Loading Java on drive other than C:
I have MS Windows XP with a 20GB harddrive partitioned into four virtual drives: C:, D:, E: and F:. I did this because I was told that I would use the harddrive more efficiently. What has happened is that the C: drive, the home drive, is nearly full, with less than 200 MB of free space. I'm looking for files to move to one of the other drives.
I use Java J2SE Runtime Enviroment 5.0 Update 10, which is on C://Program Files. I would like to move this to another drive. Or I would like to delete it and re-download it to another drive. I need this Java for several programs on the C: and other drives. Is it possible to do either of these? Thanks.
[662 byte] By [
dxm8757a] at [2007-11-27 5:03:13]
Just copy the folder "Java" under "C:\Programs Files" to anywhere in your D: or E: or whatever. Then change the JAVA_HOME variable in your in "Environment Variable" section in the System Properties (Control Panel) to reference the new path where you moved the Java installation directory.
E.g.:
From
JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0
To
JAVA_HOME=D:\Java\jdk1.6.0
> I have MS Windows XP with a 20GB harddrive
> partitioned into four virtual drives: C:, D:, E: and
> F:. I did this because I was told that I would use
> the harddrive more efficiently.
I would doubt that.
With older harddrive technologies there were many tricks that one could use to increase performance (maybe.)
With newer technologies even if such practices might theorectically improve performance I would guess that it would be very difficult to demonstrate any measurable benefit on day to day normal usage.
And of course you must deal with fragmentation which might not allow you to install something due to lack of space even though there is sufficient total space to do so.
Not to mention the space wasted. To create each of those partitions, you lose a hefty chunk to NTFS. Instead of 5gigs partitions, they are closer to 4gigs now.
Now, if you were to break it into an 16gig/4gig with the 4gig used for swap file, you would most likely see some performance increases.
With your drive now, if your OS dies, you can easily reinstall it. However, your registry and shared dlls will be lost and some installed programs on other partitions will have to be reinstalled. Your data will not be lost. If your HDD dies, your screwed no matter what.
However, you could always get a 2nd HDD, either internal or external and copy it, use programs like Norton Ghost(9.0 or above) to create images or raid two internal harddrives.
@eadelarosa, the OP is talking about the JRE, not the JDK. The JRE is what browsers use to run applets and webstart apps, and what the OS uses to run Java apps. All those things need to know where to find the JRE, and none of them use JAVA_HOME to do so. The best way to move your JRE is to uninstall it and reinstall it on the new drive. However, I'm not sure the JRE installer lets you specify a different location.
