Summary: Many, but not all programs allow you to specify their install location. In some, however, that ability is somewhat hidden in the install process.
How can I install applications to the D: drive in Windows Vista? The C: drive is full and every program wants to load itself into it. I tried saving the application on the D: drive and running it from there, hoping I would get a prompt saying "setup will install this program in C:\Program Files..... if you want to install it elsewhere browse for the location" but the application just automatically installs itself in the C: drive without giving me another option. It then gives an error message saying not enough disc space in C:. How can I do this?
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You may not be able to.
But then again, depending on the application, you may.
And that phrase is kind of what it boils down to: "depending on the application".
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In your situation, I'd make sure to first have cleaned up that C: drive as much as you can. Even though we may install applications onto other drives, there's still no getting around the fact that Windows, and programs running under Windows, will need some amount of space on C:.
I'd point you toWhere's my disk space going? as a place to start. It includes references to a couple of tools that may help you identify exactly what's eating up all the space on your C: drive. Knowing that you may be able to make some decisions on what steps to take to free some of it up.
Where you download your install program actually makes no difference at all to where that program may try to install itself. The key is that at some point in the installation process it must ask you where you want it to install. If it doesn't ask, then there's almost nothing you can do. It'll install where it installs, and that's likely going to be C:.
Many programs are nice enough to just ask:
That's PDFCreator asking where you want it to be installed. No special steps were required, it simply includes this as part of the normal setup process. If you want to install it to a different drive you can simply enter the new location here.
Another common scenario has that setting available, but hidden.
Here's a step in the Open Office installation process:
As I said, this particular scenario is very common as setup designers want to make it easy for people to simply take the default settings that might otherwise confuse or concern them.
Hint: don't. 
In this case, choose Custom, and the next step looks something like this:
As you can see, the setup program now displays where it will install the software, as well as a Change... button so you can alter that. Click that and:
You can select exactly where the installation should happen.
The specifics of this scenario will vary from application to application, but the big take-away is to choose the "advanced" or "custom" installation option if it's offered. Nine times out of ten, the install location is hidden therein.
Unfortunately, if it's not, and there's no other place to specify it as part of the install, then there's little you can do.
Related:
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Where's my disk space going? It's not uncommon to run out of disk space. A free utility can help tell where's your disk space is going so you can determine what steps to take.
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Can I install programs on an external drive? An external drive is just another drive to Windows. Setting up programs on a drive that can be removed, however, warrants some care.
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How do I install a pre-installed Microsoft Office on another machine? Office is a popular pre-install on many new computers. If you didn't also get a CD, you should. Installing or reinstalling is a problem without it.
Article C3799 - July 1, 2009
It's sometimes risky to install a program on a drive other than c: because plugging in a device or something you may inadvertanty do may change the drive letters on your computer. Why not move a lot of your data files instead?
Posted by: Mark Jacobs at July 1, 2009 1:30 PM@Mark Jacobs:
Fixed disks (mounted inside the case) don't change drive letters between boots.
It is never a good idea to install software on a Windows machine on a removeable drive.
Posted by: Ziggie at July 2, 2009 7:46 AMIt used to be that adding a second drive with a primary partition on it would cause the secondary partition(s) on the primary drive to shift. (ie: the primary partition on the second drive became D:, and the former D: became E:.) I haven't seen that behavior in Windows for many years. I don't believe I have ever seen that happen when installing a removable device.
Posted by: Ken B at July 2, 2009 9:59 AMI would recommend to make room on the C: partition by moving the user files (Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc.) to D:. That is dead easy and will free up room.
Posted by: whs at July 7, 2009 10:53 AMfor what it is worth I have installed windows from Win95a Win95b Win95c Win98se to my current Win XP in the last few times I find it it a good idea to make three hard drives. the first one is half of the whole. The second is half of the remainder. That way I have enough space to cover everything that I want on the drive.
Posted by: Mr J McGarry at July 7, 2009 10:56 AMIt is possible to force-assign a drive letter using Disk Management. Of course, if you have lots of drives, it is necessary to mess around removing/changing lots of drive letters.
Posted by: JH at July 8, 2009 2:10 AMIn the registry in the key
Posted by: Torben Reffeld at July 8, 2009 3:00 AM[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion] there is a sting called ProgramFilesDir, by default with the value C:\ProgramFiles. If the value is changed to D:\ProgramFiles, I feel sure Windows wil propose this directory for installeng new programs. I have not tried this, and there might be a risk to confuse Windows with respect to allready installed programs, but why should there?
If there is an option to install to other thban Drive C, I always install programs on another drive. For one thing, even if you have to reformat C Drive, at least some programs, usually utilities, will still work. In addtion it helps to remember which programs you were using, as you will still be able to see them. You may not want to reinstall all of them, but it will be easier to remember which ones ou want to continue using. And of course even Windows does not ahve to be installed on C drive. I've installed it on many other drives leaving C to contain the bootup information. At any rate I have never had a problem caused by installing programs on other drives.
Posted by: howiem at July 11, 2009 9:00 PMIs it better to install programs on a separate drive, such as a partitioned D, and not on the C drive where my Windows XP is installed? I've been told this is better for the Windows system and less prone to slowing down but it can be so bothersome to have to make sure I'm not installing on the C every time.
24-Jul-2009
Posted by: sammy at July 23, 2009 9:12 AM