Do you have a small C drive and a large D drive? Then it pays to install new programs on the D drive. Moving programs afterwards usually does not work if you start copying yourself via Windows Explorer. With Steam Mover you have a good chance to get this done.
steam mover
Steam Mover was once made to move games, but also works for other programs. This is useful if, for example, you have a fast (but small) SSD drive as C drive and a large normal hard drive as D drive. Steam Mover uses so-called 'junction points'. Also read: 15 Free Programs for Optimal File and Disk Management.
This moves data from C to D, but the operating system still thinks it is on the C drive. To work with junction points, both C and D must have the NTFS file system. The makers of Steam Mover do not give any guarantee on the correct functioning of the program, so be careful.
Steam Mover works with junction points, making it seem like your data is still in its original location.
Proceed with caution
The trick with Steam Mover is for advanced computer users. You need to know something about the basic directory structure used by programs. For example, it is not wise to move the folder C:\Program Files to the D drive in one go. Move programs one by one and experiment with a less important program. In our example, we are going to move the Freemake program. First we create the map D:\Programs to and in this the subfolder Freemake. Download Steam Mover and launch the program.
Experiment with a program that you can quickly reinstall if things go wrong.
Transfer folders
At the top left of the screen, point to the folder you want to move. In our example, Freemake is installed in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Freemake folder. At the top right of the screen, point to the folder you want to move to, in our example this is D:\Programs\Freemake. Steam Mover shows an overview of the folders that will be moved. Select it and click the arrow to the right.
The folders move from C to D. Use the left arrow to reverse the action: from D to C. Again, Steam Mover is not for beginners. The safest (but also cumbersome) way to get programs to the D drive is as follows: remove the program from your computer, perform a new custom installation to a folder on your D drive.
Check the settings before putting Steam Mover to work.
