How do I make my HDD the default for new programs to load onto?

[chrisj230]

Hi
I hope someone can take the time to help me with what I suspect is a very simple to sort out issue.
I have a SSD which has the OS on it and a 2TB HDD for storing all my other stuff. Every time I down load a program it goes onto the SSD which is now nearly full up , to the point that any new downloads wont download as there is not enough space on the drive, yet the HDD is sat there empty. How do I make the HDD the default for all downloads and new programs?
Sorry for being a computer noob...
Hope someone can help, and really appreciate your help.

 

[Spuff]

If you are downloading off a web page then there will be an option in your browser settings of what folder downloads go to (you may want to create a suitable folder in your data drive). In Chrome it's in advanced settings accessed through settings.
If you are using some sort of application to download then that will have a setting for default download destination.

 

[ubuysa]

Stop!

If your HDD is empty then all your user data must be going on to your SSD, that's whay it's nearly full. With an SSD and a HDD the best way of organising things is to put all the programs on the SSD and all your user data on the HDD. So you basically need to move everything under c:\users\your_name\ to your HDD (the d:\ drive?). You can't just copy them over though because Windows has to know where these folders are located. So....

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to c:\users\your_name\.

2. Right click on the Documents folder and select Properties.

3. In the dialog box that opens click the Location tab, then click the Move button.

4. Navigate to where you want this folder to be moved (I suggest you create a folder on your HDD called d:\users\your_name\Documents and select that).

5. Click OK and click the Yes button on the confirmation box that pops up.

That will copy all the contents of your Documents folder to your d:\ drive (change the drive letter to whatever your HDD is).

Now repeat that process for your Pictures, Downloads, Videos and Music (but leave anything else where it is).

You should also move your pagefile off the SSD onto your HDD, instructions on doing that are in https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?14728-SSD-Management