changing 'Documents & Settings' to default to D drive instead of C

[spider_darth]

I've read a few of the comments in this forum. And.. many or rather almost all recommends having C drive as system (program + os) and D drive for data.

But.. may I know how to move the my docs folder to default to D Drive instead of the usual C Drive? I know that by right clicking on my docs and lick in properties, you can change the target folder. However, here, I'm only moving the my docs folder.. is there anyway to move the whole 'Documents and Settings' of all users to default to D Drive? so.. favorites and everything will also be moved too.

[Brian K]

-{ Quote: " is there anyway to move the whole 'Documents and Settings' of all users to default to D Drive?" }-
spider_darth,

No, not the whole folder. This will help you.

http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=49222

[ErikAlbert]

Spider_darth,
In theory the freeware "nLite" allows you to move the entire folder "Documents and Settings" to another partition by creating a customized "Windows Installation CD".

I've done some pre-tests and they were very promising.

After re-installing my computer with such a CD :
- the entire folder "Documents and Settings" was gone on my system partition [C:] and was moved to my data partition [D:]
- the registry was adjusted automatically for all registries, containing the folder "Documents and Settings.
- I installed "MS Office 2000" and all DEFAULT folders for saving documents were adjusted automatically.

Unfortunately, I had no time to install other softwares, because I needed my old setup back.
So it's worth to try it this way, you only need the courage to do it.
You can always re-install your computer with the original CD and separate system and data in another way.

You only have to change ONE setting in nLite to do this and you only have to do it ONE time, because it is stored on your new customized "Windows Installation CD" and there is no difference with the original CD.
http://www.nliteos.com/
"nLite v1.3 Final" does alot more than that, but you can use it only for that purpose.

Personally, I'm preparing this on paper, because nLite has pages of settings for patching Windows, removing components, tweaking, ...

[lodore]

i might use nlite just for moving the whole documents and settings folder and dont know why microsoft doesnt let you
lodore

[ErikAlbert]

M$ didn't design Windows to make the separation of system and data easy, that's for sure.
Also other software companies design softwares, that make a separation difficult or even impossible.
The recent softwares are in general better, they provide default folders, that can be changed, including the partition letter.

Our computer department considers this as a basic rule and always separates personal data (documents, databases, ...) from software files, when they develop a new application for PC.
You just don't mix software files and personal files, that is always a big mistake.
Even software objects, that contain user-input need to be separated from software files.
This is just a matter of design, but not every software company follows this rule.

[kennyboy]

-{ Quote: "Spider_darth,
In theory the freeware "nLite" allows you to move the entire folder "Documents and Settings" to another partition by creating a customized "Windows Installation CD".

I've done some pre-tests and they were very promising.

After re-installing my computer with such a CD :
- the entire folder "Documents and Settings" was gone on my system partition [C:] and was moved to my data partition [D:]
- the registry was adjusted automatically for all registries, containing the folder "Documents and Settings.
- I installed "MS Office 2000" and all DEFAULT folders for saving documents were adjusted automatically.

Unfortunately, I had no time to install other softwares, because I needed my old setup back.
So it's worth to try it this way, you only need the courage to do it.
You can always re-install your computer with the original CD and separate system and data in another way.

You only have to change ONE setting in nLite to do this and you only have to do it ONE time, because it is stored on your new customized "Windows Installation CD" and there is no difference with the original CD.
http://www.nliteos.com/
"nLite v1.3 Final" does alot more than that, but you can use it only for that purpose.

Personally, I'm preparing this on paper, because nLite has pages of settings for patching Windows, removing components, tweaking, ..." }-

Erik, as you probably know, I am experimenting with nLite to do this at the moment. Yes it does work, but Windows (or nLite) seems to have a problem with Drive Letters. My Data is E (which is where I want the folder) but nLite changes the Data drive letter to D and gives E drive letter to a different partition and puts the Documents/Settings folder there which is not where I want it. It becomes a bit of a guessing game in the end, but I dont know why it does this. Very interesting excercise though.

[ErikAlbert]

-{ Quote: "Erik, as you probably know, I am experimenting with nLite to do this at the moment. Yes it does work, but Windows (or nLite) seems to have a problem with Drive Letters. My Data is E (which is where I want the folder) but nLite changes the Data drive letter to D and gives E drive letter to a different partition and puts the Documents/Settings folder there which is not where I want it. It becomes a bit of a guessing game in the end, but I dont know why it does this. Very interesting excercise though." }-
I have two harddisks C (system) and D (data) and it worked.
But don't give up, because it might be your misunderstanding.
Did Windows the partitioning ? It's not the first time that Windows changes the partition letter, when partition letters aren't in alphabetical order (I mean missing letters can cause this), especially during the installation of Windows.

What is most interesting for me to know, is how each software reacts on this separation.
Softwares like Firefox and Thunderbird are very interesting. I expect that the profiles are moved automatically to the data partition, but I don't know for sure.

[kennyboy]

-{ Quote: "I have two harddisks C (system) and D (data) and it worked.
But don't give up, because it might be your misunderstanding.
Did Windows the partitioning ?
What is most interesting for me, is how each software reacts on this separation." }-

Always run my comp with 3 partitions. System, Data, and Work Partition (basically for playing about)

I am still trying to get the Docs/Settings folder in the RIGHT partition, but I will get it in the end. Just a pain having to keep making a new ISO and re-burn it just to see where nLite puts it.
I am also very interested to see how the different software reacts. Originally doing it to save anchoring my Opera Profile in FDR, but it is becoming more than that now. Will keep you posted.
Its just finding time that is the problem.

[Nick Rhodes]

-{ Quote: "spider_darth,

No, not the whole folder. This will help you.

http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=49222" }-


Yes you can.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=609389&postcount=8

[ErikAlbert]

-{ Quote: "Always run my comp with 3 partitions. System, Data, and Work Partition (basically for playing about)

I am still trying to get the Docs/Settings folder in the RIGHT partition, but I will get it in the end. Just a pain having to keep making a new ISO and re-burn it just to see where nLite puts it.
I am also very interested to see how the different software reacts. Originally doing it to save anchoring my Opera Profile in FDR, but it is becoming more than that now. Will keep you posted.
Its just finding time that is the problem." }-
nLite is the most easy way and it remembers everything on your new CD.
I don't like all these tricks, workarounds and changing registries, nLite does it all in a natural way, at least that's what I assume.

Just finding time ? I ALWAYS have that problem. I have so many things to do and no time. I'm glad you are at least trying this. So good luck with it.
One day, I will do it myself, because this is too important to me.

Keep in mind, you only have to change ONE setting in nLite : changing C into E on the screen where you can change the folder "C:\Documents and Settings" into "E:\Documents and Settings" and that requires only ONE burning. All the rest is upto Windows.

[DVD+R]

-{ Quote: "Originally Posted by spider_darth
is there anyway to move the whole 'Documents and Settings' of all users to default to D Drive?" }-

Yes there is just follow these instructions: :)

Right click on the My Documents folder on the desktop,and click properties

in the Window that opens the Address Bar should read C:\My Documents and Settings

Change only the C:\ to D:\ and click Apply, a popup will ask you if you want to change location from C:\ to D:\ Click Yes

Another Popup might say the Folder does not exist do you want to create it, Click Yes

Bingo! You're Done 8)

[FirePost]

Hello spider_darth,
One of the Microsoft Powertoys is TweakUi. I suggest a look at that. It allows one to change the default directories easily.

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx)

[St.Timmy]

TweakUI should do the trick

http://suprfile.com/src/1/6c7d3k7/Untitled 1.jpg

[Nick Rhodes]

St.Timmy, Firepost, DVD+R

These solutions only move the my documents folder, not the entire "documents and settings" folder as requested by the original poster.

[ErikAlbert]

-{ Quote: "St.Timmy, Firepost, DVD+R

These solutions only move the my documents folder, not the entire "documents and settings" folder as requested by the original poster." }-
That's right. FolderMover developped by HDS (RollbackRx) is also such a tool, but it doesn't move the entire folder "Documents and Settings" either.

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,
I see no reason to do this.
If OS is installed on C - then Docs and Settings should be with it.
If programs are installed on C - same.
No reason to separate programs from OS since programs rely on registry.
Significantly complicates backup / imaging procedures.
One should avoid default folders for saving their data anyhow.
Mrk

[charincol]

I agree. Anything that writes to the registry or Documents and Settings folders during install stays on C to keep it all "packaged" together when I do image backups.

I have My Documents folder on a separate partition along with my Firefox profile and most other standalone apps. This allows me to boot into my gaming XP install on partition D (I dual boot between two XP OS's, one for regular tasks, and one that has just enough Windows left intact after nLite to play games) and only have a shortcut to Firefox on C. Any Bookmark additions or other changes in Firefox stay even if I restore both C and D partitions because those changes happen in my profile which is on partition F. My 4 drives are split into 9 partitions total.

[kennyboy]

-{ Quote: "I agree. Anything that writes to the registry or Documents and Settings folders during install stays on C to keep it all "packaged" together when I do image backups.

I have My Documents folder on a separate partition along with my Firefox profile and most other standalone apps. This allows me to boot into my gaming XP install on partition D (I dual boot between two XP OS's, one for regular tasks, and one that has just enough Windows left intact after nLite to play games) and only have a shortcut to Firefox on C. Any Bookmark additions or other changes in Firefox stay even if I restore both C and D partitions because those changes happen in my profile which is on partition F. My 4 drives are split into 9 partitions total." }-

Short of finding a similar option in Opera that you have in Firefox to move the profile, there is a very good reason for doing this when using FDR. It saves having to anchor certain files when changing snapshots.

[ErikAlbert]

Mrkvonic and Charincol,
That doesn't scare me. I need a better explanation, than just "Don't do it." and most people disapprove things, they never did themselves or are afraid of changes. That's a classical one. I see this all the time in my line of work.

This is an experiment and if it doesn't work, you only have to restore an old image and you are back in business as nothing happened. That is one of the reasons why you need an Image Backup software.
It's no worse than streamlining and tweaking Windows to the very bone. :)

[charincol]

It doesn't have anything to do with "you just shouldn't do it". I've broken the hell out of Windows XP in more ways than you can imagine. I just don't fix it anymore. That's what images are for. I'll reimage over something very small that screws up like folders not staying where I want them because something messed up a registry setting. And the Windows registry can be very tempermental. I have no problem deleting hundreds of registry entries at a time as long as I know what they're for. But, sometimes the registry just doesn't want to cooperate even when you know what you're doing.

I just haven't found any benefit from moving the whole Documents and Settings folder and there is the possibility of corrupting user registry settings that are contained in it.

For example, you install a program and it has a messy install that locks windows up due to registry corruption. So you go back to an image a week ago that you know was working fine. But the user registry settings aren't contained in it because your Documents and Settings folder is on another drive. What guarantee's you don't have corrupted user registry settings? Now if your Documents and Settings are on C, then you know for sure your user registry settings will work because they were working a week ago.

There is a huge benefit from redirecting just the My Documents folder to somewhere else.

[ErikAlbert]

-{ Quote: "It doesn't have anything to do with "you just shouldn't do it". I've broken the hell out of Windows XP in more ways than you can imagine. I just don't fix it anymore. That's what images are for. I'll reimage over something very small that screws up like folders not staying where I want them because something messed up a registry setting. And the Windows registry can be very tempermental. I have no problem deleting hundreds of registry entries at a time as long as I know what they're for. But, sometimes the registry just doesn't want to cooperate even when you know what you're doing.

I just haven't found any benefit from moving the whole Documents and Settings folder and there is the possibility of corrupting user registry settings that are contained in it.

For example, you install a program and it has a messy install that locks windows up due to registry corruption. So you go back to an image a week ago that you know was working fine. But the user registry settings aren't contained in it because your Documents and Settings folder is on another drive. What guarantee's you don't have corrupted user registry settings? Now if your Documents and Settings are on C, then you know for sure your user registry settings will work because they were working a week ago.

There is a huge benefit from redirecting just the My Documents folder to somewhere else." }-
I'm still not convinced.
nLite creates a new "WinXPproSP2 Installation CD", where you told Windows to put the folder "Documents and Settings" on partition "D".
After the installation Windows knows that the folder "Documents and Settings" is on partition "D", just like it knows that this folder is on partition "C" when you install with the original CD.
All registries containing this folder are also adjusted after the installation.
So Windows will do its job as always, including user registry settings.
That is my ASSUMPTION of course and that's why we have to test this in practice over a long period.
An user that streamlines his Windows has also the ASSUMPTION that it will work without problems.

A software with a messy install is always possible, even when you install Windows normally.
All my troubles in 2006 were caused by such softwares and one time, I couldn't even get to Windows.
But that's not a problem when you are a FirstDefense-ISR user.
I reboot in my rollback snapshot, refresh my work snapshot and I'm back.
This is a problem that has nothing to do with putting this folder in another partition. :)

[Ice_Czar]

while TweakUI is useful, its not exactly comprehensive
certainly use it and or registry tweaks for the simple stuff,
however if you want to mess with other shell objects or create new ones
Shell Object Editor (http://www.tropictech.de/modules/PDdownloads/singlefile.php?cid=1&lid=5/) (freeware)
forum (http://www.tropictech.de/modules/newbb/viewforum.php?forum=3)

-{ Quote: "Description:
This program is an editor for shell objects. You can create new shell objects and delete them when you don't need or want them any longer. For safety reasons, it is not possible to delete shell objects that were not created with this editor by default. You have to switch to "expert mode" to delete other shell objects.

What is a shell object?
The "My Documents" folder is a shell object. It is a special shell object, a shell folder. Shell folders are not real folders on your hard disk, they only refer to real folders. They are a kind of "hard links", a special type of shortcuts.

Ok, you can use shortcuts to hard disks or you can use shortcuts to directories on your desktop to access places on your hard disk you often need to access. But you can't browse them that easy, shell folders are much easier to use.

The screenshot shows some shell folders on a german language Windows XP system. You can browse through their subdirectories on the left side of the view, or you can doubleclick on the right side. They behave in the exact same way as the "My Documents" folder (which, as you can see, is called "Eigene Dateien" in german). With the shell object editor, you can create as many of those shell folders as you want, although we recommend only choosing the folders you use most.

But there are more shell objects. The Internet Explorer, that resides on your desktop by default, is a shell object, too. It is not a shortcut because it has not the typical shortcut arrow. The Internet Explorer is a deleteable shell object, but you can create shell objects that are impossible to delete. This may sound like nonsense to you, but it is useful in some rare cases and such objects can be created with this editor.

History
Version 3.0 allows you to change nearly every aspect of your shell objects. You can also copy and move objects (e.g. from the desktop to the network neighborhood) and you can hide them without deleting. The main dialog is resizable now so you can manage a large number of objects if you need to.

Version 2.0 added functionality to rename existing shell objects and to change their icon and comment.
" }-

you also need to determine what all your applications are doing with data as well, many will want to write to %systemroot% (C):\Program Files\their directory some of what gets written you probably want to allow and backup with your OS restore (small logs, operation parameters) but they also sometimes want to store data, generally you can point those to dedicated directories on your data partition\drive

another useful trick in the event you can't redirect programs that want to write data to their install directory is to redirect it yourself by mounting an NTFS volume as a folder (the application subdirectory they are trying to write to)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307889
(more accurately mount a directory on a different partition\drive, as a folder in the %systemroot% partition\directory\subdirectory, or any other partition for that matter, kind of a DIY JBOD (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/raid/levels/jbod.htm))

speaking of logs, if your running a very tight OS + programs partition, you really do need to be on top of log creep, ideally having them overwrite at a certain size or making sure to manually review and delete them

as far as complication goes, you do need to keep track of your drive mapping and shell object topology
however, your imaged "restore" is already pointing to those locations. If you start adding drives though and the drive letter assignment dynamically change your in trouble, so you need to understand how that works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_letter_assignment and take control of manual assignments
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307844

you can "force" your data partitions far down the letter assignments (say drive\partitions K L M N) leaving plenty of room for "dynamic" assignments from flash drives, USB externals, virtual drives, extra "temporary" internals, intermittently mapped arrays ect. that might drop in and out and displace the shell object NTFS mounted folders letter pointers.

however in the event it all goes nose down in the kitty litter (the original OS and the restore), you better have notes to where all that data is located, so you can do a fresh reinstall and point it to the data again (better safe than sorry, as unlikely as loosing both is)

You will need to experiment and likely break some stuff before you settle on what works for you
keep in mind while your doing this, the advantages to be gained by concurrent read\writes.
Meaning both which channel (IDE is sequential (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT_Attachment) for 2 devices on the same channel while each device on SATA is its own channel) as well as Zone Bit Recording (http://www.lostcircuits.com/hdd/hdd2/) when formulating a partitioning strategy (http://partition.radified.com/) for your particular physical configuration of drives and application use pattern.

The objective is to try to determine where the "average" position of a given HDD's arm with be "most" of the time. Containing data within a partition limits the amount of arc the arm must move on a seek, getting you better access time. Some stuff is rarely if ever accessed, other stuff like P2P files concurrent downloads are constantly being written, but as a huge fragmented mess that you want to relocate as a contiguous file after they are done, ect.

There are advantages to simplicity, but the lowest common denominator is never the optimum solution. Advanced storage strategies and performance tuning presupposes a certain amount of familiarity as well as how to get yourself out of a sticky wicket :P Pilot error being the primary cause of data loss.

Good Luck ;)

[spider_darth]

actually.. is it really necessary to transfer the whole 'docs and settings' folder over to another partition? what's the advantage of doing so?

i mean, if i were to move my data, music, photos, videos and favorites over to another partition, is it sufficient? what will i lose if i were to re-format the partition with 'docs and settings' folder when i've already transferred out all my data, music, photos, videos and favorites? in other words, what exactly is in 'docs and settings' which is valuable to me and that i must retain? will my programs cease to function when the remaining files in 'docs and settings' is lost?

please advise.

[Nick Rhodes]

Nowadays there is no real need to use seperate partitions from a reliability point of view. The main reason I still do it is for performance, but I my home/doc and settings folder to a seperate physical drive.
It is easy to restore my OS if it dies. It made thinngs very simple when I changed to Linux.
I think it stems back to pre Windows NT era for me, which Win 9x was flakey and so was the file system, seperating the data into a different partition improved reliability. There was also issues with dos (and early versions of Linux) - the boot partition had to be contained within the first 1024 cylinder.

[ErikAlbert]

-{ Quote: "actually.. is it really necessary to transfer the whole 'docs and settings' folder over to another partition? what's the advantage of doing so?
" }-
You don't have to do this, it's just a personal decision.
After all most users have only one harddisk, one partition C with everything on it.

My folder "Documents and Settings" is still on my system partition with all its subfolders, but I don't use it, it's empty.

I created my own folders on a second harddisk and I store all my personal data there.
Whatever happens to my system partition, it won't affect my data partition.
So I can do what I want on my system partition without losing any data and that gives me a very reassuring feeling.
I don't care about my system partition, but I do care about my data partition, that's my hard work.

It also simplifies my backup/restore : system partition or data partition or both and I need only one backup software.

[charincol]

-{ Quote: "actually.. is it really necessary to transfer the whole 'docs and settings' folder over to another partition? what's the advantage of doing so?

i mean, if i were to move my data, music, photos, videos and favorites over to another partition, is it sufficient? what will i lose if i were to re-format the partition with 'docs and settings' folder when i've already transferred out all my data, music, photos, videos and favorites? in other words, what exactly is in 'docs and settings' which is valuable to me and that i must retain? will my programs cease to function when the remaining files in 'docs and settings' is lost?

please advise." }-
The only advantage is redirecting the My Documents folder that is inside you account folder.

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\My Documents

The My Documents folder in my account is empty. Windows and every program that gets installed puts anything that would normally go to the above folder by default, into F:\Documents where it's safe if Windows decides to blow it's bowels.

[cthorpe]

One possible reason to put Documents and Settings on another partition:

If you use a program like FDISR, and want to have the same program installed in more than one snapshot and have it retain program settings from snapshot to snapshot. Of course, this could also defeat the safety factor of FDISR because negative changes, corruptions, etc would be retained across snapshots.

I personally use a frozen snapshot and look for ways to have a handful of specific programs save configurations over to another partition if I am confident that they are safe and aren't likely to corrupt anything rather than retaining the whole thing. Some examples are Opera profiles, Firefox profiles, and FlashFXP sites. I also move the "My Documents" part of Documents and Settings over to a second partition as well.

As for how to move it all if you really want to, there is a registry tweak that will take care of it for you [urlhttp://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=609389&postcount=8[/url]. As ErikAlbert stated, nlite can do it for you, but really all it is doing is making that registry tweak for you. You can also do it with NTFS redirects (which can essentially move anything and everything off your primary if you wanted to with that), but I tend to get chastised any time I go into details about that.

[spider_darth]

actually.. what i want to know is can i just move the my documents and my favourites part of documents and settings into another partition and leave the remaining documents and settings in the default C Drive?

will anything be lost if i were to reformat my C Drive?

[cthorpe]

To move your documents, right click on My Documents (either on your desktop, or in your start menu) and select Properties. Tell it where you want to move it to. I believe it will even offer to copy or move the contents for you.

As for Favorites... I'm not sure. I don't use IE, so all my bookmarks are in a different location.

Carl

[ErikAlbert]

If you use Firefox and Thunderbird, you can move their folder "profiles" to your data partition. How to do this is described on one of Mozilla's websites.
After that all your bookmarks, emails, email-address-books, ... are stored on your data partition.
I don't know if this is possible for all browsers, like MSIE and Opera or all email-programs.

[charincol]

See here (http://www.md4pc.com/questions/20.htm) for moving IE's favorites folder.

[spider_darth]

what i want to know is what's important in documents and settings? if i transfer my documents and my favourites over to my data partition, is it enough?

do i still have to transfer other files and folders such as application data, local settings, ntuser and usb001 too? i've no idea what these folders and files are used for. if there are deleted, will all my settings be deleted do?

[ErikAlbert]

-{ Quote: "
do i still have to transfer other files and folders such as application data, local settings, ntuser and usb001 too? i've no idea what these folders and files are used for. if there are deleted, will all my settings be deleted do?" }-
No, you don't have to touch these folders.
I separated my data since March 2006. I'm still on-line.

[charincol]

-{ Quote: "what i want to know is what's important in documents and settings? if i transfer my documents and my favourites over to my data partition, is it enough?" }-
It sounds like you might be confusing My Documents with Documents and Settings.

The Documents and Settings folder contains a folder for each account in Windows. Inside each account folder (Administrator, Darrin, Sarah, Kids, etc.) is a separate My Documents folder. By default, Windows tells programs to save your documents in the My Documents folder of your account folder. If you move only the My Documents folder from your account folder to drive D then you can reimage or reinstall Windows to drive C and everything that's in your My Documents folder will stay there.

However, if you move the whole Documents and Settings folder to drive D and reimage or reinstall Windows to drive C then you will be leaving behind a bunch of unnecessary junk in that folder. For example, Nero Burning Rom, when installed, creates a bunch of folders and files in your account folder. If your Documents and Settings is on drive D then those folders get written to drive D. If you then go back to an image before installing Nero, or reinstall Windows, you've still got all those folders and files (from Nero) on drive D.

If you had left Documents and Settings on drive C (and only moved the My Documents folder from your account folder to drive D), then reimaged to a pre-Nero state, then those Nero-created folders and files are gone.

-{ Quote: " do i still have to transfer other files and folders such as application data, local settings, ntuser and usb001 too? i've no idea what these folders and files are used for. if there are deleted, will all my settings be deleted do?" }-
Why would you delete them if they contain settings? The files and folders in Documents and Settings and your account folder are used for important things that pertain to the OS and installed apps. Deleting them can make some programs or parts of Windows not work or make you have to reconfigure things. When I turned Jetico 1.0 into a service, the config file was no longer contained in my account folder but got moved to the NetworkUser folder. Running eMule as an unpriveledged user creates a new eMuleUser account folder that has limited priveledges. I would rather these other folders remain on drive C and therefore consistent with the current state of the OS and installed apps. Documents, pictures, mp3s, and videos (which by default reside in My Documents) DO NOT need to stay consistent with the OS and therefore it's a good idea to at least put these on separate partition if you only have 1 hard drive.

[ErikAlbert]

spider_darth,
Another reason to move your data to another parition is this :

Suppose something terrible happens on your system partition, so bad that you have to restore an image, because you can't get to Windows anymore.

If your data isn't moved and still on your system partition [C:], you will lose all the changes in your data files of today and maybe more if you don't backup every day, because you have to restore an image of yesterday or even older.

If your data is moved to your data partition [D:], you won't lose anything, because all changes in your data files of today are stored on your data partition [D:]

The best thing is to move your data not only to another partition, but also to another physical harddisk, which is safer if your harddisk of your system partition crashes.

You can also choose which partition needs a backup, which is also an advantage. Data partition needs more backup than system partition.

[spider_darth]

-{ Quote: "spider_darth,
Another reason to move your data to another parition is this :

Suppose something terrible happens on your system partition, so bad that you have to restore an image, because you can't get to Windows anymore.

If your data isn't moved and still on your system partition [C:], you will lose all the changes in your data files of today and maybe more if you don't backup every day, because you have to restore an image of yesterday or even older.

If your data is moved to your data partition [D:], you won't lose anything, because all changes in your data files of today are stored on your data partition [D:]

The best thing is to move your data not only to another partition, but also to another physical harddisk, which is safer if your harddisk of your system partition crashes.

You can also choose which partition needs a backup, which is also an advantage. Data partition needs more backup than system partition." }-

in fact, i've understood the importance of separating my data files from my system files.

my dilemma now remains at whether i should shift the whole 'Documents and Settings' over to another partition or just shift the 'My Documents' of each user account onto the separate partition.

[spider_darth]

-{ Quote: "Why would you delete them if they contain settings? The files and folders in Documents and Settings and your account folder are used for important things that pertain to the OS and installed apps. Deleting them can make some programs or parts of Windows not work or make you have to reconfigure things. When I turned Jetico 1.0 into a service, the config file was no longer contained in my account folder but got moved to the NetworkUser folder. Running eMule as an unpriveledged user creates a new eMuleUser account folder that has limited priveledges. I would rather these other folders remain on drive C and therefore consistent with the current state of the OS and installed apps. Documents, pictures, mp3s, and videos (which by default reside in My Documents) DO NOT need to stay consistent with the OS and therefore it's a good idea to at least put these on separate partition if you only have 1 hard drive." }-

the reason why i'm thinking of deleting them is because my C Drive (20GB) is running out of space. There's only about 1 GB of free space left. And, the 'documents and settings' folder takes up to 3GB of space.

However, I'm really puzzled by what is actually in my C Drive. Cuz my program files only has 5GB, so where did the remaining 10GB or so went? There's a lot of files in my C Drive which i have no idea whether it's safe to delete.

And, can someone tell me which is the file which contains the OS? Or, is the OS never seen?

[kennyboy]

Having just spent some time modifying (with nLite) and testing a Windows install with the Documents and Settings folder on another partition, I found that although this didnt seem to cause much in the way of problems with software, it certainly did cause problems when installing some hardware.
In the end, I concluded that the aggravation and instability caused just wasnt worth the benefits. This was on a clean snapshot in FDR, and no other reason could I find for the problems.

[ErikAlbert]

-{ Quote: "Having just spent some time modifying (with nLite) and testing a Windows install with the Documents and Settings folder on another partition, I found that although this didnt seem to cause much in the way of problems with software, it certainly did cause problems when installing some hardware." }-
What has new hardware to do with "Documents and Settings" ? That doesn't sound very logical.
OK it doesn't matter. For now, I keep my separation as it is and I didn't move any Windows folder from [C:] to [D:], not even "My Documents", just a Firefox and Thunderbird folder.

[kennyboy]

-{ Quote: "What has new hardware to do with "Documents and Settings" ? That doesn't sound very logical.
" }-

Not being a comp expert as others here, I have no idea why moving the Folder affected the hardware.........but undoubtedly it did. No other explanation.
I just reported the results. I do not have the answers.

[Ice_Czar]

and not providing enough info to sort out what was really the issue I guess we'll let you keep thinking that :P


(hardware is hardware, its either working or it isnt, if its acting funny its either degraded or its a software issue BIOS-Firnware\kernel\driver\application, but if you change the software and it gets better (location of a file) its not hardware)

[kennyboy]

-{ Quote: " but if you change the software and it gets better (location of a file) its not hardware)" }-

Never said it was. READ the post!

[tlu]

-{ Quote: "
But.. may I know how to move the my docs folder to default to D Drive instead of the usual C Drive? I know that by right clicking on my docs and lick in properties, you can change the target folder. However, here, I'm only moving the my docs folder.. is there anyway to move the whole 'Documents and Settings' of all users to default to D Drive? so.. favorites and everything will also be moved too." }-

One solution is described in this (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=130377) thread especially in posts #23, 25 and 37..

[Ice_Czar]

-{ Quote: "it certainly did cause problems when installing some hardware." }--{ Quote: "Not being a comp expert as others here, I have no idea why moving the Folder affected the hardware.........but undoubtedly it did. " }-

from the above you blame the relocation of a directory for a hardware issue

-{ Quote: "In the end, I concluded that the aggravation and instability caused just wasnt worth the benefits. " }-

here you state keeping the directory in the default location does not induce the issue

ergo there is no hardware issue, and never was a hardware issue
there is a software recognition of hardware issue

you also fail to describe exactly what was the issue and what hardware was affected, or how, simply implying "instability". Much less the OS or steps you took that caused the issue so that the membership might spot what went astray.

You have either rushed to judgment, of are having difficulties with the finer definitions of what is hardware and what is software. In either event your pronouncement is at best inaccurate and at worse false.

Troubleshooting is all about culling the suspects down to the real issue starting with the most probable or easiest to test, rushing to judgment without exhausting the potential culprits and assigning blame where it has in fact not been proven is a disservice to all that follow. That there was an issue I don't doubt, but throwing up your hands and inaccurately assigning blame (or in this case consequences) doesnt help you or anyone else. ;)

if this seems a little nitpicky consider that far more people read threads then post in them, many employing them as an educational tool, this process of separation of OS from data space is an increasingly attractive one for the same reasons you likely tried it (security compartmentalization\backup\recovery\ect) But that even the impression that hardware can be damaged is a chilling effect.

[kennyboy]

@IC. Thankyou for your input.

Maybe it would have been more helpful if I had added the caveat that this was my experience on "My System" I certainly did not mean to mislead anyone else who might be reading this thread. I do realise that it was a software recognition problem, and I never said it was a Hardware problem. Just that the hardware was "affected" but that doesnt make it any less real in terms of MY system.

@tlu

Thanks for the great link. Will certainly take some time to digest this.

[Ice_Czar]

thats the thing about language, especially when its divorced from any other nonverbal cues, what you mean and think may not translate into a definitive context, it can slip into a grey area where it can get interpreted into a totally unexpected direction. Play around on forums enough and you start to change how you write ;)
(with lots of ass covering caveats too :P )

While I was tracking what you where getting at, spelling it out can be an educational exercise that hopefully benefits everyone.

a good overview of the many levels where things can go wrong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_(computer_science)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_driver
http://i11.tinypic.com/4dhbcjc.png

deductively its likely the issue is in the top level, and having played with nLite and XPlite, its not that hard to bust an OS without an intimate knowledge of various dependencies. A few tools that might be helpful.

http://wiki.djlizard.net/Dial-a-fix
http://www.dependencywalker.com/

the real trick it to spot exactly which step is breaking the install ;)