Settting the ClickOnce installation folder URL in Visual Studio 2012

Question

In Visual Studio 2012 I'm trying to create an installer on my Windows Forms project. In the projects properties under publish, Installation Folder URL does not accept an absolute path. I want to install the program to a path I predefined, but it installs it under:

C:\Users\[USER_NAME]\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\71530DHX.EQT\HX2K7H9Z.BVH\i..tion_adf38724ab9c7a8b_0001.0000_dac8e5c01327591a

How can I specify an install location like C:\\MyApplication ?

Answer 1

In order for ClickOnce to manage the caching of your application including handling updates, it will put it under the AppData folder. You will not be able to install it a folder of your choosing. It's the nature of the beast.

Normally this isn't a big deal. You can still create a desktop icon for the user to access your program (if that was your concern):