Is there a way to change the default location of where templates are stored, aside from hacking the registry?
I run Scrivener at work from a thumbdrive in my lunch break, and I don’t particularly want to get hammered by our IT department for “installing” stuff on my machine, when really…I’m not.
(Not that I’ll be able to edit the registry as the machine is probably locked down for that, but alas…)
Templates are created in your user folder, in the portion that is set aside for application usage, they aren’t “installed” into the computer anywhere. If you’re not allowed to use programs that write temp and persistent data to AppData then you’ll have more problems than just the templates. Even adding a word to the dictionary or changing a single preference would violate that. And like you say, if they are that strict, then you probably can’t be mucking about in the registry.
Anyway, there is nothing special about templates. Just duplicating starter projects you have stored on the USB stick would accomplish the same thing.
In addition to the user-created templates, be aware that Scrivener stores custom compile settings, script formats, saved layouts, the personal word list (i.e. words added to the dictionary, as Ioa said above), the userlock file (part of identifying when you have a project open, to help avoid conflicts) and your project backups in the user AppData folder. You can change the location for the automatic backups in the Backup tab of Tools > Options… but the others are hardwired.