR="x:\dirname" switch you mentioned is for Inno Setup installers, but others may just ignore it. The Nullsoft installer (NSIS) supports /D, but the dev who made the installer can disable that functionality.

Is there any way to find an installer “tree” of switches? I don’t know how to explain… I mean a way to expand all switches so I can find which switches are active for this installer.

pseymour · Sunday at 5:26 PM

You can use the strings utility garlin hinted at. Sometimes you can run setup with a /? or /help, and it will show you command line options. If you start the setup, and see that it is, for example, an InstallShield installer, then you can lookup which switches those support.

Strings - Sysinternals

Search for ANSI and UNICODE strings in binary images.

learn.microsoft.com

Sheikh · Sunday at 5:27 PM

garlin said:
The dev is ultimately responsible for picking their package installer (and some don't even use one). If they're not interested in making the program folder portable, then you have to link a target folder. You don't know (unless you "strings" the executable or DLL files) if they hard-coded a path inside the app.

There is no universal format. There are common conventions, but there is no enforcement except when an app is distributed on the Microsoft or Steam Stores. Those Stores will mandate how programs get installed.

As devs get more experienced, they're more likely to grant users the option to install to a different path.

Symbolic links get around this problem because using the original path will resolve to where you've relocated the folder. And unless they're using relative paths to move up and sideways, like " ..\..\other_folder", then you're fine.

I’m very excited that you always help me my friend. Unfortunately I’m not a pro user like you and I can’t understand your answer. Do you mean after installation I have to cut the entire folder and create a shortcut with same name in previous directory?

Sheikh · Sunday at 5:28 PM

pseymour said:
You can use the strings utility garlin hinted at. Sometimes you can run setup with a /? or /help, and it will show you command line options. If you start the setup, and see that it is, for example, an InstallShield installer, then you can lookup which switches those support.

Strings - Sysinternals

Search for ANSI and UNICODE strings in binary images.

learn.microsoft.com

Very well thank you. That’s what I’m searching about. Will give it a try <3

garlin · Sunday at 6:11 PM

Sheikh said:
I’m very excited that you always help me my friend. Unfortunately I’m not a pro user like you and I can’t understand your answer. Do you mean after installation I have to cut the entire folder and create a shortcut with same name in previous directory?

A hard or symbolic link is a filesystem-level redirect for a given folder or file name.

For example, your installer creates "C:\Drivers". After it's done installing, you move folder "C:\Drivers\Something" to "E:\Folder\Drivers\Something".

From CMD as the Administrator:

Code:

mklink /d old_folder_path new_folder_path

mklink /d "C:\Drivers\Something" E:\Folder\Drivers\Something"

Where /d indicates this link is for a folder, and not for a single file. "dir C:\Drivers\Something" will show you the contents of the other folder.

A hard link makes the folder indistinguishable from the original folder. The target will now have two separate, but official names which point to the same object. Hard links cannot cross filesystems, meaning it can only happen if both locations are on the same drive letter.

A symbolic link is allowed to cross to a different drive letter.

Sheikh · Monday at 12:34 PM

garlin said:
A hard or symbolic link is a filesystem-level redirect for a given folder or file name.

For example, your installer creates "C:\Drivers". After it's done installing, you move folder "C:\Drivers\Something" to "E:\Folder\Drivers\Something".

From CMD as the Administrator:

Code:

mklink /d old_folder_path new_folder_path mklink /d "C:\Drivers\Something" E:\Folder\Drivers\Something"

Where /d indicates this link is for a folder, and not for a single file. "dir C:\Drivers\Something" will show you the contents of the other folder.

A hard link makes the folder indistinguishable from the original folder. The target will now have two separate, but official names which point to the same object. Hard links cannot cross filesystems, meaning it can only happen if both locations are on the same drive letter.

A symbolic link is allowed to cross to a different drive letter.

Thanks, dear Garlin. :kiss:

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