# Remapping default folders in XP SP2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-default-folders-in-xp-sp2/463222 "2008-09-12T03:45:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-default-folders-in-xp-sp2/463222/1 "2008-09-12T03:45:34Z")
I’m setting up a new system at work tomorrow, and one of the things I’d like to do is keep the applications on a separate partition and get rid of the My Documents…etc folders. So, this either means setting Program Files to be created on another partition, or remapping it to point there, a la symlink. OS will be XP SP2 and FS will be NTFS. Also, a minor thing, but in any application, the default place for any application’s Open dialog box to start, is the Desktop folder. Anyway to change that? Thanks P.S. A quick Google scan shows a couple of people asking about it, and only vague advice like ‘look in the registry’. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-default-folders-in-xp-sp2/463222/2 "2008-09-12T04:24:24Z")
TweakUI (from Microsoft) can change a few of these things. I know you can decide what’s in your places bar and I’m pretty sure you can change default folder locations too. It’s a tiny download and it exposes a lot of features in XP. [Download here](http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx) ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-default-folders-in-xp-sp2/463222/3 "2008-09-12T07:56:34Z")
Your problem is that making those sort of changes after XP is installed is inconsistent, so it is better to do it before setup, but this is harder to do. You also cannot get rid of _My Documents_, et al. They are system defined pointers that applications rely on. You can change where they point (on a Per User basis). Again, this is easier to do before setup starts if you want to move them all. So how can you do it? Use [nLite](http://www.nliteos.com/) to create an unattended installation disk with the customised changes that you want. This creates an _unattend.txt_ file, which lets you specify where things get located. Finally - _Program Files_ is not a fixed pointer. It will choose C:\ as a default location during setup, but will allow multiple Program Files locations on multiple drives. In fact, some installers automatically create a new Program Files location on the drive with the most available space, without asking. :smack: If you do want to make these sorts of changes on an installed system, your best approach is to use a BartPE CD. This runs a version of XP off a CD, and includes tools to load and edit the registry of the installed system. This allows you to move any files (with ACLs) you need to new locations (without the hassle of locked in-use files), and then load the registry and do a global search-and-replace on the shifted paths. This generally works, but is not guaranteed - some registry entries use Unicode that the search/replace does not identify, some are in Binary blobs, and some applications use ini/cfg/set files to store location information. It really is easier to install XP with things preset via the _unattend.txt_, so look at nLite. Si ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remapping-default-folders-in-xp-sp2/463222/4 "2008-09-13T05:29:43Z")
Looks like nLite will do the trick. This is an install on a clean HDD, so no BartPE, although that looks like a handy tool. Thanks.