Moving Favorites to a different drive

When an image of your C: drive is restored you lose all changes made to email files, My Documents and Favorites since the creation of the image. For this reason it would be nice to place these files\folders on a different drive.

In Outlook Express this can be done by going to Tools\Options\Maintenance\StoreFolder and there choosing to move the OE files to a folder on a different drive.

In WinXP you open Windows Explorer and right-click My Documents just below Desktop and above My Computer, and go to Properties\Move.

The problem comes with moving Favorites. There is no procedure equivalent to the procedures for moving OE files or My Documents. Is there some way of changing the pointers for each shortcut in Favorites automatically? In particular how would one change the pointer for Favorites in the right pane here?

 

Hello dld,

Open up two Explorer windows (not IE). One in the Drive/folder where you want the Favorites to be moved to (like D:\) and the other one: C:\Documents and Settings\CURRENTUSER\. CURRENTUSER is whatever your log in user name is.
Now, MOVE the favorites folder (the one that looks like a star) to the other window. You can move the folder by holding down the shift key and drag the folder with the left mouse button. Or you can drag the folder over with the right mouse button and select move here from the menu. Don't just copy it, it has to be moved.
That's it.

 

Hi Devinco... I'm afraid I still don't get it. I followed your suggestions by opening two Windows Explorer windows and I moved my Favorites folder from my C: drive to my slave drive S: . But then the shortcuts in the left pane and Favorites shortcut (with the star) in the right pane don't work.

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/8357/screenshot015es3.jpg

There must be a way of doing this. I'm trying to configure my system as suggested by Dan Goodell here where he says: My system is configured to store email, "My Documents", and "Favorites" on D:. That way, I don't have to worry about overwriting data if/when C: is restored from a backup image.

 

If you moved the Favorites (not just copy then delete the original), in the right pane Favorites should update at once. It doesn't even need a reboot.
If you actually moved the folder, then I don't know why it is not working.
Try moving it back, test the right pane favorites, then move it back to the new drive and test again. It works fine on all the systems I've handled.

The shortcuts in the left pane of the start menu are static. Right click them and select Remove From This List. Then copy the new favorites over to the left pane.

 

Hi dld,

You may want to see how Menorcaman does it. Have a look at his posts #7 and #10 here:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=142783

 

I sent an e-mail to Dan Goodell. I'll wait and see if I get an answer. In any case it would be quite easy for me to Echo my Favorites to my slave drive using SyncToy from PowerToys for WinXP. I could Echo them back to my C: drive after Restore. The really important items are the OE files and My Documents, both of which I know how to move. My Basic is way too rusty to mess around with Menorcaman's method.

 

isnt the My Favorites STAR already stored in your documents.

 

I have a Favorites folder in Documents and Settings, but not in My Documents.

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/3600/screenshot018kg7.jpg

I seem to have lost my Star folder. It does show up on my laptop but not on my desktop.

 

no sp2

 

Both my computers have SP2. I think that Star folder comes and goes for some mysterious reason. One of the quirks of WinXP. Maybe all my attempts at moving the folder is causing the Star to disappear.

 

mine has always been there, the OE tip i wasnt aware of though, so ill be moving/creating a new location, there is another sync toy called Allway sync, i have little exp with it.

 

I emailed Dan Goodell re: Moving Favorites to a different drive. This is the answer I received:

It can be done by editing the registry. (IIRC, there are two places it
needs to be changed--one which says "..Documents and Settings.." and the
other which says "%systemroot%".)

The easiest way, however, is to simply use TweakUI, which you can download
from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

This allows you to change the location of several user shell folders.

In TweakUI, go to My Computer\Special Folders\Change Location

 

tweakui didnt work for me, i was able to move the favorites folder by going to C:\Documents and Settings\User Name, selecting Favorites and in the left side pane selecting move this folder and selecting the new location.

 

Dang it, TweakUI isn't working for me either. But I'll be darned if I'm going to mess around with the registry. Are you sure that the shortcuts pinned to your Start menu are working after having XP "moved" your Favorites to a new drive?

 

Yes, in the right pane of the start menu (the star), the favorites location is updated immediately. The left pane of the start menu shortcuts are static and will need to be manually updated or removed and copied over again.

I don't know why it is not working for you dld.

 

yep! moved them over without a prob, i now have a folder for my OE folders and address book,my favorites and my documents located on E: drive,checked by choosing properties and seeing the location also and looking at the files,now i will backup those files with acronis to another drive and should be bullet proof.

 

Are you guys moving the contents of the Favorites folder to a new Favorites folder located on a slave drive, or are you moving the Star folder including its contents to a slave drive to end up with a new Star folder in the slave.

 

No not moving just the contents. You have to move the whole Star folder with contents.

 

OK, that worked. I got a bit panicky at first because the Star shortcut in the right pane showed empty at first, but then it showed the shortcuts.

I didn't try moving My Documents yet because I don't have room right now on my Slave drive. I've got three images of my system on there. I've got a new drive on order. So that will mean moving Favorites back to their original position and moving them again to their location on the new Slave.

Thanks!

 

having a few HDs are mandatory when you want to be safe, 4 hds as is and i am maxed out, when i upgrade to dual core with the 975 chipset mobo ill have 5 sata and 4 ide ports, i have waited along time to get ati to work correctly and it does now with this lattest build. thanks

 

One last question. You say you have your Address Book on drive e. Where do I find the Address Book file? Is it the .wab file I find in Documents & Settings\Owner\ApplicationData\Microsoft\AddressBook? I see three files there, two of which have ~ appended.

 

yep thats it, made a folder in my documents called adress book and pointed both to that location.