Windows 7 - Program Files and Program Files(86) question

Hi

Ive read that windows automatically suggests file install
locations for 32bit progs into program files(86)
and 64bit progs are installed into program files.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but whenever I install
any progs I always choose my own file location, i never actually
install anything into program files, but choose another hard drive
entirely, this is just my method of managing the progs i install,
so they dont fill the c drive.

Does this matter ? or are the files that are installed there merely
system files that I have no control over anyway ?

thanks

Personally, I would never install anything outside of those directories. You may find some older utilities don't work well because of references to them. Either way, I prefer to leave defaults where they should be. If your C drive is that low on space, you should work on fixing that isue first, as that could cause some major problems down the road.

AS for causing issues with what you are doing...I guess as long as the apps run after install and don't complain...you should be fine. If you are doing this to avoid reinstalling them down the road after a clean install...it isn't going to work, thanks to Window's reliance on the registry.

Thanks for the reply.

My c drive isnt low, i purposely dont install anything onto it.
I have a partition for Applications, one for games and another
for Data such as mp3s and photos.

Its something Ive always done with previous versions of windows
and its never been an issue.

So the C drive becomes the system drive where only OS files
are stored. The c drive is normally the first drive to become
fragmented, or the first target for viruses, because I keep it
small, its quick to scan with a virus prog and defrag.

Because I keep it lean and dont fill that drive with everything
I install, this ensures that it always runs as quickly as possible.

I will contine this practice and if I come a cropper then i guess
ill have to change my thinking, thanks for the info tho

I figured you'd be going on some misinformation. This is becoming a common theme on here...where people over think and over tweak their config and methods, all for no gain.

You would have to fill a drive to below 20% free space or so before you'd notice any performance hit. Even then, it is debatable. As for defragging, I don't know if you've ever setup a system the normal, accepted, tried and true way, but you don't get your drive to fragment much with normal use. Windows 7 also auto-defrags for you, which renders your thinking outdated.

Calling the C drive a target for viruses makes no sense, because if your system were to be infected...it would have no affect on your apps based on where they are installed.

It is your system, so do with it as you please, but your viewpoints are based on false information and misinformation. Considering most apps would also need to be reinstalled anyway, thanks to the registry, there is absolutely no reason to install them elsewhere, unless you are using a 30 GB SSD. You aren't gaining anything in performance or efficiency.

There's a saying on many other forums boards for threads like this. "Just because you can....doesn't mean you should". Far too often people come up with these wild configs, claiming that they provide some benefit...when they really don't. Kind of like the threads where people claim that disabling unused services will boost performance.

I go by the concept of K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid. Unless there's a tangible, real reason to do something different...I don't. Windows 7's best tweak is to leave it alone.

Please don't take this as me bashing or ridiculing you. The thread starters are usually the victims in these cases....victims of someone else giving them some really poor advice.

Well thanks for the advice - again

Interesting view, I assumed by keeping my data separate
from windows files, I was keeping things simple, ie simple
for me.

Just the other day, because of the file structure I use, enabled me
to quickly pinpoint a problem and eliminate it. I downloaded
and installed a free online game, a couple of days later
I saw that my internet connection was being used for something,
I tracked it down to a file sharing app that had been installed on
the c drive by the game installer, even thoug I had installed the actual game to a whole different partition. the game company were using my connection file share their game client. I was able to find this
app in minutes because I was able to scan the c drive quickly
and was able to identify the prog, If I had installed it, i wouldnt
have put it on the c drive, which made it obvious to me that I hadnt put it there.

Going back to my question, when an app is installed, am i correct
in thinking that IF its a 32bit app, then any system files required
by it would be installed in the x86 folder ?

cheers

It does not. Its merely for organization.

You would have been able to find the app regardless. What you are detailing is known as the placebo effect. The mere fact that something was installed to C proves my point from above that there's no reason to separate out the apps. What if this was a legit helper app, like the Microsoft .Net, C++, VS, etc? Do you really want apps being installed in two separate drive and two separate places? That alone defeats the point of "simpler and better organized". Any normal power user knows exactly what's installed on their system, and how to identify something that wasn't planned. That's the very basis of fighting malware. Like I said, do what you want, considering it is your own system. Just be aware that it's been debating long ago, and ever point for moving the apps is quickly debunked as misinformation.
To answer, it is two-fold, the reasoning behind having two folders. First, for organizational sake as mentioned by an above poster. Second, it lets you, the user, know if an app is x64 native, or x64 compatible. There's a big difference between the two, and another reason why most would suggest leaving the folders alone, using them, and allowing apps to go into the default folders.

Thanks very much for the info !