How to move winboard.ini to other directory?

[pstein]

On Windows OS WinBoard creates its "winboard48.ini" settings file in
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\

Is there a way to move the *.ini file to another location (e.g. the installation folder)?

Peter

[H.G.Muller]

Yes, there is. But then all users would share those same settings, and (depeding on where you install) you might not have permission to create or write files there, so that your settings cannot be saved at all. (Or Windows might hide them in an even more obscure place as the AppData/Roaming folder.)

The trick is to change the value specified for /settingsFile and /saveSettingsFile on the last lines of the winboard.ini file in the WinBoard installation folder. These specify what the actual file for saving user settings will be.

BTW, it is usually better the settings file is deeply hidden. Otherwise users might be tempted to start messing with it, (i.e. editing), which is bound to break things. But for people that want to carry a portable install on a memory stick that carries the settings with it, this is an inconvenience.