Paths of the folders in the "Files and Folders" Page

The folders in the "Files and Folders" page use predefined and custom installer properties which store their paths.

Folder NameProperty NameSample PathComments
Application FolderAPPDIRC:\Program Files\Your Company\Your Applicationthis is the default value and it can be configured
Application Shortcut FolderSHORTCUTDIRC:\Users\<username>\Start Menu\Programs\Your Application
Program FilesProgramFilesFolderC:\Program FilesC:\Program Files (x86) on a 64-bit machine
Common FilesCommonFilesFolderC:\Program Files\Common FilesC:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files on a 64-bit machine
Program Files 64ProgramFiles64FolderC:\Program Filesresolved only on a 64-bit machine
Common Files 64CommonFiles64FolderC:\Program Files\Common Filesresolved only on a 64-bit machine
Windows VolumeWindowsVolumeC:\
TemporaryTempFolderC:\Users\<username>\Local Settings\Temp
WindowsWindowsFolderC:\Windows
FontsFontsFolderC:\Windows\Fonts
SystemSystemFolderC:\Windows\system32C:\Windows\SysWow64 on a 64-bit machine
System 16System16FolderC:\Windows\systemused on older Windows versions
System 64System64FolderC:\Windows\system32resolved only on 64-bit machines
Start MenuStartMenuFolderC:\Users\<username>\Start Menu
ProgramsProgramMenuFolderC:\Users\<username>\Start Menu\Programs
StartupStartupFolderC:\users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
User ProfileUserProfileFolderC:\users\<username>
DesktopDesktopFolderC:\Users\<username>\Desktop
FavoritesFavoritesFolderC:\Users\<username>\Favorites
DocumentsPersonalFolderC:\Users\<username>\Documents
PicturesMyPicturesFolderC:\Users\<username>\Pictures
TemplatesTemplateFolderC:\Users\<username>\Templates
Send ToSendToFolderC:\Users\<username>\SendTo
Administrative ToolsAdminToolsFolderC:\ProgramData\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools
Application DataAppDataFolderC:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming
Common Application DataCommonAppDataFolderC:\ProgramData
Network ShortcutsNetHoodFolderC:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
Recent ItemsRecentFolderC:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent
Printer ShortcutsPrintHoodFolderC:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts
Local Application DataLocalAppDataFolderC:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local
Public DocumentsPublicDocumentsFolderC:\Users\Public\Documents\
Windows LibrariesWindowsLibrariesFolderC:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries\ on Windows 7 or aboveC:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries\
IIS WWW RootIIsWWWRootFolderC:\Inetpub\wwwroot

All the above folders are predefined for Windows Installer except for the first two folders which are proprietary for Advanced Installer. When the installation package runs, Windows Installer will automatically resolve their paths according to the target machine's configuration.

Depending on the package type, the paths will change; this means that if the package is per-user the paths will use "...\<username>\..." or if it is per-machine the paths will use "...\Public\..." instead.

If a package is per-machine and shortcuts are present in the AppDataFolder, the system redirects the shortcuts to the ProgramData folder.

ImportantIf other files are present in the same AppDataFolder, near the shortcuts, these are not redirected and they are placed in AppDataFolder. For more info about shortcut redirection click here.

A special property is "AI_ProgramFiles", which is used only in a "Mixed 32/64-bit matching the platform" installation package. When creating this type of package the presence of this property in the field "Application Folder" from the Install Parameters page is mandatory. The property will automatically resolve to "ProgramFilesFolder" or "ProgramFiles64Folder", depending on the machine's type on which the package is installed.

NoteThe sample paths are from a machine which has Windows installed on the C: drive. Also, <username> represents the name current user's name (the user account on which the installation runs).