Change Program and Common Files Directory in all versions of Windows

Note: Modifying the registry can lead to serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Therefore we cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided ONLY at your own risk.


Open the registry editor.Click the Start button. Click the Run command and type regeditor regedt32 in the Open box. Click OK. In the Registry Editor go to the following Registry key:
HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
In the right pane of the console, right click the ProgramFilesDir entry and click Modify.
In the Edit String dialog box, type in a new path, such as E:\Program Files (that will set the new default location as the Program Files folder on the E: drive). Change the value of "CommonFilesDir" to the desired Common Files directories. Click OK. Close the registry editor.


Restart Windows for changes to take effect.

System Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Value Name: CommonFilesDir, ProgramFilesDir

Data Type: REG_SZ (String Value)

Value Data: Directory Name