Paths for storing Windows utility programs - pros and cons

Question

There are lots of utilities for Windows that just come as executables (no installers) so its up to you to decide where to save the files. A classic example is the Sysinternals suite.

At the moment I usually stick them into C:\Utils

• The main con of this is that the directory is not indexed by default so you cannot launch the utils from the start menu without an extra step.
• A minor con is it doesn't 'feel' very legit (i.e. I think according to Windows standards you are not meant to store stuff outside of Users or Program Files these days).

I am wondering what the pros and cons of using other paths are, and hence are there better options than C:\Utils that I haven't thought of.

Answer 1

I've been doing this for several years, adding the location to %PATH% and syncing the directory across all my machines using Windows Live Mesh. I also include a load of other stuff, including scripts, other shells, Cygwin, portable Python and portable apps from PortableApps.com.

The location does get indexed once it is added to your %PATH%, in my experience (at least the contents appear in the start menu search box).

If you do not like putting them on the root of C:, you could put them in Public and then make a symbolic link pointing to then from the root of C:, using MKLINK.

To add the directory to %PATH% permanently, type:

setx PATH "%PATH%;C:\Utils"

To make a symbolic link pointing to Public from the root of C:, type:

mklink /d "C:\Utils" "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Utils"

Answer 2

If a utility doesn't balk at having a space in its path, I put them in C:\Program Files\Utils. Otherwise, I use C:\Utils.

If a utility is one that is run from the command line, I use C:\Utils and add that directory to my PATH so I don't have to have a space in it (although Windows doesn't care).

If a group of programs have something common, such as the Sysinternals suite, I will usually dedicate a directory exclusively to them.

My reasons are mainly organizational.

• How do I use them?
• What is their purpose?
• Do I use them together?
• etc.

Answer 3

If you want to remain organised and to put such applications in an appropriate place, avoid Program Files and Program Files (x86) as these are for 64-bit and 32-bit (respectively) applications installed through the operating system and available to all users. I would keep manually installed applications in your own user profile folder (%USERPROFILE%), in particular the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs folder. This is where per-user applications are also installed, but it would isolate your manually installed applications to your own user profile folder as well as keeping them alongside of other programs.