Default installation location

The default installation location of our applications is c:\Program Files folder. Due to virtulization, this is not a good location to install our applications in 'Program Files' folder in Windows 7. What is the preferred default installation location in Windows 7..

Does microsoft say specify anything on this?

Where can I get more information on this?

Our application can create projects which are kept in c:\Program Files\PolyCd\Projects folder. User can copy these files to other machines to use the project files. We also don't want to run the application as administrator to avoid prompting whenever the application starts. This enables virtualizations. And hence the user won't be able to see the project files he created in c:\Program Files\PolyCd\Projects folder

I have one more que开发者_运维百科stion. What is the preferred location of keeping the application specific data such as the project information I mentioned earlier

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Your problem is where you are storing the data. Generally, settings and the likes should be stored in the folder specified by the environment variable AppData. Project data, documents, etc however should generally be stored in the user's "Documents" folder.

'Program Files' or 'Program Files (x86)' for 32-bit software on 64-bit Windows. But you would usually use a variable like $PROGRAMFILES so Windows finds the folder itself.

Since you asked specifically "does Microsoft say anything on this?" let me show you the Windows logo requirements from Microsoft. After you download that document, you can read guidance that includes what folder to install to (Program Files) and where to keep the user's data and settings (ProgramData or AppData). If you follow these guidelines, not only will your application behave as users expect, you will find it easy to get the Windows Logo for your application, which is a shortcut into the partner program. Many of my clients save tends of thousands of dollars on software by being in the partner program, so don't dismiss the value of the logo. But the immediate value to you is clear direction about where to put your app and where to put the user's data.