Forcing Apps to install to the SD Card without root

[jaimyn]

THANK-YOU!!
Thank you so much, I got a lot of extra VERY needed space. When I got the wildfire s I was very disappointed at the lack of internal memory. This fixed it, I can move most of the apps to the sd now.

**For anyone that had just got their phone and was weary of doing this (like me), go for it, it works fine and doesn't void your warranty at all**

thanks again!

 

[kizzabizza]

1. Connect the Phone to the PC in Charge Only mode
2. Open a command prompt (Start -> Run -> CMD)
3. Type cd\ and press enter until you are in the root directory of your PC. This is denoted by a C:\>.
4. Navigate to the folder you extracted ADB to. In my case, the command would be "cd\SDK-Tools" (minus the quotes).
5. Type ADB Devices and press enter. You should then see the serial number of your phone displayed on screen. If you don't check, that USB Debugging is enabled and you're connected in Charge Only Mode.
6. Type ADB Shell, press enter.
7. Type pm setInstallLocation 2 press enter (it's important you enter this exactly as written as it's case sensitive)
8. Type Exit, then disconnect your phone.
9. PROFIT!


hi guys, i have tried to follow El Presedente's instructions which i copied above, but it doesnt seem to work. I follow the procedure to the letter, and when it is all done none of the apps can move to the SD card. From a copy of my CMD log which i have entered below, can you see if i am doing anything wrong? Any help would be much appreciated!

C:\sdk-tools\sdk-tools>adb devices
adb server is out of date. killing...
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
SH17KTR05198 device


C:\sdk-tools\sdk-tools>adb shell
adb server is out of date. killing...
* daemon started successfully *
$ pm setInstallLocation 2
pm setInstallLocation 2
$ exit
exit

 

[El Presidente]

Hi kizzabizza, what apps are you trying to move and do you get any error messages? When you install new apps, are they installed to the SD Card?

 

[Hawkeye40222]

Whenever I try to type in the command "adb devices" it tells me "adb" is not recognized as an internal or external command. I have no idea how to go about fixing this, any help here would be hot... thank you

 

[Hawkeye40222]

Whenever I try to type in the command "adb devices" it tells me "adb" is not recognized as an internal or external command. I have no idea how to go about fixing this, any help here would be hot... thank you

I stand corrected, I was typing it wrong, sorry for bothering you

 

[Hawkeye40222]

Thank you very much, worked like a charm

 

[dsin420]

El Presidente i'm trying to figure thkis out for the life of me. Ihave made it to step 3 and I get this message when I type in "adb devices" adb is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable batch file or command.


I have debugging mode on and I ran as admin. The only diff is that my main drive is D and not C for some reason, but I did unzip mini SDK as D:\SDK-Tools

 

[El Presidente]

I have debugging mode on and I ran as admin. The only diff is that my main drive is D and not C for some reason, but I did unzip mini SDK as D:\SDK-Tools

Is there another SDK-Tools folder within D:\SDK-Tools? if you navigate to D:\SDK-Tools and type dir, what are the names of the files and folders listed?

 

[dsin420]

D:\SDK-Tools>dir
Volume in drive D has no label.
Volume Serial Number is FC27-B0C8

Directory of D:\SDK-Tools

03/25/2012 11:13 AM <DIR> .
03/25/2012 11:13 AM <DIR> ..
03/25/2012 11:13 AM <DIR> sdk-tools
0 File(s) 0 bytes
3 Dir(s) 126,150,389,760 bytes free

D:\SDK-Tools>

 

[El Presidente]

From the command prompt, type cd\sdk-tools\sdk-tools, then start with the adb commands.

 

[dsin420]

Well it appears to have worked after a little tinkering. all of it is case sennsitive. I tried what you had posted and it didn't work then I went and looked at the files and realized the first one was SDK-Tools and the second one wasn't. So I had to type cd\SDK-Tools\sdk-tools then continue with the adb commands. I'm going to go see what I can move now and then let ya know if it freed up as much memory as I was hoping it would. Thank you very much El Presidente

 

[El Presidente]

No problem, shout if you get stuck.

 

[dsin420]

I was able to free up 4mb's. It's not as much as I had hoped but then agasin it's alot when you're dealing with the Wildfire

 

[mrleelee]

You're an ABSOLUTE legend!!!

For the last year, whenever I wanted to install something I would have to delete loads of stuff on my phone just to be able to install it due to the crappy memory on the HTC Desire... just done this and I can now install anything!!! Thank you so much!!!!

 

[El Presidente]

Yeah, I gather Desire users have it pretty tough memory wise too, glad it helped.

 

[proc]

One thing i notice now is that no matter how many times apps update, even maps, internal memory usage does not increase at all.. in fact maps space usage actually decreased after updating it just now...
was this the usual scene without applying this command? i don't remember it myself..

 

[gibbo51]

Hi there, does this work on the HTC Salsa, and will it "force move" apps that came pre-installed? Cheers.

 

[El Presidente]

Hi there, does this work on the HTC Salsa, and will it "force move" apps that came pre-installed? Cheers.

Yep, it should work for the salsa, but I'm not sure if you can move pre installed apps, sorry.

 

[gibbo51]

Yep, it should work for the salsa, but I'm not sure if you can move pre installed apps, sorry.

Right, so basically, as I have found so far, is that some apps that I have downloaded, have easily been moved to SD card using the in house program, and some of the downloaded ones have "the move to SD card" grayed out, and cannot be moved without your program, and thirdly what you are saying and my understanding of that is, that any pre-loaded apps cannot be moved with your program, has anyone tried? It's pity, as it is these pre-loaded ones that take up most of the memory. Anyhows cheers again then for your help.

 

[kingkrunal]

El Prsidentae bro.. i did as mentioned by u,.. all worked well..

but still when trying to download any new app.. it is showing error and no memory... my phone is HTC XPLORER...

please help bro...

 

[satvik7star]

Thanks bro.this worked perfect

 

[JeSSiCaWaBBit]

My first post, thanks to El Presidente for this information. Great job!

I have ordered an unlocked Wildfire S and should receive it next week and after doing much reading about the memory issues i'll certainly be following this tip to force the apps to install on the SD card.

I just wanted to know if anyone has tested this with different speed SD cards and whether you could advise if there was a noticeable difference in speed?

I was planning to buy a 8GB micro sd card class 10 Samsung 24MB/s.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide and thanks for all the information provided here on the Wildfire S, its brilliant.

JW

 

[El Presidente]

Welcome to AF Jessica, thanks for joining!

It should be fine with anything of Class 6 and above. It should technically work fine with any class card, but Class 6 and above is what I'd recommend for general use SD card wise anyway.

 

[Jonny Jones]

Google bought me here (I haven't looked to see if there is a similar thread for the HTC Desire) - BUT I did this to my HTC Desire and it literally feels like a new phone! I did a factory reset of all data, then carried this out. AMAZING! I can now use all the apps I've wanted to use for months, if not years! HUGE thanks for your help Mr. Presidente :-D

 

[aghaalihaider]

hy i need yr assistance el presente