Hi,
I have been having trouble installing my Elite Dangerous game files to any other location than my AppData folder under my user folder. Today I managed to figure out why that was and how to fix it. I would like to share this information and hopefully help someone else.
This information only pertains to the version downloaded from Frontier itself, not Steam or Epic.
When you download the launcher from Frontier, can can choose its installation location. This can be anywhere, but when you read the location selection screen carefully it says that IF you choose to install the launcher inside a folder called "Program Files" (or possibly "Program Files(x86)") the game will ALWAYS be installed in your user folder which is on your system drive (normally C:\) under "Users\<yourUserName>\AppData\Local\Frontier_Developments\Products". Note that AppData is a hidden folder by default. The obvious downside to this is that the game's files occupy your system drive which can be a nuisance when space on that drive is running low.
The usual way to install the game on a different drive is to first install the launcher to a different drive (say F:\) AND not in a folder called "Program Files", so "F:\Games\Frontier\" for instance would be fine. Then, when you start the launcher and press Install to install the game, it will install the game to a folder called "Products" inside the F:\Games\Frontier folder. Problem solved.
But there is a catch. If, for any reason there still exists a folder called "Products" under you user folder on "C:\Users\<yourUserName>\AppData\Local\Frontier_Developments", the game will STILL be installed there. In my case there was an old folder called "elite-dangerous-64-odyssey", while currently the game resides in a folder called "elite-dangerous-odyssey-64" (see the subtle difference?). I have had to delete the Products folder to rid my system of any trace of previous installs in order for the launcher to install to the desired location.
Don't be confused by any folder called "Frontier Developments" (no underscore!) because that contains your settings and key bindings. It is a shared folder which isn't very large and has every right to sit in your "C:\Users\<yourUserName>\AppData\Local" folder.
I hope this helps!
I have been having trouble installing my Elite Dangerous game files to any other location than my AppData folder under my user folder. Today I managed to figure out why that was and how to fix it. I would like to share this information and hopefully help someone else.
This information only pertains to the version downloaded from Frontier itself, not Steam or Epic.
When you download the launcher from Frontier, can can choose its installation location. This can be anywhere, but when you read the location selection screen carefully it says that IF you choose to install the launcher inside a folder called "Program Files" (or possibly "Program Files(x86)") the game will ALWAYS be installed in your user folder which is on your system drive (normally C:\) under "Users\<yourUserName>\AppData\Local\Frontier_Developments\Products". Note that AppData is a hidden folder by default. The obvious downside to this is that the game's files occupy your system drive which can be a nuisance when space on that drive is running low.
The usual way to install the game on a different drive is to first install the launcher to a different drive (say F:\) AND not in a folder called "Program Files", so "F:\Games\Frontier\" for instance would be fine. Then, when you start the launcher and press Install to install the game, it will install the game to a folder called "Products" inside the F:\Games\Frontier folder. Problem solved.
But there is a catch. If, for any reason there still exists a folder called "Products" under you user folder on "C:\Users\<yourUserName>\AppData\Local\Frontier_Developments", the game will STILL be installed there. In my case there was an old folder called "elite-dangerous-64-odyssey", while currently the game resides in a folder called "elite-dangerous-odyssey-64" (see the subtle difference?). I have had to delete the Products folder to rid my system of any trace of previous installs in order for the launcher to install to the desired location.
Don't be confused by any folder called "Frontier Developments" (no underscore!) because that contains your settings and key bindings. It is a shared folder which isn't very large and has every right to sit in your "C:\Users\<yourUserName>\AppData\Local" folder.
I hope this helps!
