mundell.org A little of this, a little of that

I love Google Desktop Search, especially since it came out of beta. However, it creates a HUGE index. In my case, the index was >2GB. The default location for the index is:

C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Google Desktop Search

It quickly filled up the free space on my C: partition.

If you look at the GDS preferences, you’ll find no way to change the location of the index. But you can by editing the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Desktop

1. Exit Google Desktop Search.
2. Open data_dir in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Desktop and change the path to fit the location you want (e.g. E:\Google\Google Desktop Search).
3. Cut the existing “Google Desktop Search” folder from C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\ and paste it into E:\Google to retain the existing index.
4. Restart Google Desktop Search