Where did the download save itself?

37637598 on 28/8/2009 at 04:23

Hi, I have a question that's been on my mind for years, so I'll just let it out.

When I download a file from microsoft, such as the Windows SDK, where does it save to on my computer? Microsoft doesn't allow me to select a destination folder because they don't want me to be able to re-distribute their stuff, which I understand, but I work on two seperate hard drives and I really don't want to have to wait another 6 hours for a file to download just so I can install it on my second hard drive.

Thanks in advance!

PeeperStorm on 28/8/2009 at 06:04

In that sort of situation my first resort is check the various Temp folders on the hard drive. Use the Search function in the start menu to find them all.

Next, you can do a search by the download's size even if you don't know the name. If you don't know the size or the name, try searching by date/time modified. This might not work for all downloads, depending on how much effort they've put into hiding it.

Sometimes a Google search for something like "where does (downloading software) put the (download name) file?" will turn up info from various tech forums on where to find the file you're looking for, since you're probably not the only one who has ever had this question about that particular file.

bikerdude on 28/8/2009 at 07:41

Quote Posted by 37637598

When I download a file from microsoft, such as the Windows SDK, where does it save to on my computer? Thanks in advance!

What browser are you using..?

37637598 on 28/8/2009 at 10:26

I use IE 8. I seem to remember windows not allowing me to download from microsoft.com while using firefox... Maybe it was Google Chrome.

I can't look up the file name because it's never given to me. Basically when you go to microsoft.com to download the Windows SDK, it allows you to download an installer. When you double click the installer, it downloads all of the componants for the install, then opens a new installer for the actual software. The same thing happens with the .NET development tools. It's not a huge deal, more curiosity and something that could save me a lot of time. I like to keep all of my programs backed up as well so it would be nice to find the files.

Nameless Voice on 28/8/2009 at 13:06

You're doing it wrong.
You don't want to the normal Internet-based installer (I can't stand those things), you want to find an offline installer. For example, instead of (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c17ba869-9671-4330-a63e-1fd44e0e2505&displaylang=en) this, you want (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=71DEB800-C591-4F97-A900-BEA146E4FAE1&displaylang=en#filelist) this.

37637598 on 28/8/2009 at 13:29

Ah perfect! I never noticed that link at the bottom. You've helped me a lot and saved me a lot of download time, I appreciate it.

Maybe in the future my eyes will be a little more open :wot: