(MOD) How to install Windows Stores apps on sd card

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joebeta

Member
Apr 7, 2012
16
9
Well here is how you change permissions using security setting.

Click on Permissions to open the "Permission for Appx" window. Click on Advanced to open a window like this:

securitysettings.png


Currently, the owner is TrustedInstaller. Click on Change. In the Select user or group window, click on Advanced..., the click Find now. You will get the list of all possible user/groups on your computer.

Select Administrators (the one with 's'), hit OK, hit OK once more. Make sure you select "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects", then hit OK once more. You should be back at the "Permission for Appx" window now. In this window, select Administrators and check "Full control" box under Allow. Hit OK the last time.

Now you have full control of the registry Appx folder and will be able to change every key inside this folder as you wish.

Thank you for your help. I was able to get it working.
 

perritos

Member
Nov 4, 2005
6
0
app already installed

and for the app already installed in C:? what's happen if I want to uninstall them?
 

GoodDayToDie

Inactive Recognized Developer
Jan 20, 2011
6,066
2,933
Seattle
@kenikh: That would be why I told you to use diskpart.exe... Disk Management sucks for removable storage for some reason.

Admon command prompt -> "diskpart". Basic tips:
Use "list disk" to list all storage.
Use "sel disk [#]" to select the number of the storage device you want (will probably be "1").
"lis part" to get the partitions (should be only one) and "sel part [#] (probably 1) to select it.
"hel shrink" to learn how to use the shrink command (BTW, most commands can be appreviated, as here "hel" instead of "help").
"create" (which you may want to use help on first) to create a new partition in the space revealed by the shrink...
etc. Use "help" in general to get a list of commands you can use.
 

kenikh

Senior Member
Nov 18, 2009
275
45
Damn my reading skills! :)
@kenikh: That would be why I told you to use diskpart.exe... Disk Management sucks for removable storage for some reason.

Admon command prompt -> "diskpart". Basic tips:
Use "list disk" to list all storage.
Use "sel disk [#]" to select the number of the storage device you want (will probably be "1").
"lis part" to get the partitions (should be only one) and "sel part [#] (probably 1) to select it.
"hel shrink" to learn how to use the shrink command (BTW, most commands can be appreviated, as here "hel" instead of "help").
"create" (which you may want to use help on first) to create a new partition in the space revealed by the shrink...
etc. Use "help" in general to get a list of commands you can use.
 

tamarasu

Member
Dec 13, 2009
23
44
Easy way: uninstall old apps and reinstall them via the my apps window in the store.
Hard way:robocopy and symbolic link
Manual way: move app and go to where they are stored in the registry(same area as where you changed the key) and change their location key.






Any idea how to transfer existing apps to sd? Pending updates fail so for now I restored everything back to default.
 

GoodDayToDie

Inactive Recognized Developer
Jan 20, 2011
6,066
2,933
Seattle
Note that the uninstall-reinstall cycle will remove any locally-stored data the apps were keeping. "Roamin" data is preserved (for up to a month, even if you have no other devices with the app installed) but is very space-constrained. Things like game saves may or may not be preserved. You could of course manually back them up, though.
 

jrsfalcons

Senior Member
Jul 5, 2008
121
5
Can someone help me out but I'm not sure I did it right. I was able to change the directory so my sd card is D. So I changed it to D:\Program Files\Windows Apps. So on my sd card I made a folder of program files and in there a folder named windows apps.Is that correct?? Cause I just tried installing a app ad it said error 0x80070005.
 

soopahfly

Senior Member
Oct 28, 2005
130
12
41
Sheffield
I can't get this to work. I'm not on a Surface but a Dell XPS 10 running RT.

I've followed the guide, set permissions, ensured the SD Card was formatted NTFS using Diskpart and rebooted. When I try to install anything I get the following error :0x80073cf9

Any clues?
 

Kreuzfelder

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2008
390
51
Dortmund - Germany
Hi and thanks for the great Tip.

It worked great on my Surface RT 32GB...BUT...after some Days, the original installed Apps doesn't update ?!?

It comes always the same Error Code > windows rt fehlercode 0x80073cf9 <
I have to search google and find some Tips but nothing worked :(

Any Idea what goes wrong?
 

SixSixSevenSeven

Senior Member
Dec 26, 2012
1,617
318
Hi and thanks for the great Tip.

It worked great on my Surface RT 32GB...BUT...after some Days, the original installed Apps doesn't update ?!?

It comes always the same Error Code > windows rt fehlercode 0x80073cf9 <
I have to search google and find some Tips but nothing worked :(

Any Idea what goes wrong?

Did you search for help in english or german? From what I can establish fehlercode is errorcode.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ror-code/ad8361b1-8d04-4454-9275-a2873a108c32
Is what I got when I search for "windows rt error code 0x80073cf9"
 

Kreuzfelder

Senior Member
Apr 20, 2008
390
51
Dortmund - Germany
Did you search for help in english or german? From what I can establish fehlercode is errorcode.

Thanks for fast answer :)

I've searched in german and found Tips like > Make a new Folder named Apps...etc. cleaned your cache...use sfc /scannow or use the Tool apps.diagcab for repair and so on.

Unfortunately nothing worked :(

Now i have restored the complete Surface RT and all is good but that is not a good solution ;)
 

SixSixSevenSeven

Senior Member
Dec 26, 2012
1,617
318
Thanks for fast answer :)

I've searched in german and found Tips like > Make a new Folder named Apps...etc. cleaned your cache...use sfc /scannow or use the Tool apps.diagcab for repair and so on.

Unfortunately nothing worked :(

Now i have restored the complete Surface RT and all is good but that is not a good solution ;)

If you search in english (even if you have to use a translator, although your english appears good and doesnt seem to be translated via any web service I know :) ) you will probably get more results in future. More english speakers on the web than german speakers so more likely someone has posted the solution you need.
 
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Tchnake

Member
May 28, 2013
16
1
Native apps issue

Hi, I have followed all your steps and now the native apps aren't working.

I have uninstalled Bing apps & Microsoft apps and then I reinstalled everything, but nothing
would succeed the installation process.

Plus, on the Windows store it says that I already have the application (which isn't the case).

Should I drag & drop the files to my SD ? Please help me. And where can I find the files for
the native apps ?

Thank you very much
 

be_man36

Senior Member
Jan 30, 2008
138
88
was wondering if someone can help me, I applied the hack and it works perfect EXCEPT 1 bloody app that is giving me problems! I can't uninstall/install/update "sports" app...it's the only app giving me trouble, I can't find it anywhere on my tablet but it is still marked as INSTALLED in the store! is there any way of resetting or deleting it from the app store? maybe perhaps in the registration some where?
 
was wondering if someone can help me, I applied the hack and it works perfect EXCEPT 1 bloody app that is giving me problems! I can't uninstall/install/update "sports" app...it's the only app giving me trouble, I can't find it anywhere on my tablet but it is still marked as INSTALLED in the store! is there any way of resetting or deleting it from the app store? maybe perhaps in the registration some where?

Not sure if I can help. Never tried this trick. But did you try to clear the app in "Your Apps" in the store? While in the Store, right click and go to Your Apps, then chose the device for which you have the problem app, e.g. Apps installed on Surface. If you right click on the app in question you should see a Clear and possibly an Install button at the bottom left (RT 8.1 here). I would try clear and install, then uninstall.
Again, just a wild guess and might not help at all.

---------- Post added at 02:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:15 AM ----------

Does anyone know if I update to 8.1 can this mod be reapplied? Thanks

seeing that the key in the registry is the same as for 8.0 I would believe that this should still work the same way. MS in fact now allows you to easily use a different target for file libraries such as Pictures, Music etc to store your files onto the sdcard.

ps. I am sure once a lot of more people get their system upgraded to 8.1 in October, you will get a quicker response to your questions.
 
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  • 17
    hey guys and gals,


    We all know that the Surface has limited storage. I was messing around and found a quick change to a registry key that lets you change where windows store apps are stored when installed. Tested and working on my Surface 32gb. see below for the key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx

    change the key labeled PackageRoot to whatever directory you want, and all new apps will install in that directory.

    Note: this does require that you change owner and permissions on the Appx registry folder so that you can edit the key. I have tested this will no ill effects.

    You can also change the app repository to another directory by changing the PackageRepository key.

    Test on a class 10 32gb card. Hope this helps!
    3
    Ahh, good find. I just used a symbolic link (which has the advantage of moving existing apps without breaking anything) but your approach is probably easier on clean installs.
    2
    I can confirm that you need to have the microsd formatted to NTFS. It works fine using this method. The exFAT will not work. This was tested on the 64 GB card.
    Is NTFS required for this? I wanted to use exfat for my 64gb card.
    Noted, will need to add some iffy logic to script.

    IF Get-WmiObject -class Win32_Volume | Select-Object FileSystem -eq NTFS then "Install to SD" else "Fomat SD NTFS"
    2
    was wondering if someone can help me, I applied the hack and it works perfect EXCEPT 1 bloody app that is giving me problems! I can't uninstall/install/update "sports" app...it's the only app giving me trouble, I can't find it anywhere on my tablet but it is still marked as INSTALLED in the store! is there any way of resetting or deleting it from the app store? maybe perhaps in the registration some where?

    Not sure if I can help. Never tried this trick. But did you try to clear the app in "Your Apps" in the store? While in the Store, right click and go to Your Apps, then chose the device for which you have the problem app, e.g. Apps installed on Surface. If you right click on the app in question you should see a Clear and possibly an Install button at the bottom left (RT 8.1 here). I would try clear and install, then uninstall.
    Again, just a wild guess and might not help at all.

    ---------- Post added at 02:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:15 AM ----------

    Does anyone know if I update to 8.1 can this mod be reapplied? Thanks

    seeing that the key in the registry is the same as for 8.0 I would believe that this should still work the same way. MS in fact now allows you to easily use a different target for file libraries such as Pictures, Music etc to store your files onto the sdcard.

    ps. I am sure once a lot of more people get their system upgraded to 8.1 in October, you will get a quicker response to your questions.
    2
    Please help me figure out how to do this. I really seem to be lost on how to be able to change the permissions and ownership of the key. I always get a message about not being able to change the settings.
    Right click on the key and choose permission...I assume you are familiar with how security setting in windows works. If you are not, reply here and I can guide you step by step.

    Note: you have to change the owner of the key from TrustedInstaller to Administrators first, only then can you give Administrators full control over the key.

    regeditz.png