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Installing to D: drive

Contributor ,
Apr 06, 2021 Apr 06, 2021

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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

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General troubleshooting , How to

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Explorer ,
Aug 28, 2021 Aug 28, 2021

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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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Community Expert ,
Aug 29, 2021 Aug 29, 2021

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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:

 

 

 

 

 

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Explorer ,
Aug 30, 2021 Aug 30, 2021

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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.

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Explorer ,
Jun 30, 2022 Jun 30, 2022

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How many versions of Windows 10 come with S Mode enabled? I don't have it. I have Windows 10 Home version 21H2 installed. This is my third or fourth laptop with Windows 10 Home and none came preinstalled with S Mode enabled. In fact, two have had version 21H1. Then, this one was updated to v 21H2.The previous laptops had Windows 10 Home a few years ago. They didn't have S Mode enabled either. I had not even heard of S Mode until you wrote this and I am a very long time Windows user back to 3.0 and before that several DOS versions. 

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Community Expert ,
Jul 01, 2022 Jul 01, 2022

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According to some readings, S Mode has been around since 2017.

 

I know there are about 12 versions of Windows 10, but S Mode is more of a feature that is enabled in computers that consumers usually buy through big computer stores or department stores.

 

Having S Mode enabled is basically a streamlined version of a full Windows 10, but only a few configurations enabled that allows   Micrososft to enforce better security, and faster performance.

 

I would look at S Mode like if you boot Windows in "Safe Mode" with networking support and good graphics.

 

That is how older versions Windows  used to be  troubleshooted (pressing the F8 key during the boot sequence). 

 

In safe mode the  Windows computer had a minimal set of basic peripheral drivers, no background services, or third part apps running in the back ground, making it easier to diagnose.

 

The best article that I've found that explains about S Mode is linked below:

 

 

All that said, having a lot of PC consumers out there that are completely unaware of S Mode could be the reason why so many Adobe Acrobat users come to the forums complaining about Windows reverting to Microsoft Edge browser as the default PDF handler and not able to keep Adobe Acrobat as default.

 

But in the context of this topic, I suggested to check about the S Mode because it limits the user to download and install apps directly from the Microsoft store and nowhere else.

 

It also disables some support for legacy apps as it enforces  Microsoft Edge as the only default web browser and PDF handler, to include limitting  apps to access the User's Home directory rather than the root directory which is frequently and incorrectly referred to as the "C:\" disk or drive.

 

It is not a drive, but rather a partition that was created on a hard drive (mechanical moving parts and magnetically sensitive plates) or on solid state drive (flash memory) ... both handle the writing and reading of data entirely differently.

 

But I don't work for any of these giants (Adobe nor Micrososft) and much less I am a BIOS developer...  So I may be very wrong in everything I've said.

 

However, my question to you would be, if you didn't have S Mode enabled on any of your computers, are you having the same issues as described by the other users in this post?

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Explorer ,
Jul 01, 2022 Jul 01, 2022

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It is really odd that I have bought several computers from HP. I have also bought other brands from other companies including reburbished at larger online stores for family members but I have never seen a computer with S Mode enabled. All of them ran just fine from the moment I got them. I even tried them out for my family members to ensure that nothing was wrong them. I don't know where you or anyone you know might be buying computers with S Mode enabled. There can't be that many since I have used many computers and have never run acrossed this. I would consider this a very outside possibility as a problem with computers of any brand. 

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Community Expert ,
Jul 01, 2022 Jul 01, 2022

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computers purchased in the Best Buy, Wal Mart, for example, may a lot of  Windows personal  computers with S Mode enabled, specially Lenovo and Acer brands.

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