1. Move pagefile away from system drive (optional)
2. Turn off System Restore (warning; this may be counter intuitive with regard to security)
3. Change default Windows installation path:
Warning: one must reboot the computer to allow any previous changes to apply before installing programs
Warning 2: Must manually create “Program Files” “Temp” “Temporary Internet Files” “Cookies” folders; otherwise, Windows will appear broken after these changes
The 64bit version has two versions of regedit. Make this change on a 64bit Version of Windows :
a. Enter into Start>Run: %systemroot%\syswow64\regedit
b. Go to: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]
Change the Path in DWORDs ProgramFilesDir, ProgramFilesDir (x86) to the new path:
“ProgramFilesDir”=”D:\\Program Files”
“ProgramFilesDir (x86)”=”D:\\Program Files (x86)”
c. Change paths for Temp, Temporary Internet Files, and Cookies
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment] => change Temp, TMP to D:\Temp
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders]
“Cookies”=”D:\\Temp\\Temporary Internet Files\\Cookies”
“Cache”=”D:\\Temp\\Temporar y Internet Files”
4. Change Desktop to D drive
Browse to C:\Users\[your_name]
Select these folders one at a time: Downloads, Desktop, Etc.
Right click, Properties, Location, Change the path to D:\Downloads and D:\Users\[your_name]\Desktop
Experimental:
Create a System Restore Point.
Log on under an admin account.
Move the folder c:\Users\SomeUser so that it becomes d:\SomeUser.
Open the registry editor.
Navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.
Search for “ProfileImagePath” until you find the one that points at c:\Users\SomeUser.
Modify it so that it points at d:\SomeUser.
Use System Restore in case things go wrong.
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