HACKER Q&A
📣 markus_zhang

Why is installation directory on Windows so weird?


What I don't understand about some Windows software, is that why they can't keep everything under one folder, but have to scatter around.

For example, VS2019 has its extensions installed in Appdata/Local/Microsoft/VisualStudio/Version/Extensions. What is mnore obscure is the QT extension I just installed. I have to locate a qmake.exe and somehow the extensions doesn't know where it installed itself. It has been more than 30 minutes and I'm still in the process of locating the file and searching on Google to find a solution.

The point is, why?


  👤 nhgiang Accepted Answer ✓
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directory_structure#Windows_10

The AppData folder is for per-user files (config files), whereas Program Files is for files that can be shared system-wide (e.g. executables).

Linux/UNIX also do this. When you install sth system-wide (requires sudo) on those OS, the executables usually go to /usr/local/bin, and a hidden directory with the program's name under your home is created (for example, .docker) for config files.


👤 WalterGR
Win+R cmd.exe

C:

Cd \

Dir /s /b qmake.exe