[cvsnt] newbie asks 2.5.03 upgrade consequences

Gerhard Fiedler lists at connectionbrazil.com
Wed Nov 22 20:29:24 GMT 2006


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Bo Berglund wrote:

> I have seen the registry key where you can change this, but I did not
> dare to do it in case I would break already installed applications...
> If I do change the setting I guess that future installs will be
> directed there, will it not affect the existing system?

I don't think (and haven't noticed) that it affects already installed
applications. It's never guaranteed, of course, but it shouldn't -- it's
install-time data, indicating a default location.

The only confusion I have noticed is with Microsoft Update. When first
installed during the system installation, some system applications go into
"C:\Program Files" (for US systems; the person who invented this path
should burn in programmer's hell -- what other than files would one store
on a disk? :)  After changing this to D:\Programs, some subsequent update
installs go into D:\Programs, others not; probably complete reinstalls go
into the new path, and patches go into the old path. But once an
application is in the new path, patches seem to go there, too. The only
"adverse" effect I have noticed is that some dead code seems to hang around
in "C:\Program Files".

And there is still the one or other application that doesn't honor this
path and installs into "C:\Program Files" nonetheless. Typically these
don't even provide a means to change the installation path. (Their
programmers should also burn in programmer's hell... :)

A consequence is that it's not so easy to identify the dead code in
"C:\Program Files". But other than that I haven't had any problems with
this change. It is also documented somewhere in an MSDN KB entry, IIRC.

Gerhard


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