Why is the C drive occupied?
I don’t know if you have noticed that when we download and install the program, it usually defaults to being automatically installed on the C drive. If you don’t manually modify the path, the available space on the C drive will gradually decrease and there may be a problem of the C drive being full in the near future, which may lead to a decrease in the performance of your computer. According to Microsoft’s announcement, Windows 11 requires 64GB of available system drive space, which has angered many users using old devices.
The C drive will be fully occupied
Some users may manually change the default storage path when downloading, but what about the programs that have already been installed on the C drive? Do we need to spend time and effort uninstalling and reinstalling? Of course not, we will teach you three methods for migrating software in this article, making it easy to migrate the software to another disk!
How to migrate installed software in Windows to another disk?
To help everyone solve their troubles, we have introduced three simple and practical methods to quickly migrate software from C drive or other drives to another drive to free up more disk space!
Method 1: Move the software to another disk through Windows settings
In the built-in application settings management of Windows system, it can actually help us move software to other disks. So how should we move software to other disks?
Step 1. Press Win+I to open the Windows settings page, then select “Apply”.
Step 2. Find the application you want to move in the “Applications and Features” option details page, then click “Move” and select the target drive you want to migrate it to in the pop-up window. Click “Move” to start the application migration task.
Using System Settings for Mobile Applications
Note: Although this method is feasible, there is a limitation that only software downloaded and installed from the Microsoft App Store can be migrated to another disk.
Method 2: Move the software to another disk by modifying the registry
Modifying the registry is actually a feasible solution, and this method is actually provided by a user in the Microsoft official community. The following is the specific operation process. In addition, if the registry is misused, it may cause system crashes, so please use it with caution.
Step 1. Create a new folder named “Program Files (86)” on the target disk where you want to move the C drive application.
Create a new folder called Program Files (86)
Step 2. Copy the “Program Files” and “Program Files (x86)” directories from the C drive to a new folder.
Copy directory to new folder
Step 3. Search for cmd in the search box and run the command prompt as an administrator.
Step 4. Enter the following commands in sequence and press Enter once after each command line to execute.
Robocopy “C: \ Program Files” “X: \ Program Files”/mir
Robocopy “C: \ Program Files (x86)” “X: \ Program Files (x86)”/mir
Note: The X in it refers to the drive letter of the drive where the folder you created is located.
Step 5. Press Win+R to enter regedit and press Enter to open the registry editor.
Step 6. Find the folder path and change C to another drive.
For Windows 10/11: HKEY-LOCAL_Machine \ Software \ Wow6432Node \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion
For Windows 7/8/8.1: HKEY-LOCAL_Machine \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion
Find the folder path and change C to another drive
Method 3: Use the partition assistant to move the software to another disk (recommended)
Although the above two methods are feasible, they both have significant limitations or serious consequences of failure. Do we have a way to safely and easily migrate software to another disk? The answer is yes.
Aomei Partition Assistant is your wise choice. The built-in application migration function can help us safely and quickly move applications installed on any disk to any target path you specify, and it can also easily restore them to their original location when needed. It is an excellent application migration software.
Please click the button below to enter the download center and download the Aomei Partition Assistant. Then, follow our demonstration tutorial to learn how to move the software from C drive to D drive or other drives!
Download for free now
Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Step 1. Open the Aomei Partition Assistant and click “All Tools”>”Application Migration” in the main interface.
Application migration
Step 2. Click “Next” on the pop-up prompt page to continue.
Confirm prompt pop-up
Step 3. Select the disk where the application you want to migrate is located, such as the C drive, and then click “Next”.
Select the disk where the application you want to migrate is located
Note: This will also display the unused space for each partition, as well as the applications that can be migrated and how much space can be freed up.
Step 4. Select the application you want to migrate from the scanned application list, then select the target drive you want to migrate it to in the long bar below, and click “Migration”.
Select the application you want to migrate
Step 5. Click “OK” in the pop-up prompt to start the application migration task, making it easy to migrate the software to another disk.
Confirm prompt pop-up
Step 6. After waiting for the progress bar to fill up, you can view the specific detailed information of the migration application task below, and then click “Finish” to exit.
View specific and detailed information on migration application tasks
Note: To ensure the normal operation of the application, please do not move or delete files in the source and target directories.
Extended reading: Migrating large folders
To move larger folders on the disk, such as program cache folders, download folders, videos, audio, etc., to other hard drives or partitions, you can use the “Migration Folder” function of the Aomei Partition Assistant.
Step 1. Open the Aomei Partition Assistant and click “All Tools”>”Program or Folder Migration” in the main interface.
Program or folder migration
Step 2. Select “Migration Folder”.
Migrate folders
Step 3. Add the folder you want to migrate and select the destination location for saving the folder.
Add the folder you want to migrate and select the destination location for saving the folder
Step 4. After confirming that there are no errors, click “Migration” to proceed.
transfer
conclusion
In order to help you safely and quickly migrate the software to another disk, we provide you with three feasible solutions, and you can choose a more suitable method based on your actual situation.
By the way, whether from a security and fast perspective or a diverse range of features, the partition assistant is your wise choice. In addition to strong migration software functionality, it also integrates many practical disk partition management functions, such as lossless adjustment of partition size, conversion of disk partition forms, splitting and merging to create new partitions, disk writing to 0 or random numbers, and so on!
