Installing Office 2019 on a drive other than C

Well not that I had a subscription of Office 365. I have a retail copy of Office 2019 itself. I do not believe in subscriptions they cause more problems and get people into debt. Though after spending time with Office Support and them telling me that there is no way it cannot be installed except on the C drive. Finally they said there is a way. There technical guys knew that a change to the registry would fix it. Then they dumped me to Windows support. So obviously the support teams don't really know what they are doing. But once on with Windows support and 40 minutes later. They say try this registry change:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Change the value of

ProgramFilesDir for x64 or ProgramFilesDir (x86) for 32 bit. I changed that to E:\Program Files, restarted the computer and installed Office. It installed on the E drive. I went back and changed it to C:\Program Files, restarted the computer and everything is working from the E drive as it should be. Had to go back and change the shortcuts to point back to E, but I will see after a restart or 2 what happens. So there it is an easier registry change, and a way to install on another drive.

Yes, you own the hardware, but MS owns the software, and they have decided what is (putatively) "best for you".

That being an "all or nothing" installation. Really it cuts down support calls to business help desks and to MS,

aka "best for MS".

I haven't seen an MSI installer since 2010.  Sadly, they are as rare as hen's teeth these days ...

.

It used to be that at the start of the install, you would look carefully for an option, maybe a checkbox, to do

a "custom" or "customize" install.

.

It appears that the MS "Office Deployment Toolkit" will handle 2019 Pro Plus. The ODT allows "business"

administrators more control over what and where Office is installed. But even in a custom install, a large part of

the core program code is still loaded the the "Programs" folder on the C:\ drive.

.

Yes I get what you mean there, but if I purchase something, it means that I own that.  Microsoft does not own it, I own what I purchase.  They do not say what is best for me.  I understand that they want to cut down on support calls so that they do not have to pay people, and the higher ups can get richer off the backs of the people they do still employ.  Because honestly the money has not gone back into proper development.

Now I might be missing where the ODT allows "business" administrators more control over where it is installed.  I see source paths, update paths, and download paths.  Now I understand for the productID I would want to use proplus2019retail.  I just don't see where the installation path is.

Ah, while you have paid for Office, you don't "own" it. Unlike a bag of potato chips, office is software, you have just paid for a license to use it, like online download movie or e-book. MS still own's it and controls it. They can turn it off at any time for any excuse and then you can spit into the wind fighting with MS to get access to what you have paid for. That is the key point of the change to 365. It makes that level of control trivially easy for M$.

.

Yes, the install disk should have the MSI installer on it. Online downloads are almost exclusively CTR (Click-to-run, and sometimes click-to-not-run) now.

.

You are right, the monetary savings have gone mostly to corporate executive bonuses.

.

I'm guessing you have an older SSD, probably 32GB or less in size, which Windows code bloat has mostly filled. MS doesn't take that nuance of hardware development into consideration. Their design parameters assume that everyone has unlimited, "bleeding edge" CPUs, unlimited storage space, and ultra high speed (fibre optic) internet connections (well, that is the way their design decisions look from the user side).

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The design issue causing your problem is the assumption that all program code be installed to the C:\ drive. It is 1980's point of view, but that is where MS lives.

.

The Deployment toolkit is not the best solution for your problem. Diane's suggestion to use symbolic links is probably the best fix for your problem. You could probably create the required empty folder in the default installation location on C:\ drive and use a symbolic link to remap it to your larger drive, then do the install.

.

Move a installed Application to a different Drive letter via Symbolic Links

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_install-mso_win10-msoversion_other/move-a-installed-application-to-a-different-drive/170d2b11-c879-4b9c-8142-dfcbbc8d2e03

NOTE: Apparently Sybmolic Links don’t work in OneDrive: See OneDrive Bully. 365 Alternate Install Location - Symbolic Links I have received independent confirmation that using symbolic links will successfully redirect Office 365 installations to an alternate location.

.

2017 10 06- How to take advantage of symbolic links in Windows 10

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-take-advantage-of-symbolic-links-in-window-10/

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How to: Move Installed Programs to Another Drive in Windows 7, 8, 10

https://www.infopackets.com/news/9789/how-move-installed-programs-another-drive-windows-7-8-10 (see below) Use a Program called “Junction” made by SysInternals to create the Symbolic Links for you. Also read the comment for a different idea.

.

Create Symbolic Links, Hard Links and Directory Junctions in Vista with MKLINK

**http://www.mydigitallife.info/create-symbolic-links-hard-links-and-directory-junctions-in-vista-with-mklink/** (see below)

.

Complete Guide to Symbolic Links (symlinks) on Windows or Linux

**http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/** (see below)

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Be more efficient and better organized with the MKLink symbolic link tool

**http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/be-more-efficient-and-better-organized-with-the-mklink-symbolic-link-tool/** (see below)

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**http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html**

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*********Description of how using Symbolic Link has been done **********

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2016-office_install/office-16-drive-location/0c62927c-721a-4629-b283-5809c8e16f2c

<snip>

Palcouk replied on Oct 26, 2015:

Office click to run products install to the win drive, you cannot do a custom install, its an all or nothing install

There is a method, if you are prepared to delve in. Modify the following steps according to your specific situation:

I too was wanting to move my Office 365 install to a different drive. My main goal was to put it on a RamDisk to make it very quick to load.

I had created a RamDisk of 5GB, using **http://www.radeonramdisk.com/software\_downloads.php** . The new drive was mounted as drive O:

· Install Office 365 as normal, on the C drive.

· Make a note of the two main Office directories:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office

· Empty the Recycle bin before continuing.

· Run Task Manager

· Stop anything Microsoft Office related.

· Delete both of the above directories

· Open a CMD prompt, and run these commands:

MKLINK /J “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15” “O:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15”?

MKLINK /J “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office” “O:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office”

· This created junction points for each directory on the C drive that Office installs to, and point them to the O drive. So the OS thinks its going to C drive for those folders, but in reality its going to the O drive.

· Go to the recycle bin and restore all the deleted files. The files then appeared on the O drive.

· Save the RamDisk to an image file (so it gets loaded when windows starts)

· Reboot

.

After reboot, when I open an office app, its so fast you can’t time it!

You don’t have to do the ramdisk portion, its the junction’s that make it work.

.

I have 32GB of ram, and am only using about 5gb on average, so having a ramdisk makes sense for me.

.

RamDisks are about 8 to 10 times faster than SSD but are volatile memory, so it needs to be saved to disk if you don’t want to lose it.

</snip>

. Move Click to Run Registry Hacks https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/ie/en-US/3689fc35-0523-4868-8e4d-e6feb93540be/installing-office-365-on-a-different-hard-drive-to-that-of-the-windows-installation?forum=officesetupdeploy

I have extracted suggestions from this tip that have chances of working, which have followup comments suggesting they worked.

The tips boil down to 2 general tips, registry hack adding registry keys to redirect the Office installer and Symbolic links to “trick” Windows

I have not tested these suggestions

Note: you have to change the version information appropriately, i.e. Office 2016, 2019 and 365 use 16.0 and “Office16”

******

One suggestion marked answer was:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\ClickToRun\Override

********

Another gives a slightly different key:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\ClickToRun, which does indeed contain a REG_SZ "InstallPath" with a value pointing to C:.

********

Another suggested using this reg script to add a different registry key

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\InstallRoot]
"Path"="D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\"

*******

Hi, I was bit lucky with my tab having 8.1 in it because not many files were in use. Here are my steps:

1. Create folder in destination drive - D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office
2. Cut and Paste content of c:\program files\microsoft office to new folder created above. Windows will start moving files. I was prompted twice that some file is in use. It also showed me which process is using it.
3. Open task manager, locate the required process, kill it (end task)
4. Some files wanted admin rights for moving which was prompted for. I gave the permission.
5. Delete c:\program files\microsoft office folder. Might ask admin rights again.
6. Create link using mklink - MKLINK /J "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office" "D:\Program Fiiles\Microsoft Office"
7. Done. Start office and check if things work.

******

This solution worked just fine! Had only to add the line MKLINK /J "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office" "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office"

Remember, MLINK will work only if you already moved the folders to destination drive, after the Office instalation.

Anyway I hope MS corrects this nonsense of not having a path configuration when instaling!

cheers!

*********

this discussion helped, I had to tweak the commands and process a bit, but here is what worked for Win 10, Office 365 Office Pro 64 bit

delete the c drive office folders below. Create the folders on your destination drive, mine was F:.

run these commands.

MKLINK /J "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office" "F:\Program Files\Microsoft Office"

MKLINK /J "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office" "F:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office"

MKLINK /J "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15" "F:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15"

********

This is my experience with WINDOWS-10 & OFFICE-2016:

I have a 32GB hard drive so I was not keen on installing Office on C: Especially since it takes 2.9Gb and not just 2Gb as it told me. But I wasted a lot of time, looked high and low and could not get it done. I even looked into some Windows Admin tools which use XML and all different kinds of drama.

I DON'T like registry edits because it's unsafe, not easily repeated--you'll forget what you did--and Windows doesn't really like it either. This method is a hardware level change so Office can be reinstalled multiple times and NEVER use drive C: Here, I think, is a very simple and drama free solution.

MOVING OFFICE FILES:

· Navigated to Program Files

· Renamed "Microsoft Office" to" "_Microsoft Office"

· Created a new (empty) "Microsoft Office" folder

· Navigated to Control Panel-->Admin-Tools-->Computer-Management-->Disk Management (

· Created a new volume (and mounted it in the new empty folder)

· Copied the files from "_Microsoft Office "back to" "Microsoft Office"

· Tested all the programs AND all of them except Skype seem to work fine. Worst comes to worst, you reinstall Microsoft Office.

CLEAN INSTALL (PROBABLY SAFER):

· I did end up uninstalling and reinstalling Microsoft Office just to be safe.

· Because the new volume is mounted in the folder, it had no choice but to return/go into the shadow-folder I created in the new volume. So the C: drive remains "unused" for Office.

Side note-1a. I don't know if all these laptops with 32Gb drives integrated into the motherboard are the same, but mine had an unused internal port which allowed me to install a 128Gb SSD. So I was also able to move the paging file totally off drive C: and unto drive D: which saved me some more space. I was also able to allocate a constant 7GB space to virtual memory.

Side note-1b: I found a port adapter which is needed for the internal SSD by doing a search on Amazon for "2nd HDD SSD Hard Drive Caddy Tray". You just need to dismantle the whole thing and take out the port adapter to allow you to use the internal CD drive port.

Side-note-2: With the new drive installed, you can navigate to (bottom right corner) Notifications-->All Settings-->System-->Storage. There is an option there to store your files on a different drive. It works for some programs but not Office. You can even redirect the programs (which comply) to an external drive. This will save you even more space.

Hope this helps. Cheers!!

This method works great. One tiny issue when launching an Office app, system was throwing an error that application was unable to start, but the app did start even with the error. So I ran an Office repair and everything is perfect. Thank you for the awesome resolution.

*********

Move Installed Apps & Programs in Win10 https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-installed-apps-programs-windows-10/

This article contains a few options including a couple of utilities

2017 01 09- The Complete Guide to Creating Symbolic Links (aka Symlinks) on Windows https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

by Chris Hoffman

Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista all support symbolic links—also known as symlinks—that point to a file or folder on your system. You can create them using the Command Prompt or a third-party tool called Link Shell Extension.

What Are Symbolic Links?

Symbolic links are basically advanced shortcuts. Create a symbolic link to an individual file or folder, and that link will appear to be the same as the file or folder to Windows—even though it’s just a link pointing at the file or folder.

For example, let’s say you have a program that needs its files at C:\Program. You’d really like to store this directory at D:\Stuff, but the program requires that its files be at C:\Program. You could move the original directory from C:\Program to D:\Stuff, and then create a symbolic link at C:\Program pointing to D:\Stuff. When you relaunch the program, it will try to access its directory at C:\Program. Windows will automatically redirect it to D:\Stuff, and everything will just work as if it were in C:\Program.

This trick can be used for all sorts of things, including syncing any folder with programs like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive.

There are two type of symbolic links: Hard and soft. Soft symbolic links work similarly to a standard shortcut. When you open a soft link to a folder, you will be redirected to the folder where the files are stored. However, a hard link makes it appear as though the file or folder actually exists at the location of the symbolic link, and your applications won’t know any better. That makes hard symbolic links more useful in most situations.

Note that Windows doesn’t actually use the terms “hard link” and “soft link”. Instead, it uses the terms “hard link” and “symbolic link”. In the Windows documentation, a “symbolic link” is the same thing as a “soft link”. However, the mklink command can create both hard links (known as “hard links” in Windows) and soft links (known as “symbolic links” in Windows).

How to Create Symbolic Links with mklink

You can create symbolic links using the mklink command in a Command Prompt window as Administrator. To open one, locate the “Command Prompt” shortcut in your Start menu, right-click it, and select “Run as Administrator”.

On Windows 10’s Creators Update, you can use a normal Command Prompt window, without running it as an Administrator. However, to do this without an Administrator Command Prompt window, you must first enable Developer Mode from Settings > Update & Security > For Developers.

Without any extra options, mklink creates a symbolic link to a file. The below command creates a symbolic, or “soft”, link at Link pointing to the file Target :

mklink Link Target

Use /D when you want to create a soft link pointing to a directory. like so:

mklink /D Link Target

Use /H when you want to create a hard link pointing to a file:

mklink /H Link Target

Use /J to create a hard link pointing to a directory, also known as a directory junction:

mklink /J Link Target

So, for example, if you wanted to create a hard link at C:\LinkToFolder that pointed to C:\Users\Name\OriginalFolder, you’d run the following command:

mklink /J C:\LinkToFolder C:\Users\Name\OriginalFolder

You’ll need to put quotation marks around paths with spaces. For example, if the folders are instead named C:\Link To Folder and C:\Users\Name\Original Folder, you’d use the following command instead:

mklink /J “C:\Link To Folder” “C:\Users\Name\Original Folder”

If you see the message “You do not have sufficient privilege to perform this operation.”, you need to launch the Command Prompt as Administrator before running the command.

How to Create Symbolic Links with a Graphical Tool

If you’re like to do this with a graphical tool, download **Link Shell Extension**. Be sure to download the appropriate prerequisite package before the tool itself—both are linked to on the tool’s download page.

Once it’s installed, locate the file or folder you want to create a link to, right-click it, and select “Pick Link Source” in the menu.

You can then right-click inside a different folder, point to the “Drop As” menu and select “Hardlink” to create a hard link to a file, “Junction” to create a hard link to a directory, or “Symbolic Link” to create a soft link to a file or directory.

How to Delete Symbolic Links

To get rid of a symbolic link, you can simply delete it like you would any other file or directory. Just be careful to delete the link itself rather than the file or directory it’s linking to.

Yes, you own the hardware, but MS owns the software, and they have decided what is (putatively) "best for you".

That being an "all or nothing" installation. Really it cuts down support calls to business help desks and to MS,

aka "best for MS".

I haven't seen an MSI installer since 2010.  Sadly, they are as rare as hen's teeth these days ...

.

It used to be that at the start of the install, you would look carefully for an option, maybe a checkbox, to do

a "custom" or "customize" install.

.

It appears that the MS "Office Deployment Toolkit" will handle 2019 Pro Plus. The ODT allows "business"

administrators more control over what and where Office is installed. But even in a custom install, a large part of

the core program code is still loaded the the "Programs" folder on the C:\ drive.

.

Office Deployment Toolkit (ODT) 2019 04 24- How to Install Office 2019 for Windows - ODT https://www.techsoupcanada.ca/en/community/blog/how-to-install-office-2019-for-windows This article provides step by step instructions for using ODT. . Office 365 Client Configuration Service (for Deployment Tool) https://config.office.com/

If you want to to do “non standard” installs, i.e. consumer Office, non-US English you will have to edit the configuration file generated by this tool

Does not provide very good language support!

Does NOT include option to install on other than C:/ drive, does not provide very good language support.

. Product IDs that are supported by the Office Deployment Tool – 365 / 2019 / 2016 https://support.office.com/en-us/article/product-ids-that-are-supported-by-the-office-deployment-tool-for-click-to-run-77654e77-aaeb-4ed6-84eb-1d8b0e086590

Last Updated: Oct 3, 2018

You have to manually create or edit the generated XML configuration file to change the Office bundle.

The following Office 365 product IDs are supported by the **Office Deployment Tool** in Office 365 deployments:

· O365ProPlusRetail

· O365BusinessRetail

· VisioProRetail

· ProjectProRetail

· AccessRuntimeRetail

· LanguagePack

Office 365 plan	Product ID
Office 365 ProPlus <br>Office 365 Enterprise E3 <br>Office 365 Enterprise E4 <br>Office 365 Enterprise E5 <br>Office 365 Midsize	O365ProPlusRetail
Office 365 Business <br>Office 365 Business Premium	O365BusinessRetail
Office Small Business Premium	O365SmallBusPremRetail

In addition to these product IDs, the following non-Office 365 product IDs are supported by this tool:

Note For Lync or Skype for Business, see the table that's listed later in this article.

AccessRetail       Access2019Retail            Access2019Volume

ExcelRetail         Excel2019Retail               Excel2019Volume

HomeBusinessRetail      HomeBusiness2019Retail           HomeStudentRetail

HomeStudent2019Retail

OneNoteRetail

OutlookRetail    Outlook2019Retail          Outlook2019Volume

Personal2019Retail        PowerPointRetail            PowerPoint2019Retail

PowerPoint2019Volume              ProfessionalRetail           Professional2019Retail

ProjectProXVolume        ProjectPro2019Retail     ProjectPro2019Volume

ProjectStdRetail               ProjectStdXVolume        ProjectStd2019Retail

ProjectStd2019Volume                ProPlus2019Volume       PublisherRetail

Publisher2019Retail       Publisher2019Volume   Standard2019Volume

VisioProXVolume            VisioPro2019Retail         VisioPro2019Volume

VisioStdRetail    VisioStdXVolume            VisioStd2019Retail

VisioStd2019Volume     

WordRetail        Word2019Retail              Word2019Volume

The following Office 365 product IDs are supported by the Office Deployment Tool in Office 365 deployments:

· O365ProPlusRetail

· O365BusinessRetail

· VisioProRetail

· ProjectProRetail

· AccessRuntimeRetail

· LanguagePack

For more information about using these product IDs with the Office Deployment Tool, see Configuration options for the Office Deployment Tool (Product element section).

Note

If you use the wrong product ID, you can't activate Office.

The following table lists the Office 365 plan name and the correct product ID to use for that plan:

Office 365 Plan	Product ID
Office 365 ProPlus	O365ProPlusRetail
Office 365 Enterprise E3	O365ProPlusRetail
Office 365 Enterprise E4	O365ProPlusRetail
Office 365 Enterprise E5	O365ProPlusRetail
Office 365 Midsize	O365ProPlusRetail
Office 365 Business	O365BusinessRetail
Office 365 Business Premium	O365BusinessRetail
Office Small Business Premium	O365SmallBusPremRetail

In addition to these product IDs, the following non-Office 365 product IDs are supported by this tool:

Note

· O365HomePremRetail

For managing the Lync or Skype for Business clients, the following table lists the tool version and the correct product ID.

Product	Version of the Office Deployment Tool	Product ID
Skype for Business Basic 2015	Office 2013 Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run	LyncEntryRetail
Skype for Business 2015	Office 2013 Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run	LyncRetail
Skype for Business Basic 2016	Office Deployment Tool	SkypeforBusinessEntryRetail
Skype for Business 2019	Office Deployment Tool	SkypeforBusinessRetail
Skype for Business 2019 (volume licensed)	Office Deployment Tool	SkypeforBusiness2019Volume
Skype for Business Basic 2019	Office Deployment Tool	SkypeforBusiness2019Retail

How can I know if ODT(Office deployment tool) command has been successfully performed and install my Office correctly? https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/how-can-i-know-if-odtoffice-deployment-tool/36c92c94-ce71-40ea-96ba-8e22ffea77e1

2018 04 27- Setting preferences for Office 365 ProPlus using the Office Customization Tool for Click-to-Run https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Office-365-Blog/Setting-preferences-for-Office-365-ProPlus-using-the-Office/ba-p/187978

you can now customize Office application settings as part of your configuration file, which means you can build a single configuration file that installs Office and configures preferences for Office applications. You can search for Office application settings based on Office application, category, and title to quickly find the settings you’re interested in:

As always, make sure you download the latest version of the **Office Deployment Tool (ODT)** to enable new features during deployment.

Hello Michael.

I'm Diane, an Office Apps & Services MVP specializing in Outlook and an Independent Advisor.

Office 2019 is not available as an MSI - it is click to run and needs to be installed on the system drive.         

From

https://docs.microsoft.com/deployoffice/office2...

"Office 2019 is installed on the system drive, which is usually the C:\ drive. The installation location can’t be changed."