Set a default installation drive or increase size of C: drive?

I recently purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium. The hard drive was
partitioned into a C: drive (approx. 29 Gb) and a D: drive (approx. 105 Gb).
I've installed Microsoft Office, the trial version of Visual Studio, Google
Pack, and a few miscellanous programs. Most of the software defaults to
install on the C: drive and doesn't provide an option to re-direct the
installation to a different drive.

The trial of Visual Studio does allow you to specify a directory, but still
installs most of the product on C:.

Is there a way to "set" a default installation location in Vista so that
software that installs without letting the user specify an installation drive
will automatically install to, for example, drive D: instead of C:?

Or is there a way to increase the size of the C: drive without reformatting
the hard drive?

Thanks! -- Blaise

"Blaise" <> wrote in message
news:02C2340B-5BBD-4E01-AACC-...
> I recently purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium. The hard drive was
> partitioned into a C: drive (approx. 29 Gb) and a D: drive (approx. 105
Gb).
> I've installed Microsoft Office, the trial version of Visual Studio,
Google
> Pack, and a few miscellanous programs. Most of the software defaults to
> install on the C: drive and doesn't provide an option to re-direct the
> installation to a different drive.
>
> The trial of Visual Studio does allow you to specify a directory, but
still
> installs most of the product on C:.
>
> Is there a way to "set" a default installation location in Vista so that
> software that installs without letting the user specify an installation
drive
> will automatically install to, for example, drive D: instead of C:?
>
> Or is there a way to increase the size of the C: drive without
reformatting
> the hard drive?
>
> Thanks! -- Blaise


The default installation partition is a function of the software...
you usually get a choice...but I suppose...not always.

To non-destructively repartition your drive...use disk management..Vista now
has that capability.

Philo, Thanks for your response. It should have worked because, based on your
response, I did find the Vista disk management feature. Unfortunately, the
"extend" option was grayed out for Drive C:. I searched the Internet and
found information on using the "diskpart.exe" utility that's DOS-based.
However, that utility also could not extend the size of C: due to
insufficient space. I had "shrunk" my larger drive D: to free up space to be
allocated to C: but it's possible that I have to make more space available on
C: simply to perform the extend operation.

At this point, I think I'll try Lenovo tech support to see if they have a
suggestion. I can't imagine they haven't had this problem come up before. I
mean these days the Acrobat Reader is 80+ Mb!

Your reply was really helpful, however, because it pointed me in the right
direction. I'll try to remember to post back to this thread if I'm able to
successfully accomplish my goal.

Thanks again!

Blaise

"philo" wrote:

>
> "Blaise" <> wrote in message
> news:02C2340B-5BBD-4E01-AACC-...
> > I recently purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium. The hard drive was
> > partitioned into a C: drive (approx. 29 Gb) and a D: drive (approx. 105
> Gb).
> > I've installed Microsoft Office, the trial version of Visual Studio,
> Google
> > Pack, and a few miscellanous programs. Most of the software defaults to
> > install on the C: drive and doesn't provide an option to re-direct the
> > installation to a different drive.
> >
> > The trial of Visual Studio does allow you to specify a directory, but
> still
> > installs most of the product on C:.
> >
> > Is there a way to "set" a default installation location in Vista so that
> > software that installs without letting the user specify an installation
> drive
> > will automatically install to, for example, drive D: instead of C:?
> >
> > Or is there a way to increase the size of the C: drive without
> reformatting
> > the hard drive?
> >
> > Thanks! -- Blaise
>
>
> The default installation partition is a function of the software...
> you usually get a choice...but I suppose...not always.
>
> To non-destructively repartition your drive...use disk management..Vista now
> has that capability.
>
>
>

"Blaise" <> wrote in message
news:8612B88A-282A-4686-9131-...
> Philo, Thanks for your response. It should have worked because, based on
your
> response, I did find the Vista disk management feature. Unfortunately, the
> "extend" option was grayed out for Drive C:. I searched the Internet and
> found information on using the "diskpart.exe" utility that's DOS-based.
> However, that utility also could not extend the size of C: due to
> insufficient space. I had "shrunk" my larger drive D: to free up space to
be
> allocated to C: but it's possible that I have to make more space available
on
> C: simply to perform the extend operation.
>
> At this point, I think I'll try Lenovo tech support to see if they have a
> suggestion. I can't imagine they haven't had this problem come up before.
I
> mean these days the Acrobat Reader is 80+ Mb!
>
> Your reply was really helpful, however, because it pointed me in the right
> direction. I'll try to remember to post back to this thread if I'm able to
> successfully accomplish my goal.
>
> Thanks again!
>
>


You need to shrink your D: drive to create room for extending C:

Hi, Blaise.

> Or is there a way to increase the size of the C: drive without
> reformatting
> the hard drive?

Assuming that your Drive D: is only partly filled and has a lot of empty
space, there is a multi-step workaround that I've used and others have
reported success with. It uses no third-party application, just Disk
Management (diskmgmt.msc), which Philo mentioned. You said that Extend
volume wouldn't work for you because there is no contiguous free space
following your Drive C:.

If your Drive D: now has only 30 GB used, for example, you could take these
steps:

1. Defrag Drive D: to get all the files to the front of the volume.

2. Using DM's Shrink Volume, shrink your Drive D: to 40 GB (leaving some
"elbow room"), creating 65 GB of Free Space at the end of the disk.

3. Using DM, create a new 65 GB volume in the Free Space; let's call it
Drive X:.

4. Copy everything from Drive D: to the new Drive X:, using any method
you choose: Xcopy, Robocopy, Drag'n'drop, or... (Just be sure to get all
files, hidden or otherwise.

5. Delete Drive D:, leaving 40 GB of Free Space immediately following
Drive C:.

6. Extend Drive C: into the 40 GB of Free Space.

7. Rename Drive X: to Drive D:.

That's the basic pattern. You can modify it to fit your actual needs. For
example, you might want to extend Drive C: by only 20 GB; if so, note that
the wizard asks "how much" in MB, not GB, so tell it 20,000, not 20.

Please post back with your results so that others can learn from your
experience.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)

"Blaise" <> wrote in message
news:02C2340B-5BBD-4E01-AACC-...
> I recently purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium. The hard drive was
> partitioned into a C: drive (approx. 29 Gb) and a D: drive (approx. 105
> Gb).
> I've installed Microsoft Office, the trial version of Visual Studio,
> Google
> Pack, and a few miscellanous programs. Most of the software defaults to
> install on the C: drive and doesn't provide an option to re-direct the
> installation to a different drive.
>
> The trial of Visual Studio does allow you to specify a directory, but
> still
> installs most of the product on C:.
>
> Is there a way to "set" a default installation location in Vista so that
> software that installs without letting the user specify an installation
> drive
> will automatically install to, for example, drive D: instead of C:?
>
> Or is there a way to increase the size of the C: drive without
> reformatting
> the hard drive?
>
> Thanks! -- Blaise

Philo,

Thanks for following up. I did shrink my D: drive, but C: wouldn't recognize
the extra space as being available. I'll follow R.C.'s instructions and see
if I can get C: to recognize the available space. I'll report back.

Blaise

"philo" wrote:

>
> "Blaise" <> wrote in message
> news:8612B88A-282A-4686-9131-...
> > Philo, Thanks for your response. It should have worked because, based on
> your
> > response, I did find the Vista disk management feature. Unfortunately, the
> > "extend" option was grayed out for Drive C:. I searched the Internet and
> > found information on using the "diskpart.exe" utility that's DOS-based.
> > However, that utility also could not extend the size of C: due to
> > insufficient space. I had "shrunk" my larger drive D: to free up space to
> be
> > allocated to C: but it's possible that I have to make more space available
> on
> > C: simply to perform the extend operation.
> >
> > At this point, I think I'll try Lenovo tech support to see if they have a
> > suggestion. I can't imagine they haven't had this problem come up before.
> I
> > mean these days the Acrobat Reader is 80+ Mb!
> >
> > Your reply was really helpful, however, because it pointed me in the right
> > direction. I'll try to remember to post back to this thread if I'm able to
> > successfully accomplish my goal.
> >
> > Thanks again!
> >
> >
>
>
> You need to shrink your D: drive to create room for extending C:
>
>
>

R.C.,

Thanks for the additional detail. I'll report back on my success or failure.

Blaise

"R. C. White" wrote:

> Hi, Blaise.
>
> > Or is there a way to increase the size of the C: drive without
> > reformatting
> > the hard drive?
>
> Assuming that your Drive D: is only partly filled and has a lot of empty
> space, there is a multi-step workaround that I've used and others have
> reported success with. It uses no third-party application, just Disk
> Management (diskmgmt.msc), which Philo mentioned. You said that Extend
> volume wouldn't work for you because there is no contiguous free space
> following your Drive C:.
>
> If your Drive D: now has only 30 GB used, for example, you could take these
> steps:
>
> 1. Defrag Drive D: to get all the files to the front of the volume.
>
> 2. Using DM's Shrink Volume, shrink your Drive D: to 40 GB (leaving some
> "elbow room"), creating 65 GB of Free Space at the end of the disk.
>
> 3. Using DM, create a new 65 GB volume in the Free Space; let's call it
> Drive X:.
>
> 4. Copy everything from Drive D: to the new Drive X:, using any method
> you choose: Xcopy, Robocopy, Drag'n'drop, or... (Just be sure to get all
> files, hidden or otherwise.
>
> 5. Delete Drive D:, leaving 40 GB of Free Space immediately following
> Drive C:.
>
> 6. Extend Drive C: into the 40 GB of Free Space.
>
> 7. Rename Drive X: to Drive D:.
>
> That's the basic pattern. You can modify it to fit your actual needs. For
> example, you might want to extend Drive C: by only 20 GB; if so, note that
> the wizard asks "how much" in MB, not GB, so tell it 20,000, not 20.
>
> Please post back with your results so that others can learn from your
> experience.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
>
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> (Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)
>
> "Blaise" <> wrote in message
> news:02C2340B-5BBD-4E01-AACC-...
> > I recently purchased a laptop with Vista Home Premium. The hard drive was
> > partitioned into a C: drive (approx. 29 Gb) and a D: drive (approx. 105
> > Gb).
> > I've installed Microsoft Office, the trial version of Visual Studio,
> > Google
> > Pack, and a few miscellanous programs. Most of the software defaults to
> > install on the C: drive and doesn't provide an option to re-direct the
> > installation to a different drive.
> >
> > The trial of Visual Studio does allow you to specify a directory, but
> > still
> > installs most of the product on C:.
> >
> > Is there a way to "set" a default installation location in Vista so that
> > software that installs without letting the user specify an installation
> > drive
> > will automatically install to, for example, drive D: instead of C:?
> >
> > Or is there a way to increase the size of the C: drive without
> > reformatting
> > the hard drive?
> >
> > Thanks! -- Blaise
>
>

Hi
Just read your problem and suggesteions. Tried all of them. Stil
grayed out on "C" even when i eliminated "D" and put all 180 GB extra
have in Free Space. Wotk around didn't work either. Did you ever et
fix! Frustrating
Jerr

--
Jerry
Posted via http://www.vistaheads.co

Jerry U;1116382 Wrote:
> Hi
> Just read your problem and suggesteions. Tried all of them. Stil
> grayed out on "C" even when i eliminated "D" and put all 180 GB extra
> have in Free Space. Wotk around didn't work either. Did you ever et
> fix! Frustrating
> Jerr

Finally found a FIX!! From all of the Posts I have seen on the subjec
and frustrated folks because what wwas recommended and they tried di
not work (which was what I found!!) I finally developed a FIX!
Here it goes; sorry without pic's
First I tried the many recomendations; tried the DOS approach as well
even downloaded a FREE repartician software. Same problem woun't d
it!
Here's what worked
1) Needed to eliminate ALL other Drives other than "C" I wished t
expand (Also left in my case one on the far right labeled EIS
Configuration). I had a "D" and "F" so moved all info on "D" to a pe
drive. There was nothing in "F." Could have put on a folder in "C" if
knew it was going to work as easy as it did
2) Then Click on Computer, click on Manage, then Storage, then Dis
Manager (which you probably have done many times already!
3)The Click on all other than "C" drive (and in my case the driv
labeled EISA Confiation that sounded like it was needed and was onl
taking 15GB of my 250 GB drive of which "C" was only particianed t
30GB!!) on the other drives click delete--YES Delete. (You'll get ar
you sure messages-Just Say Yes
3) Now you'll have free space next to your "C" drive. The click o
remove particion on the Free Space. It will ask several times "do yo
want do this ; just say YES! Don't formate the space
4) Now go to your "C" drive and finnally the Expand Partician will no
be grayed out!! You did it
5) The "C" drive in my case had all but the 15GB in the ESI
Configuration Drive. So I shrank it 50GB making a new Free Space.
Formated the free space which made a new "D" drive. Put all my save
info from my previous "D" drive stored in my Pen Drive, back to to m
new "D" drive

Having tried every other posting recommendation, reviewed by $40 Vist
Secreats Book with no solution; feel much better now!! It was my wife
PC and she was running out of space so now I'm off the hook!! Must hav
been something I did (sic!!
Jerr

--
Jerry
Posted via http://www.vistaheads.co