Changing the Program Files directory in XP and Vista

Sometimes we need to change something that is not readily available to do with basic commands. That’s where the registry comes in, and I come in to help you out with it. It should be warned that doing the wrong thing with the registry can mess up your PC, but anything I mention in this tutorial shouldn’t cause your computer any bother whatsoever.

XP:

Go to the start menu, then click run. Then type ‘regedit’ without the quotes. Then, go through the explorer menu on the left in the following order:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion

In there, there should be a key called ‘ProgramFilesDir’. Change the value to the path you want, but don’t add a slash at the end.

Vista:

Go into the start menu, and type in start search ‘regedit’. Then, click on the program that appears on the menu. Follow the same procedure as for XP from therein.