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CVHManchester
Inspiring
April 6, 2021
Question

Installing to D: drive

  • April 6, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 11385 views

1. My SSD C: drive is filling up (mostly with Win10 stuff) and I want to keep this fast drive for Photoshop. So I want to put as many programs as possible on the hard disk D:drive.

But there is no option during installation of Acrobat Reader. Is there a workaround?

2. the web contact link to the Enterprise forum

https://community.adobe.com/t5/labs/bd-p/labs?filter=all&page=1&sort=latest_replies

does not work

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    ls_rbls
    Community Expert
    ls_rblsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 30, 2021

    I was thinking if the inability to change the root installation directory is restricted depending on what Windows 10 version you're using.

     

    Some versions of Windows 10 come with S Mode enabled by default. It is very restrictive and doesn't allow to install apps unless they're only downloaded from the Micrososft Store, for example.

     

    I am thinking that, maybe, if you can confirm that your version of Windows has S Mode enabled, it needs to be disabled.

     

    You won't be able to install programs the way you're trying to unless S Mode is disabled (controlled by the operating system).

     

    The other idea that you can try is to go to the programs installation folder:

     

    • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\Setup\

     

    There will be a registry key inside curley braces { }. Double click to open; you'll see the setup.exe installation file for Acrobat Reader here and also, AcroRead.msi (installation file) amongst update files(.msp), a data .cab file and "setup.ini".

     

    The two files of importance here are AcroRead.msi and setup.ini

     

    Executing AcroRead.msi will give you an option  to repair installation errors and registry entries, while setup.ini is editable and you may add an entry to to change the installation root deirectory.

     

    If none of these methods work, you may need to refer to the Enterprise Administrators Guide and employ the Adobe Customization wizard to customize your own .msi package, in which you can change the root directory property from C:\ to D:\.

     

    To deploy your customized .msi package do it via command prompt as administrator.

     

    This may allow the installation wizard to install your program to the  D:\ root directory. 

     

    That said, my main question is, if C is a SATA drive and D is SSD?

     

    Or is it a single SSD with a C and D drive partitions on it?

     

    In any case, before you continue to force the AcroReader installation on an SSD , did you verified that this disk memory disk is initialized?

     

    See this guide as an additional reference:

     

     

    Nevertheless, consider also this criteria:

     

     

     

     

     

    D
    di_ny
    Inspiring
    August 30, 2021

    It has taken me days to figure this out but I did.

    I have a small SSD drive for my C drive on my new laptop and a large SATA for my D drive. I wanted to install new apps to my D drive because I would quickly run out of space on my C drive. Now, everything except Adobe Reader has installed on my D drive.

    First, I would like to tell you that all of this is a software issue. So, I know that Adobe automatically installs to C drive. No matter what you do, it will install to the C drive. I will try to contact Adobe about this.

    Second, with the advent of SSD drives, Microsoft has not yet really given a good way to install apps to the D drive. Along with Microsoft, computer manufacturers do not set up computers to install to D drive. In fact, when I contacted HP two days after receiving my new laptop, I was told that for $49 I could have their software people make a "best effort" to assist me in setting up my D drive for apps installation. I searched the HP Community and found that HP's advisors stated to delete photos, etc. to free up disk space on C. Bad answers.

    Since I am a geek, I researched then took it upon myself to set up my D drive for application installations. As I stated, you can't do this with Adobe Reader.

    To make it easier on you, below is what you should do. This will still take a bit of work but I am giving you all of the info about how to do this.

    Type Disk Management into your Windows search bar. Click on D>Choose drive tools at top>Disk Management. First, you need to initialize the D disk. In Disk Management, right-click D and then click Initialize Disk.

    Choose GPT - make sure that you are not making D a MBR disk.

    Next, format D. Choose NTFS. Many tech sites will tell you to use FAT32. Don't do it. I figured this out because my C drive was NTFS.

    If you aren't comfortable with Disk Management, There are two really good free programs you can use to initialize, format, partition your D drive then clone you Windows system to the D drive. You want to clone it because if you don't, your apps will seek Windows system files on your D drive. If they aren't there, you will receive errors. The two apps are Active Partition Manager which helps you manage storage devices and the logical drives or partitions that they contain and Macrium Reflect 7 Free - Home version works well - use this to clone Windows from C to D drive.

    After you have initialized, formatted, and partitioned your D drive, you want to tell Windows to install your programs on the D drive. There are two things that you need to do.

    First, go to Settings>System>Storage>Change where new content is saved>Change all of them to D>apply. If you only do this without changing the registry entries, the apps will still not install to D.

    So, second, you need to change your registry. Use regedit, the registry editor. Go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
    Change all below from C:\ to D:\. Just double click on each one or right click each one and choose modify. Then, type D:\ where they say C:\ (everywhere the programs are directed to C:\).

    CommonFilesDir
    CommonFilesDir (x86)
    CommonW6432Dir
    ProgramFilesDir
    ProgramFilesDir (x86)
    Program@6432Dir

    Then, use Macrium Reflect 7 to clone Windows from C to D.

    That's it. Now most of your apps will install to the D drive.

    Any questions, write your question here. I will receive notifications and will reply to you.

    Sorry, it has nothing to do with S Mode. It is the above settings.

      D
      di_ny
      Inspiring
      August 28, 2021

      I came here with the same questiont but I am certain that I know the answer. This is a software issue. The installation program automatically installs to the C drive (SSD). I have been able to install all other applications to the D drive (SATA) by changing Windows settings and registry entries. If you do this, uninstall apps that you want to put on the D drive before you change the settings. You will not be able to uninstall them after making the changes.

       

      Settings\System/Storage/Change where new content is saved along with changing my registry entries

       

      Registry Entries: 

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
      FROM C:\Program Files TO D:\Program Files
      FROM D:\ProgramFilesDir (x86) TO D:\ProgramFilesDir (x86)
      FROM C:\Program Files\Common Files TO D:\Program Files\Common Files
      FROM C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files TO D:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files
      FROM C:\Program Files\Common Files TO D:\Program Files\Common Files
      Also, create directories D:\Program Files and D:\ProgramFilesDir (x86)

       

      ALSO in D:\Program Files and D:\Program Files (x86) create directories Common Files. 

       

      You can do this to install other apps on your D drive. 

       

      The other thing is that you can, supposedly, install Windows Apps on the D drive. I haven't done this yet but I will shortly. I will definitely be checking to see if Adobe Reader is a Windows Store app. If so, the regular Reader can be uninstalled.

       

      I hope this helps. 

       

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