I'm running out of space on the partition that has Visual Studio installed. It's safe to copy the installation in another partition?
+2
A:
Without having tried I bet this isn't possible.
Installation folders are typically stored in many places such as config files and the registry. After moving, all these references will still point to the old and now invalid location. And, even worse, moving the folder will also break any installation / uninstallation / update routines which means that you will no longer be able to install patches and service packs.
Conclusion: You are way better off uninstalling Visual Studio and moving it to the new location. It takes only a short time as compared to the headache that you would end up otherwise.
(Or, if you don't like to do that you can of course still mount a new partition to the program files folder to increase disc space or get a larger hard drive)
0xA3
2009-03-26 12:39:19
On your last point. How well would windows handle the process of copying eveyrthing in Program Files to a new partition, and then mounting that partition at Program Files?
Kibbee
2009-04-20 12:42:25
I wouldn't see a problem with that as long as you have the same file systems (NTFS) on both partitions and copy *all* files with *all* their attributes.
0xA3
2009-04-20 13:12:08
(I don't know how NTFS links would behave though)
0xA3
2009-04-20 13:12:56
A:
No, that wouldn't work with any newer versions of Visual Studio. If it's pre-2003 you might have a chance.
afit
2009-03-26 13:17:28