to be able to change windows 8.1 apps default drive to external sd card to save fixed drive space

I second that. Please can someone from MS give us an answer on this. I spent £400 on a Windows 8.1 tablet but it only has 32gb internal storage. I was not concerned as I knew I would be able to use a 128gb micro SD card and the additional 500gb HDD built into the keyboard. After purchase I realised immediately I was going to have issues. After trying to move apps or change the default install location I got errors every time I tried to install a new app. After a lot of research I found there seemed to be no workaround. I now only have 1.5gb of free data and only have a fraction of what I actually want on there. The end result is me barely using the tablet. Infuriating is not the word.

Sort it out now please!

So did I ,spent £400 and I am at my third surface , first one died after 3 months, the second one had all sorts of problems and my third one which is now 10months old is giving me the storage card headache. I am trying everything ,but meeting obstacles all the way.MS ......IS A BIT MUCH NOW....

Updated:

https://southpawprints.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/surface-pro-windows-8-and-a-micro-sd-card/

follow the guide, this will help you with storage space. However I did one thing differently. I copied the entire folder of Program Files and set the SD card as my program files folder and pasted the entire directory. No issues so far. so my SD card is my Programs Folder.

You don't need to setup folders like the one in the guide, you can pretty much get creative. However I suggest putting a downloads folder in the drive and set up your web browser to put all downloads there.

Hi,

There are a couple of steps we can try to change the default location for an app to get installed in Windows 8.1

Method 1: the manual way:

a)Prepare the New Drive : Before we begin, we  must prepare the new install location. First, open a File Explorer window. Right-click the drive where you want to install Windows 8 apps – whether it’s an SD card, hard drive, or whatever else – and select Properties.

b)Ensure that the drive is formatted as NTFS:

If the drive isn’t formatted as NTFS, you will need to format the drive as NTFS to continue. (Many SD cards are formatted with the FAT file system instead.)

c)Back up any important data from the drive before continuing – formatting will delete all data on the drive. Right-click the drive and select Format.Choose the NTFS file system and click Start.

d)You will want to create a folder for the apps on the drive. You can name it whatever you like, such as WindowsApps or Windows8Apps.

e)You will now need to open the registry editor. Press the Windows key, type regedit at the Start screen, and press Enter.Navigate to the

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx

key.

f)Select the Appx key, click Edit, and click Permissions. (Ensure the Appx key is selected or you’ll modify permissions for another key instead!)

g)Click the Advanced button.Click the Change link next to TrustedInstaller.

Type Administrators into the box, click Check Names, and click OK. This will give all administrators on the computer ownership of the registry key.

h)Enable the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects checkbox and click OK.

i)Select Administrators in the Permissions for AppX window and click the Allow option next to Full Control. Click OK and you will now be able to edit the appropriate registry setting.

j)Double-click the PackageRoot value in the right pane and enter the location of the folder you created

earlier. That’s E:\Windows8Apps\ in the case of our example.

k)Reboot your computer. Your changes won’t take effect until you reboot.

NOTE: Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly.

Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added

protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the

registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and

restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in

the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756

Method 2: Using Storage sense:

1.Open the Settings app and then open Storage Sense. (Alternatively, you can open the Storage Sense app from the app list.)

2.Scroll down to the box labeled ‘Store my new apps on my’ and tap on the box.

3.Select SD card. From now on, any app you install from the Store will go to your SD card.

To move already installed apps from phone to SD card storage

1.Open Storage Sense.

2.Tap on Phone.

3.Tap on Apps+Games.

4.Tap or select the app(s) you want to move.

5.Then choose ‘Move’ or ‘Move to SD card’. Select Yes when the prompt asks you to confirm. The app will be moved to your SD card.                                                                                                                      If you have installed an app on the SD card and removed the card from the phone, the

app will not be accessible until you re-insert the card.Also, not every app

can be moved to a MicroSD card; it is the developer’s choice.You can move

apps from MicroSD card to phone storage by going to ‘SD Card’ in Step 2 and then following the rest of the steps.

Method 3: Using the original .XAP file:

In Windows Phone 8.0, you had the ability to install apps manually by downloading an app’s .XAP file from the Store’s website, copying it to a MicroSD card, and then installing it through the Store. The process has changed a bit in Windows Phone 8.1, but it is still very easy to do:

1.Go to the Windows Phone Store website on a PC and find the app(s) you want to

install.

2.Scroll down to the bottom of the app’s page, and click on the ‘Download and Install Manually’ link on the left side.

3.After the .XAP file is done downloading, connect your phone to your PC and then copy the file to any

location in your MicroSD card.

4.On your phone, open the Store app.

5.Pull up the app bar, and there should now be an option to ‘Install Local Apps’; tap

on it.

6.From the list, select the app(s) you want and then tap on Install; accept any app permissions that are required.

7.Your app will be installed to the selected save location (phone storage or SD card storage).

Hope this information was helpful.

Hello Ganesh,

This answer is not helpful at all because I followed all the steps and all I got was not beeing able to use my Toshiba WT7 C at all. Now if I try to install something from the APP Store gives me an error and if I try to open the previously installed application I cannot. 

I have Windows 8.1 with a space of 16 GB and only 4 GB were available first time I opened the tablet. I installed a few apps at first then I see that it has only 200 MB available. How is that possible? To occupy so much space. I bought a 32 GB SD card for nothing because it is useless if you can not install or move apps to it.

So please offer a solution on how to fix this wihtout reinstalling or throwing the tablet away (it's new, only 1 month).

Thank you,

Oana Ivanus

SOLVED - preliminarily, did not make in depth tests.

seems to be a permission issue. see here