How To Change Default Install Location Instant

./configure --prefix=/mnt/bigdrive/usr/local make && sudo make install For , no global default change — use bind mounts:

robocopy "C:\Program Files" "D:\Program Files" /E /COPYALL /DCOPY:T rmdir "C:\Program Files" /S /Q mklink /J "C:\Program Files" "D:\Program Files" Repeat for C:\Program Files (x86) if needed.

sudo flatpak --system override --filesystem=/mnt/bigdrive/flatpak flatpak install --user --reinstall flathub app-id Snap locations are hardcoded ( /snap , /var/lib/snapd/snaps ). Workaround: symlink: how to change default install location

sudo dnf install --installroot=/mnt/bigdrive/fakeroot --releasever=38 package-name APT (advanced): Use dpkg override directory:

1. Executive Summary Changing the default installation directory prevents system drive (C:) saturation, improves performance for large applications, and enables logical separation of OS and programs. However, modifying this setting incorrectly can break system updates, application functionality, and security permissions. This report provides authoritative methods for Windows, macOS, and Linux, including native settings, symbolic links, and environment variable manipulation. 2. Windows 2.1 Native Method (Registry & Settings) Scope: Affects new installations via standard MSI installers and some UWP (Store) apps. improves performance for large applications

# Create user Applications folder if missing mkdir ~/Applications defaults write com.apple.installer TargetDirectory -string "/Volumes/Data/Applications"

# Copy existing sudo cp -R /usr/local/* /opt/homebrew/ # Update shell profile with new path echo 'export PATH="/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc 4.1 System-Wide Default ( /usr/local → custom prefix) By default, make install and package managers install to /usr/local . Change via --prefix : including native settings

sudo mkdir -p /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/ echo "path-include=/mnt/bigdrive/usr/*" | sudo tee /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/path-redirect (Not recommended – breaks security updates)