move Office 2013 MSOCache directory ?


  1. Posts : 32
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
       #1

    move Office 2013 MSOCache directory ?


    Hi.
    Last year I purchased, installed and activated Office 2013 Home & Student via a medialess license onto my C: drive under W7.

    Unfortunately, the #@*$^#!! from Redmond appear to have picked a random drive (G: in this case) to install the [microsoft office cache] MSOCache directory. This is apparently done to save space on the C: drive. However, in this case the MSOCache is 222 MB, and there was 38 GB of free space on the C: drive, and <10GB on the G: drive, highlighting the daftness of this choice.

    [Aside: earlier, when installing W7 itself, the installation software placed the mbr on another drive than where the OS itself was being installed! This caused me ~a day of puzzling and delay to figure out what went wrong and how to repair it so it would boot properly. Now a similar error has been made when installing Office. How stupid is that! Lesson: always disconnect all other drives before installing ANY microsoft software, or without asking the #@$%^&! will put some critical part of it on another random drive!]

    Anyway, the G: drive happens to be a very old drive that I am now clearing off to uninstall and dispose. Hence I have to deal with the MSOCache involuntarily deposited onto this drive.

    I have gleaned that MSOCache contains files that may be used for future maintenance, upgrades or service packs to Office. One cannot just delete or move it, because otherwise there may be problems when the office installation cannot find it. Alternatively, one can insert the install disk to get files for maintenance etc, but I do not have one. It was an online purchase and install.

    For Office 2003, Microsoft had a tool called Local Installation Source Tool to help move the MSOCache folder, but I read that it’s not available for any other Office versions.

    In this microsoft forum article:
    how to move MSOCACHE folder from C-drive to D-drive ?? - Microsoft Community

    there are two solutions given for Office 2013.
    One is to create a softlink from the old location to the new location. However, if I create a soft link from G:\MSOCache to C:\MSOCache and then remove the G: drive altogether, I doubt if it is going to work.

    The other is to go fishing in the registry, and change all references to G:\MSOCache, in particular in the key "CacheLocation".

    Reluctantly, I went looking in the registry. To my surprise, search could find no references to CacheLocation nor to MSOCache at all, and I also looked at all references to G:\, which were few in number.

    So, this raises the questions:
    1. In a download version of Office 2013, does the MSOCache have any relevance at all post installation?
    2. Can I move or delete MSOCache without creating problems with future maintenance, service packs, addins etc contrary to the cautions in multiple articles?
    3. Is there another way to move the MSOCache directory from G: to C: and still have it found by Office 2013 when performing maintenance?

    Thank you in advance.
    Last edited by Johnson97; 26 Apr 2015 at 12:47.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 9,746
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit sp1
       #2

    Have you thought about doing a reinstall of Office. It does seem that trying to move the MSOCache could cause problems with updates etc..
    As long as you have an activation code you should be able to download it again & do a reinstall.

    If you do decide on a reinstall make sure you don't have any other drives connected at that time.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 32
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thanks for your reply. I've decided to just delete it and move on; if I have to I'll reinstall it later.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 9,746
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit sp1
       #4

    Oh well, I suppose that's one solution, but I would not have advised doing that.
      My Computer


 

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