Changing the Installation Location

The information in this article applies to:

QUESTION

I would like to install the software to a location other than the default. How can I accomplish this?

ANSWER

Chief Architect programs can be installed to a different internal hard drive location than the default.

If your goal is to try to install to a different location due to limited space, then it is also important to be aware that the Core, Manufacturer and Bonus library catalogs can potentially take up a large amount of space, depending on what you choose to load. Starting with Chief Architect X10 and Home Designer Pro 2019, you can designate where library catalogs are placed and stored on your system. Please see the Related Articles section for more information on relocating your libraries.

To change the installation location

1. When you start the installation of the software, whether it be from physical media or a software download, the Setup dialog displays. 
   
   
   • In Windows, the first window shows the End User License Agreement. Read this carefully and then check the I accept the terms in this license agreement box. Once this box is checked, select the Advanced button.
     
     
     
     
     
   • In macOS, the installer begins with the Welcome to the Installer screen. Click Continue. Read the End User License Agreement carefully, then click Continue and Agree. On the next screen, click the Change Install Location button.
     
     
     
   
   
   
2. Once you are in the part of the installation dialog which allows you to change where the program will be installed:
   
   
   • For Windows users, click the Change button, navigate to a different file location to install the software to, click OK to close this dialog, and click Next to start the installation at the new location.
     
     
   • For macOS users, select the disk where you want to install the software, then click Continue and Install in order to start the installation at the newly chosen location.
     
     

     Installing Chief Architect software to removable media, such as an external hard drive or network location, is not supported.
     

     
     
   
   

In addition to changing the installation location of the software itself, after the program is installed, you can also choose to move the software's Data folder, which stores important user-specific information and is located in your Documents directory by default.

While you cannot change the name of this directory, you can change its location.

To set the programs Data folder location

1. Navigate to Edit> Preferences if you're on a Windows PC or Home Designer/Chief Architect> Preferences if you're on a Mac.
   
   
   
2. Select the Folders panel. Next to the "My Data Folder" or "Data Folder for Current User" heading at the top, click on the Browse button to choose a different file location for the Data folder, then click on either the Select Folder button on Windows or Open on macOS.
   
   

   To avoid unexpected results, it is best to use a location on a local hard drive.
   
   If you move this folder on your computer without specifying its location here, the program will automatically replace it using default information from the installation folder. The same result will occur if you specify a location on a network or removable device and this location becomes inaccessible. When this occurs, customized user settings will not be used.
   

   
   
3. Click OK to apply this change.