Is your main drive full? there how to move programs from one drive to another with Windows and free up space by increasing the performance of your computer.
Moving documents or files from one partition to another (or rather from one disk to another) with copy and paste is simple but if after a few months you realize that the program you have installed in the main drive of your computer (C: ) is little used and you want to move it to another partition? Uninstalling and reinstalling it again would be too expensive, and you could lose all the saves you made.
Move program folders from one disk to another would cause them to malfunction, unless they are portable programs that do not require installation
To move programs to another drive the ideal solution is Steam Mover.
It is a tool for Windows 10 (also works with Windows 7, 8, 8.1) that moves programs from one partition to another (for example from C to D) creating the connections necessary for their correct functioning.
In practice, the program does not change the path of the folder but simply create the link without changing the registry keys and installation path.
Steam Mover does not require installation, to make it work just start the executable file with administrator rights.
How to move programs from C to D or other drive
Moving programs to external hard disk, USB stick, SD card, from SSD to HDD or from one PC to another is very easy and does not require great computer skills. All you have to do is to carefully read the instructions for using Steam Mover which will help you in your intent.
After starting Steam Mover for move programs to another partition, like D, you have to start selecting the folder where the programs are installed and the destination one.
Then select the files to move and click on the right arrow at the bottom of the application.
In case of second thoughts you can go back as and when you want, just select the files of the Program to move and then press the arrow to the left.
By doing this you will be able to move the installed program folders from one disk to another with minimal effort.
Steam Mover alternatives are FolderMove e Application Mover.
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How to move programs from one drive to another without installing anything
If you prefer not to install the programs mentioned above, Windows allows you to move programs from C to D or to external media through symbolic links, also called advanced links.
Through i symbolic links the program appears in the original folder, but has actually been moved to a different drive. Assume you have installed a program in the folder C:Program files (x86) o C:Program files, using the symbolic link all references to the folder NomeProgramma present in one of the two paths indicated, they will continue to be correct even if the application has been moved to the path D: Programs Program Name.
I link simbolici, whose purpose is to bridge the old and new path, can be hard or soft. The link hard makes the operating system believe that the files are still present in the original folder, when they are located elsewhere. The link soft it works like the traditional link and when used you are directed to the folder that contains the files.
The command mklink, whose operation I will explain to you, supports both types. To use it, you need to open the Command Prompt with Windows administrator rights. In this regard, take a look at How to log in Windows 10 administrator.
Before giving you the command to move programs from C to D, create the folder Programs in drive D or E.
Make sure in Management Activities, which can be opened with the command CTRL + ALT + DEL, the program to be moved is not running. In case, press the button at the bottom End activity of the Task Manager to stop it.
Back in C:Program files o C:Program files (x86) or even C: Programs (x86) and look for the folder where the program you want to move is located. Right-click on Size to paste it into the folder you created D: Programs. From the explorer you can also drag the program folder from C to D by selecting it and holding down the right mouse button and then clicking, in the menu that appears, on Move here .
If the message appears Access to folder denied: Administrator permissions are required to move the folder, award-winning Continue.
Type Command Prompt in the Search bar of Windows 10, and after having identified it in the search results, click on it with the right mouse button, to press, in the menu that appears, on Run as administrator.
Then type the following command:
mklink / J "C: Programs (x86) SOURCE" "D: Programs DESTINATION"
The command mklink /J it actually creates a directory merge but it is still a symbolic link.
How to verify the creation of symbolic links or junctions
Typing the command dir / al in the Command Prompt you will be able to check the directory junctions present in a folder. Alternatively you can try the program NTFSLinksView.
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