Windows 10: Running programs from separate hard drive

I have recently installed Windows 10 on a new SSD drive (C) I have two other drives which are not SSD one of which just contains saved data, photos, documents, downloads etc. (E) The other is blank which did contain Windows 7 (D) What I want to know is it possible to download programs in Windows 10 but instal and run them from that separate drive (D)?

:)

 

Running programs from external hard drive with admin approval mode on

Hello,

Kindly try the methods provided below and let us know if the issue persist:

Method 1: Check to see if the file has been blocked by Windows

• Right-click the blocked file and then click Properties.
• In the General tab, click Unblock if the option is available.

Method 2: Disable antivirus software

You can check to see if your antivirus software is blocking a file by temporarily disabling it, and then try to open the file. If you have to temporarily disable your antivirus software, you should re-enable it as soon as you are
done. If you’re connected to the Internet while your antivirus software is disabled, your PC is vulnerable to attacks.

Hope it helps.

 

Running programs from external hard drive with admin approval mode on

Hi,

to take advantage of new Windows 10 (64-bit) features, I have recently switched off admin approval mode for the non-build in administrators (my 3 PCs). To prevent trouble, I have made a few changes: Local Security: Allows elevation of programs installed
in non-secure directories. Furthermore, I have added all my Administrators to the Power Users group which has replaced the Administrators group as owners of all partitions and their files (including C drives). Furthermore, the Power Users group has been granted
Full Control everywhere. In other words, even without elevation, I should be able to delete every file I own how long it is not locked or protected against manipulations (Virus protection software).

Until now, I hadn't had any problems but with Code::Blocks (I only temporarily needed it)It refused to run, even with run as administrator (even if my account hadn't belonged to any group, it would have had full control). The only way to make it work was
to use run as: build-in-administrator. But Code::Blocks is no longer a concern of mine.

And with installers from USB drives (only worked when using run-as build-in administrator).

My real problem has to do with an external 2-TB Toshiba hard drive. For my last vacation (where I didn't have access to my desktop PC), I had installed some games and other programs that wouldn't fit on my laptop's hard drive to that external HDD (Just for
temporary use). Back then, before I had turned on UAC for admins, there hadn't been any problems.

During these Christmas holidays, I wanted to use those programs again. While there have been upgrades to new Windows insider versions, I am still using the same user account with the same hardware. But the problem is that the only way to execute those programs
is by using the run as command (run as Administrator)

initial permissions:

owner: Power Users (my user belongs to this group)

Power Users: Full Control

Administrators (my user belongs to this group, too): Full Control

Users: Read and Write

1st change:

owner: Power Users (my user belongs to this group)

Power Users: Full Control

Administrators (my user belongs to this group, too): Full Control

Users: Read and Write

Everyone: Full Control

Didn't work.

2nd change:

owner: Everyone

Power Users (User belongs to this group): Full Control

Administrators (my user belongs to this group, too): Full Control

Users: Read and Write

Everyone: Full Control

Didn't work either.

3rd change:

owner: Everyone

Power Users (User belongs to this group): Full Control

Administrators (my user belongs to this group, too): Full Control

Users: Full Control

Everyone: Full Control

Didn't work.

4th change:

owner: Everyone

Power Users (User belongs to this group): Full Control

Administrators (my user belongs to this group, too): Full Control

Users: Full Control

Everyone: Full Control

NameOfCurrentUserAccount: Full Control

Didn't work.

After that, I gave up on changing the permissions and tried something else:

I used the free space on the external hard drive to create a new partition, but this time I didn't use NTFS but exFat to get rid of permissions entirely. Then I copied over a program and tried to execute it. The same error message.

This caused me to use me to use Local Security Policy to turn off Admin-Approval mode. After the reboot, everything worked like a charm and still does to this day.

And I may add, that both my old Laptop (upgraded to Windows 10) and my DEsktop PC (Windows 10) can't run installers residing on an USB drive either, unless executed with the run as build-in-Administrator command.

As there aren't any modern / UWP apps that are better than their WinAPI counterparts (the new music app has the useful ability to remember where an audio-book has stopped but iTunes has that ability, too) or are just shortcuts for using a browser, I will
switch back my PCs to their former settings.

To make this run as built-in-Administrator viable for more than installers and very rare occasions, I would have to use a hard link to create a single AppData directory which is way too much trouble as since Windows 8, functionality in the notice bar Internet,
volume) and ,from Windows 10 ,on the start menu (won't open) can way too easily be broken.

I am not using the home version of Windows but I am also not a member of a domain. So if the problem can be solved by using group policy I am fine with that. Registry hacks and thirs-party programs are fine also.

The short version is: How can I run installers and programs from USB connetected storage decices (thumb drives and external HDDs) without either fully diabling the UAC, diabling it only for admins or using the built-in-Administrator (either by directly longing
in as this user or using the run as command?

The error message is the following:

Windows cannot access the specified device path, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.

UPDATE 1: I found the problem:

I have found the source of the problem:
MultiPoint Connector.

For whatever reason, MultiPoint Connector does prevent running programs from external HDDs or flash drives. It does not matter if the programs are ordinarily installed there or if they are portable instances.

In case anyone has the same problem:

1. You need to open "Programs and Features." On Windows 8.1 and 10 press Win+X and select it. On older Windows versions go to control panel and then select it. Search will probably work, too.

2. Select "Turn Windows features on or off" (it's on the left).

3. Look for "MultiPoint Connector".

4. Unselect it.

5. Press OK to confirm changes. Maybe you need to reboot (I can't remember).

Something useful:

For non-home-version-users-of-Windows: open "Local Security Policy" (search would be one way, another would be to look under Administrative Tools); go to "Local Policies"->"Security Options"->"Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure
locations" -> Disable it.

In the case you'll actually need this feature, you have, as far as I know, only four choices:

1. Activate the build-in Administrator account (their are plenty of tutorials on the web for that ever since Vista came out). Make sure to assign a password for the build-in Administrator. Login in to your ordinary user account. If you'll need to run a program
from external storage, press shift + right click. Then select run as. Enter Administrator as username and the corresponding password. Be aware that run as has the same effect as if you were actually login as that user and then start that program (there is
only one set of user data, so it is not suited for multiuser environments)

2. Activate the build-in Administrator account and login to that account.

3. Deactivate UAC for administrator accounts (for home versions it's probably a registry hack). For non-home-version-users-of-Windows: open "Local Security Policy" (search would be one way, another would be to look under Administrative Tools); go to "Local
Policies"->"Security Options"->"User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode" (it's fairly at the bottom of the list) and change "Enabled" to "Disabled".

4. Deactivate UAC for all user groups: Do the same in 3 but do not select "->"User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode" but "->"User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation". Disable it and reboot.

You should keep in mind that a lot of Windows 10's new feature depend upon UAC being activated (even if it is just silent mode). If you don't need those, I would recommend you to restore the old Windows Photo Viewer. There are .exe and do it yourself tutorials
on the Internet.

 

When you install a program, look for custom install options. Usually one of the custom install options will be the path where you want the program to install to. Change the drive letter there.

You can also read this entire thread:
How To Change Program Files Location In Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

 

Yes you can but rather defeats the point of having an SSD unless capacity is very limited. The point of an SSD is to speed up program loading etc. making pc more responsive.

In addition, it makes backups and reinstalls more complicated.

Best setup really is

SSD - Windows+Programs (then this disk is easily imaged using Macrium Reflect Free or similar. Image size remains relatively static (only growing as you add new [programs).

HDD(s).- use these for data only, then easy to backup using file history backup, or even just file explorer to copy files.

I keep the user directories on my ssd as well, but only use it for temporary storage, copying data to hdd as required.

The advantage of doing this is if the C drive gets corrupted (or even fails), you can reinstall OS+programs from backup without affecting the other disks.

Summary: OS+programs on SSD, (long term) stored data on other drives is (imo) best plan.

 

cereberus is spot on! Due to the nature of backups and restores, I have an OS partition and a data partition on my three computers' hard-drives. I've had to restore OS a few times! I second the motion about not having OS and programs on separate drives - because of the complexity that would exist in backup and restore operations.

 

If, for example, you want to install some huge programs you only occasionally launch but don't want to occupy SSD space (we don't know how big your SSD is) then it could make sense to install the program on an HDD. But just because you choose to install it on D:, that doesn't mean it's all on D:. Why?

Typically parts of programs and/or their default data or working space are on C, e.g. in C:\Users<username>\AppData and of course the registry keys, and often use folders in Documents etc. Thus you then cannot reliably deal with issues of disk replacement or failure, and would need carefully coordinated disciplined disk imaging. It therefore is a risk as explained above.

Some programs don't offer the option to change the installation path. With others you have to look very carefully for the option.

 

My SSD is 1tb (Windows 10) and is incredibly fast compared to my previous Windows 7 installation on a 500gb HDD. My fear is that installing large programs such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop will slow the drive. Windows 7 was about 75% full and had slowed almost to a standstill even though I constantly kept the drive healthy by removing junk files, unwanted programs etc. and keeping data on another drive.
Thanks to all for the very helpful info, I see I may have to use trial and error.

 

Hi, thanks, then you should be fine installing things on the drive.

My new laptop with SSD and hybrid HDD is virtually a copy in terms of the 300 programs installed on my 6 year-old laptop. But that wasn't terribly slow; it's not the number of programs installed but what they are and what overheads they add a. to startup (much less of an issue with an SSD and fast RAM) and b. to the idle state and c. to shell extensions- provided you've plenty of RAM.

Shell extensions can slow explorer down greatly, but again with an SSD and fast RAM, explorer runs much better than I've ever seen it.

Startup time is obviously much less of an issue with this hardware- 12-15s to the lock screen, compared to 90-100s on my old laptop (migrated from Vista to Win 7 to Win 8 and finally Win 10 x64), but startup time after login is still noticeable as it loads some programs I've used for years, mostly small, very useful.

I've moved my desktop to E: along with data (not that I keep much on it), and ignore the library folders Documents, Pictures etc on C: completely - they're full of folders created by installed programs.

 

SSDs do not get fragmented like HDDs. Any slowdown would be for other reasons.