Program Files variable?

[cchian]

Currently AMS does not list as having a variable for the Program Files folder. Does anyone know of an undocumented variable for it? It is true that in most systems it is always the same, but would be nice to have a variable for it as well as one for the Start Menu folder and the Desktop. How about possibly adding them for the next version?

[fargus]

Re: Program Files variable?

You'd probably need to use the find function to determine the location and set a variable. As you said, though, the default location isn't always followed. My machines always use D: for the program files folder location as I put nothing but the OS on C:, but C: still has an empty program files folder as Windows sulks when you try to delete it.

[Lorne]

Re: Program Files variable?

fargus: you can use a tool like TweakUI or X-Setup to change the Program Files directory completely. I used to do that when I kept my OS files on a small (700KB) partition. (Alternatively, you can perform a search and replace through the registry.)

Some (rare) program installers are hard-coded to install to C:\Program Files though, regardless of where you have that folder at the time.

I stopped segregating my OS files so strictly when I switched to Win2000 on my main system. Now I just keep apps and OS on one partition, and keep data (including the "My Documents" folder) on another partition. (I keep the swap file on a separate drive on a separate controller.)

BTW, a good place to go for tips on configuring hard drives are the forums at www.storagereview.com.


[This message has been edited by Lorne (edited 08-13-2001).]

[cchian]

Re: Program Files variable?

Fortunately, one of our developers showed me how to get this value off the registry from
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, 'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion''Progra mFilesDir'. I can easily read this value into a variable from within AMS3. I guess this is also were you could specify the location of Program Files in case you move it to another location.

[fargus]

Re: Program Files variable?

Thanks for the input. We set up our drives that way for security reasons; we need to wipe drives fairly often. Keeping the C: partition small lets me create a bootable Ghost recovery CD and have the system back to a standard in just a few minutes. No plans to migrate to 2000 at this time except for a few test machines.

[This message has been edited by fargus (edited 08-14-2001).]

[Lorne]

Re: Program Files variable?

Another tip since you mentioned needing to wipe drives...

My favorite "secure file deletion" utility is Eraser 5.1, which you can find at:
http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/

I've been using Eraser since the early versions. Not only is it the best erasing utility I've found, but it's open-source and FREE. The shell integration is absolutely stable on my systems at home (under both Win2k and 98), and I've tested the erasing abilities with recovery tools like Recover2000 and it seems to do the job well.

You can use it to erase files and directories, and to wipe free space on a partition (to help secure files that were deleted in an insecure fashion). It has full scheduling abilities, too, so you can have it erase files overnight.

[fargus]

Re: Program Files variable?

I'll check it out. Been using BCWipe.