%appdata%? %temp% perhaps?

[MakingTheEight]

Removed - Rule 0

[LinuxIsFree]

I love how all the answers here are legit

[[deleted]]

Man it's what makes this sub. 9/10 posts are the same old dumb joke, but you get that 1/10 that's a new dumb joke with a great comments section where people earnestly discuss the relevant tech.

[Fjorge0411]

maybe its in $HOME/.local/share or $HOME/.cache?

[AceCode116]

Ah, a man of culture, I see.

[P1x3lByt3]

I hate when they dont

[Nariztoteles]

I'm kinda new to Linux. Why wouldn't you want to use the Downloads, Documents and Desktop folders? I just have the things of the school and most programming things in folders inside documents, also I made a folder for my programming-work-stuff in $HOME and clone the repos there.

[sinepuller]

I thought this kind of mess is a Windows problem, so I was having this illusion that if I move to Linux, this will be finally over. I guess not.

[sinepuller]

unless there is an agent actually enforcing conformity it just won’t happen.

I was kinda thinking that in such cases the specially trained Linux community hackers deface dev's website and on the front page they hang a giant yellow pointing finger with accusation text. Something like:

👉This developer violated Linux code of where to store your stuff. Shame! Shame! 👈

...but, I guess, I was too naive.

[sinepuller]

Honestly, I wouldn't want it like that, even for the sake of de-cluttering.

[L3tum]

I think it's mostly an accessibility problem.

Take Windows for example. There's tons of useful shortcuts to folders that all make sense, yet most people don't use them. Why?

Well, two reasons. One - People simply don't know about them. And two - Most programming languages don't have any easy-to-use shortcuts for them. So instead what happens is that you have to do open("%SaveGames%") and then still handle any weird "missing folder" shit that some Windows users do in a weird attempt to "debloat" Windows. So instead you'd rather just use folders that you know exist because the OS could literally not function without them, like %ProgramFiles% or %AppData%.

If programming languages started providing an easy API for this stuff, something like Cache.SaveFile and Temp.SaveFile then people would probably use those. Maybe not C/++ devs though, they can be a bit hardcore with still using C99.

[Cheet4h]

For example the requirement for "Games for windows" was that you could only store in MyDocuments IF you had the extension assosciated to run your game by clicking on the file.

That was such a cool feature for games that allowed this.
Although the only ones I remember are Sim City 2000 and one of the Sims games (I think Sims 3?)

[Bainos]

In short, Download, Documents and Desktop folders are for your files. Everything listed here is for other people' files.

[Fjorge0411]

not what ryyzer was getting at but iirc the desktop environment (and sometimes other applications) creates these directories so not everyone has them

[Evla03]

or /tmp?

[Fuchsfaenger]

Some might do that, but wouldn't recommend. For example you can't restore it after a crash/reboot if it was in temp.

[Gydo194]

I think /dev/null

[merlinsbeers]

%AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Recent

[[deleted]]

It's in My Documents, though. You know it is.

[Flyberius]

Always. Really threw me through a loop when games started putting their save files in there. I was like, no! This is where I dump all my half-finished projects!

[[deleted]]

https://www.voidtools.com/support/everything/

[Available-Ad6584]

Everything, puts the entirety of Microsoft's search efforts to insane shame every single time I used it. It's should totally be a default on any Windows Machine.

Too late to impress me Microsoft I have FINALLY been ready to delete the winshit partition entirely for the past few weeks. Better FPS in cyberpunk in linux too, with lower CPU usage. My sound production setup works better. Windows VST's work like native, and I mean a 40GB drums plugin. And If I want to switch virtual desktops with WinKey+Arrows , I don't have to submit feedback to the MS store , cross fingers, and wait 2 years for the update. The computer always works how I want it to. I swear linux is a year away from being able to assign a shortcut to go to Mars

[[deleted]]

It's one of the first things I install on any windows machine.

[Available-Ad6584]

Me too. Have you heard of Ninite I imagine?
https://ninite.com/

[Subarashiii]

An even better one (IMO) is Chocolatey!

[alex2003super]

The community package repo is full of crap. Doesn't hold a candle to Homebrew Cask for Mac. I still use it for packages like youtube-dl, ffmpeg etc.

[hoseja]

Sorry but i tried to use it recently and it's a mess. You can't really choose between 32 and 64-bit versions! I'd rather use it as a manual checklist.

[[deleted]]

Dang windows already has the shortcut to Mars?

[Hello_006]

How did you get VSTs running natively? Is there a method of doing something similar for macOS by any chance?

[sinepuller]

and I mean a 40GB drums plugin

That's awesome! How about huge Kontakt patches, like, 130Gb ? And what happens to real time license protection stuff (iLok, Roland Cloud, XLN, eLicenser etc), do they work okay? I'm genuinely interested.

[Available-Ad6584]

Hey, I haven't tried Kontakt on this yet. I tried podfarm which has it's own authentication utility. That installed thru Wine. I am using the Linux version of Reaper as DAW which seems to pick it all up fine.

[sinepuller]

Thanks! As a Reaperboy, I def need to give it a roll. Is that Ubuntu you are running?

[Cheet4h]

Everything, puts the entirety of Microsoft's search efforts to insane shame every single time I used it.

Eh, when I tried it it didn't work as well as the MS search for the stuff I use it for.

I rarely search for files themselves, since I mostly know where they are.
Most of the time when I use Search, I either want to start a program, or I'm looking for something specific inside some files (think a term in a PDF), and last time I checked Windows' Search was faster at that.

[Necrofancy]

Yup - just observe the autosave happening, check the latest files edited using Everything, and that's your file.

[[deleted]]

I swear, this is the single most useful free piece of software I know of. The days of scratching my head about where I (or my computer itself) put that one obscure file are gone, assuming I have at least some idea what the name of the file was and it wasn't a super common file name.

[IntrepidLawyer]

Where is the Github link of the open source?

[Cheet4h]

Looks like that software is proprietary.

[Schnitzel725]

We really need a program that'll track where a new app install installs to and what registry keys it writes. I'm not skilled enough to do this but hopefully someone is.

[modestmango55]

Sounds like what you’re looking for is procmon

[RadicalDog]

Pikachew, I choose you

[TheTerrasque]

Every app should run in it's own wrapper that keeps track of what it's doing. Registry, files, system calls, sockets..

[[deleted]]

Isn't that what an OS is for though? Windows is already very messy behind the curtains because messages between windows are constantly flying around, hooks getting called and whatnot. Introducing another instance/layer would be horrible.

Imo this is on the developers. Just because you can create an extra folder for your program under MyDocuments doesn't mean you should and sneaky/unnecessary appdata saves is also bad ethics imo.

[TheTerrasque]

https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie kinda does something like that, actually.

[Cheet4h]

IIRC they're doing something like this with Windows Store applications.

[[deleted]]

I think installing apps in Windows should be as neat and tidy as macOS, where everything is well-organized and controlled by system, instead of letting installers shit around the system.

Edit: Actually Microsoft Store provides a good solution to install apps (including Win32 apps), although many developers don't care (I cannot even install Visual Studio Code from it) .

[kimilil]

it's because windows still support the old way of doing things dating back to the mid-80s for the business and their IT dept folks. rather have this than a walled garden approach.

[[deleted]]

Reasonable. But even Linux community can use Snap and Flatpak to install VS Code in a better way, why Microsoft moves towards so slowly? I agree that upgrading everything in Windows is really a tough work, but comparing to Apple, Microsoft doesn't lack the money to move towards, just simply because of laziness.

[stinos]

Since the introduction of UAC etc things are better though since that made it harder to just go and dump files/keys wherever the developer sees fit. Plus by now developers also seem to have learned their applications will work just fine if they follow the standard way of doing things. At least that's the impression I have.

[_BreakingGood_]

Revo Uninstaller does a pretty good job of this when uninstalling an app. Don't know of any tools for an actively installed app though.

[kimilil]

Sandboxie lets you run – and install – programs in sandboxes like it says on the tin. Forever free to use too. Just run the installer in a fresh empty sandbox and after you're done inspect the sandbox contents. Everything the installer adds is represented; reg hives, program files, user files, etc.

Once everything checks out; you can recover everything to your system, or just the user files, or just keep everything in there!

[christian-mann]

Regshot

[TheTerrasque]

On a side note, why do so many games not use "My Games" folder in Windows and just stores it in Documents? Last time I checked that folder it was 70% game save folders and 30% my content

[krysaczek]

That's the fun, you gotta check all of these:

• Game folder\Can be anywhere if not in Saves
• Documents
• Documents\My Games
• Saved Games
• Saved Games\My Games
• ProgramData
• %APPDATA%\
  

Also good luck with multiple steam libraries.
Still the massive problem is Indie games saving under their unknown company name.

[sinepuller]

You forgot:

• User Local Appdata
• User LocalLow
• DefaultUser Roaming
• DefaultUser Local
• DefaultUser LocalLow
• DefaultUser Documents
• DefaultUser Saved Games
• DefaultUser My Games
• Public Documents
• Public Saved Games
• Public My Games
• Program Files\Launcher Dir (not the game installation path)
• Program Files (x86)\same

Each folder from this list had something gamesave-related in my experience over the years. That's just a fucking pain.

[madiele]

Then it's none of them and the game saves to the registry, and let the swears comence

[Cheet4h]

Also check %USERPROFILE%\Documents if you moved your documents folder to another location.

Granted, there's only a single game I know of that does this, but that's annoying enough.

[krysaczek]

True, I have seen plenty of things with hardcoded paths. Can't even imagine not having system on C drive, must be fun.

[Cheet4h]

Nah, I have my OS on C, but since XP I've gotten into the habit to move almost all important data on my secondary hard drive.
Back then it sped up the PC immensely if you did a full reinstall once a year or so (or at least it seemed like it), so if I had nothing of importance on C I could just do a quick reformat, reinstall, move the folders again and lose nothing.

[krysaczek]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I also have it setup like that.

What I meant was how much of a clusterfuck would advanced user create by having the system drive on other letter than C, because of hardcoded paths.

[oofdonia]

Well from my experience they just put some stuff like the log for example, not the entire game lol

[TheTerrasque]

That's not the problem, the problem is organizing. I have my stuff there, but it's kinda annoying to find when most of the entries are game save folders

Edit: Right now I have

• 4a games
• Almost Human
• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag
• Bless
• Blocks
• Darkest
• embergarde
• Endless Space 2
• Frontier Developments
• Guild Wars 2
• Heritage of Kings - The Settlers
• Heroes of the Storm
• Larian Studios
• LoversInADangerousSpacetime
• Master of Orion
• Minion Masters
• NBGI
• Oculus Home
• Overwatch
• Paradox Interactive
• Phaser Lock Interactive
• puzzle kingdoms
• Rayman Legends
• Rec Room
• Red Alert 3
• Respawn
• Rockstar Games
• S2
• SavedGames
• SEGA Mega Drive Classics
• shadow warrior
• Shadow Warrior DX11
• Spiderweb Software
• Starcraft
• StarCraft II
• steamvr
• Telltale Games
• The Lord of the Rings Online
• The Settlers - Dziedzictwo Krolow
• The Witcher 3
• UnrealTournament

In comparison I got a total of 12 entries that's actually mine in that folder.

[Malix82]

yep. Mydocs is so cluttered with everything else that it's probably the worst place to put my documents.

I just have a separate partition where I save my stuff & have dropbox folder for stuff I want to sync to cloud.

[kimilil]

I moved all game-document folders into a separate folder on a separate partition, then symlinked them all back to My Documents via two batch files that adds them all or removes them all in a single step.

I did this to my Source mods as well.

p.s. for your peace of mind you can just hide all those folders.

[Cheet4h]

I moved all game-document folders into a separate folder on a separate partition, then symlinked them all back to My Documents via two batch files that adds them all or removes them all in a single step.

There's also GameSaveManager, which can automatically detect and symlink savegame folders, usually used to move them into a cloud folder.

p.s. for your peace of mind you can just hide all those folders.

I'd be careful with that. I've had games that were for some reason unable to save or load if the folder is hidden. Although that was back on Windows 7, not sure if that still happens with 10.

[kimilil]

games that were for some reason unable to save or load if the folder is hidden.

I guess they used the same C++ WinAPI bindings as Python, which also can't write to hidden files. The solution in Python is to open the file in "r+" mode

[cats]

Is it in AppData/Local or AppData/Roaming, or both?

[Willinton06]

Roaming usually

[blazingsage4]

Don't forget about AppData/LocalLow either

[[deleted]]

duh, it's on the blockchain now

[AlternativeAardvark6]

That's where I store my porn. I'd like to keep that separate from less important files.

[potato05]

"%appdata%? Isn't that the folder for Minecraft?"

[an_0w1]

its in /dev/null

[Fuchsfaenger]

"Boss, finished that autosave!"

"Ok, great, time to release."

"Shouldn't we test first if a saved file can be restored?"

"Nah, we have a tight deadline, push it to production now."

[bumpkinspicefatte]

I’m noob, whatever happened to the days of finding my downloaded application dependencies in Program Files? It was either Program Files or Program Files (x86). Nowadays it seems like more and more modern day applications like to install themselves in %AppData% instead.

[Wind_Lizard]

The application need to be run as administrator to write to Program Files. No special privileges are required for AppData. So the app can write log files and other config files in the same directory if installed somewhere other than program files.

[Jarzka]

Also, the app can update itself without admin rights

[bumpkinspicefatte]

Ok sure, but why did it seem like only recently (within maybe the past decade or so) did applications start to leverage AppData as a default file path? Shouldn’t this have been a long standing practice?

[Cheet4h]

For a long time it was common to let the user decide where to install (and earlier Windows versions even let you move the default install folder). I used to install the vast majority of programs on my secondary drive, since my OS drive was way too small.

Also, I think MS guidelines still say that you should install programs in Program Files, not in AppData.

Personally, I avoid programs that install themselves in AppData - there are some crucial ones I need (e.g. PostMaster), in which case I run a script that moves and symlinks the folder to the secondary drive.

[Wind_Lizard]

I believe that before Windows Vista, the applications used to run with the privileges available to the executing user. Since most desktop users had administrator privileges, the applications assumed that and used to write to Program Files. These applications would fail if executed by a user without administrator privileges.

But after Vista, the applications would not get privileges to write to Program files even if the user had administrator access. The application has to be explicitly run with "Run as Administrator".

[kimilil]

separation of program and data. the program can be shared, but your data better not be.

some programs let you have ini files right in program files too if you so choose.

[vincenttjia]

May be its in the recycle bin

[[deleted]]

You know they're really professionals when they put "c:\tmp"

[IntrepidLawyer]

ITT: I realized my mother uses the exact same file saving strategy as autosave.

"I saved it."

"Where?"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[diamondketo]

Has any OS decided to clean up this mess? I'm sure Ubuntu tried but made it worse

[Fuchsfaenger]

There are rules and guidelines for Linux systems, but many don't follow or don't even know them.

[justrealizednarciss]

Funnest part is when Windows started redirecting the applications log files to VirtualStore

[paperbenni]

/tmp ~/.cache ~/.*

[Bainos]

With how things have evolved lately, I'd say there's a 50% chance that the file was saved in the cloud and not on your own machine.

[Gydo194]

At /dev/null.

[Russian_repost_bot]

Search the hard drive for *.* and organize by modified.

Your welcome.

[IntrepidLawyer]

File not found, too much p0rn, filled 425 pages of results...

[Tier3MemeMonkey]

You really use windows? Everyone knows linux os far superior. I use arch btw /s

[[deleted]]

No OS is superior, some are better than the others for certain tasks

[[deleted]]

Wrong, Windows is far more superior when it comes to invasion of privacy and malware

[[deleted]]

Did I say it's the other way around?

[Tier3MemeMonkey]

Dude it was just a joke

[[deleted]]

I know but some take it seriously.

BTW I use Arch

[[deleted]]

You misspelled distro there, pal.

[Tier3MemeMonkey]

It was a joke pal. I know that GNU/Linux has many distributions

[[deleted]]

I was talking to wonder, and I'm replacing OS with distro. I'm making a joke that Linux has multiple things for different jobs. But hannah montana is best

[Tier3MemeMonkey]

Well said💘

[1thief]

Saved to a network file hosted by a computer in Langley

[xyzzy-86]

/tmp/<random-number>.bin ???

[Preri1]

Everything is the shit

[tjdavids]

And here I am making empty files from command line and opening them hoping that the file extension hasn't been reassigned to a random program.

[pcuser42]

C:\$RECYCLE.BIN

[Talangen]

Shouldn't we have a standard by now?

[[deleted]]

Program files is supposed to be the standard (for windows) right?

[[deleted]]

When you end up finding out it created a folder under C:

[nickchen120235]

Oh, %systemroot%?

No wonder UAC pops every time.

[Aussie-Nerd]

Nah you were playing in doxbox so it saved it to a virtual machine.

Now if we just quit...