How to move program folders to new location (default is My Documents)

[stebobibo]

Programs that I have installed on my computer (mostly games) have automatically made their own folders, mainly in My Documents, but also in My Pictures and My Videos. When I move these folders regularly, the program just makes a new one in the previous location when I start it again. So, my question is: how do I move these folders permanently (without losing any information)? Below is a screenshot of the folders in My Documents that I would like to move.

Also, here is a screenshot of what files are in the folder "Electronic Arts> The Sims 3" as an example.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Kaktussoft]

Use regedit to find the key(s) that point to that location.

 

[whs]

Check in Properties of the folders whether they have a Location tab. That would be the only other way to move them - other than the proposed regedit. Any other attempt to move them will break the path and the games will not find them.

 

[gregrocker]

Why are programs installing to Documents folder. I've never had a Program install anywhere except to the Program Files which is where WIn7 always directs them. Did you redirect them elsewhere? I would not do that.

 

[whs]

Greg, those are not really the program folders per se. Those are folders that the games installed - kind of repositories.Many programs do that, just not so many.

 

[gregrocker]

Visual Studio?

 

[whs]

Probably the same for Visual Studio. I have about 10 folders of that kind in my big system's Documents - ranging from the Macrium XMLs to the Format Factory output files.

 

[Alejandro85]

It's a common flaw in many programs to store their internal data in "my documents" and similar paths, thus polluting them and making it difficult to use for its original purpose: to store user-generated work.

Many games store their saves there, as well as Visual Studio and some others too (interesting enough, showing us how MS breaks their own rules), and deleting or moving them will only mean that such programs will fail to find their settings/saves.
The worst of that is that they're almost never configurable, but hardcoded into each game.

One option would be to make a junction or symlink to take its place in "my documents" while moving the real content out of the way. This makes the data easily accessible where you most want it, but still leaves the clutter in the folder.

My personal choice due to these problems and a few others is to simply abandon "my documents" to be bloated by anyone and store my data in another place, out of any predefined system paths.

 

[whs]

One reason to make separate data folders for the user data and place them into a separate partition or disk. Leave the default folders for the programs. And it is not only the Documents folder, some video programs use the Video folder too.

 

[stebobibo]

Check in Properties of the folders whether they have a Location tab. That would be the only other way to move them - other than the proposed regedit. Any other attempt to move them will break the path and the games will not find them.

None of the folders have a location tab. Thanks anyways for the advice.

 

[stebobibo]

Use regedit to find the key(s) that point to that location.

Thank you. I've figured out how to start up regedit, but I don't know how to use it. Could you please instruct me on how to find the keys and what to do next?

 

[stebobibo]

One option would be to make a junction or symlink to take its place in "my documents" while moving the real content out of the way. This makes the data easily accessible where you most want it, but still leaves the clutter in the folder.

My personal choice due to these problems and a few others is to simply abandon "my documents" to be bloated by anyone and store my data in another place, out of any predefined system paths.

Thanks, Alejandro. Could you please explain further how I could make a junction or symlink? I would rather not abandon "My Documents", but if I end up doing so, is it possible to rename "My Documents" and/or move it to a different location, without breaking the paths to the games?

 

[Midori]

Programs that I have installed on my computer (mostly games) have automatically made their own folders, mainly in My Documents, but also in My Pictures and My Videos. When I move these folders regularly, the program just makes a new one in the previous location when I start it again. So, my question is: how do I move these folders permanently (without losing any information)? Below is a screenshot of the folders in My Documents that I would like to move.
Thanks for your help!

Try to see if the game has a option of itself to move that folder.

Also check to see if that folder in the registry and try editing that path
Becareful though, Improper editing of the registry can cause your system to start misfunctioning.

If you can not find any of those, an alternative is to use Junctions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS_junction_point

A very nice program that will create a shell extension in your rightclick menu:
Link Shell Extension


Edit: *Ninjad *

 

[stebobibo]

Try to see if the game has a option of itself to move that folder.

Also check to see if that folder in the registry and try editing that path
Becareful though, Improper editing of the registry can cause your system to start misfunctioning.

If you can not find any of those, an alternative is to use Junctions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS_junction_point

A very nice program that will create a shell extension in your rightclick menu:
Link Shell Extension


Edit: *Ninjad *

Thanks for your response, Midori. Could you please explain how I would go about any of those solutions, as I don't know how.

 

[RolandJS]

Maybe leave things alone? Some fixes, some major changes, to Default lead to unintended consequences, especially if ReInstalls are called for, whether OS and/or programs running within said OS; OS restores of previous images, etc. There are blockbuster articles detailing features, benefits, possible consequences, etc. with major-league changing default settings [here and BleepingComputer].

 

[gregrocker]

Maybe leave things alone? Some fixes, some major changes, to Default lead to unintended consequences, especially if ReInstalls are called for, whether OS and/or programs running within said OS; OS restores of previous images, etc. There are blockbuster articles detailing features, benefits, possible consequences, etc. with major-league changing default settings [here and BleepingComputer].

 

[Midori]

Thanks for your response, Midori. Could you please explain how I would go about any of those solutions, as I don't know how.

Go all the way down and download the 'Link Shell Extension' (x32 or x64 your windows system) and 'vcredist 2005' (x32 and/or x64 based on Link Shell Extension version).

Then move the game folder to your new Documents folder or wherever you put it, Right-click on it and select 'Pick Link Source'.
After that go to the original documents folder and rightclick on a empty spot, select 'Drop As' > 'Junction'.

This will create a special file which fools any program it is a folder, but instead links somewhere else.

Becareful though to not create a junction which links to a parent(higher) folder which contains the junction or you will create a endless loop.
https://superuser.com/questions/416351/how-to-remove-an-infinitely-recurring-directory-tree

Maybe leave things alone? Some fixes, some major changes, to Default lead to unintended consequences, especially if ReInstalls are called for, whether OS and/or programs running within said OS; OS restores of previous images, etc. There are blockbuster articles detailing features, benefits, possible consequences, etc. with major-league changing default settings [here and BleepingComputer].

Good point, best he could also just let it be and not do anything, nothing broken, nothing to fix.
But that is up to him ^^.

 

[Layback Bear]

Maybe leave things alone? Some fixes, some major changes, to Default lead to unintended consequences, especially if ReInstalls are called for, whether OS and/or programs running within said OS; OS restores of previous images, etc. There are blockbuster articles detailing features, benefits, possible consequences, etc. with major-league changing default settings [here and BleepingComputer].

 

[stebobibo]

Becareful though to not create a junction which links to a parent(higher) folder which contains the junction or you will create a endless loop.
https://superuser.com/questions/416351/how-to-remove-an-infinitely-recurring-directory-tree

Just to be safe, could you further explain what this means?
The folder I want to move is in User>Stephen>My Documents. Could I move it to User>Stephen>My Videos for instance? Thanks for your help.

 

[stebobibo]

I tried made a junction, but it left a new "junction folder" in My Documents. The reason for the junction was so I wouldn't see the folder in My Documents anymore, but this defeats the purpose. Is there a way to make it invisible? In the screenshot the folder circled in red is what appeared after making the junction.