Relocating User Files in Windows 7

[CWBillow]

I see that I can locate the Roaming, Local, and LocalLow folders, hopefully to another drive. But are there issues with doing so? Will "all" my programs still work? I know that that question relies on good programming of the individual programs, but, assuming that, is Windows 7 set up to in effect move all the personal files to another drive?

Many programs -- including Outlook 2010 -- store pieces in folders other than the Documents folder, and in the Roaming folder(s), so backing up just the Documents folder is inadequate.

Is moving all the personal folders to another drive possible and/or practical?

Chuck

[RetiredGeek]

Chuck,

IMHO, it's easy to move Documents. That said, it is rather technical to move the other "personal" folders. Some experts slice & dice the system to fit their every whim but they really know what they are doing. For the average and slight above average user it probably isn't worth dealing with the vagaries of the OS to accomplish this. What I do is:

• Move Documents to another Partition for ease of backup.
• Move the Outlook .pst file to the Documents\Outlook folder so it gets backed up with the rest of my data.
• Leave the rest alone and take regular Image backups of C: and more frequent ones of G: where I've moved the Documents folder.

YMMV!

BTW: this makes it really easy to copy all my current data to my laptop and back when I go on the road and return.

[CWBillow]

RG, you're probably right, but aren't there settings etc. in the Roaming folder that matter as well? And the outcmd.dat file? And...?

[bbearren]

It is not simple, but it can be done. It is not for the inexperienced. It is advisable to use drive images as your only means of backup, should you go the route.

I have the OS all by itself on a 60GB partition. I have Program Files all by itself on a separate 100GB partition. And I have the Users and ProgramData folders on still another separate partition. The OS partition is on one hard drive, the others are on another drive.

For more information, see Set 7 Free.

[CWBillow]

And I thought *I* was the daring one! Those instructions were / are enough to give one pause! I'll have to read them a couple times!

Thanks,
Chuck

[Medico]

Basically, if you use the approved method of moving folders, all the pointers to those folders will be modified as well. Any folder that shows the Location tab can be moved easily using this method.

[bbearren]

And I thought *I* was the daring one! Those instructions were / are enough to give one pause! I'll have to read them a couple times!

Thanks,
Chuck

It is an extremely stable setup. I've set those pages up so that they will print out cleanly at full page width, if you care to.

[bbearren]

Basically, if you use the approved method of moving folders, all the pointers to those folders will be modified as well. Any folder that shows the Location tab can be moved easily using this method.

I don't care to stay in Microsoft's box. But I've put plenty of warnings in those instructions, including that they must be followed step-by-step, and no steps should be skipped.

That is the most highly visited section of my web site, and many have made those changes. I get the most visitors from "Microsoft Answers".

A few have emailed me from the site for advice, and they have also succeeded. No one who has made the changes has had any stability problems.

[RetiredGeek]

RG, you're probably right, but aren't there settings etc. in the Roaming folder that matter as well? And the outcmd.dat file? And...?

Chuck,

There may well be but with the Image Backups I don't worry about it and I've been using this setup for over 8 years through XP, Vista, and now 7. Works for me YMMV. It was BBearren's method I was referencing but I couldn't remember his handle at the time, bad case of CRS. His instructions are quite detailed and should be easy to follow but I just ain't brave enough. Maybe when I get my next machine I'll set it up initially that way while I still have this one as a production machine...."measure twice, cut once..."

[CWBillow]

I read through those as well, and as brave [or some would say foolish] I am, I'm not sure I'm up to that (yet)!

[CWBillow]

Ted, I think you're right, but all the folders ain't there. Outlook defaults to the PSTs being in Documents, but they didn't "move" all the support stuff as well. If they had all I'd have to back up is Documents.

I can just back up my User profile; I just wish I could set it up as a separate drive [I have it mapped to "P"] and then I could image just that. I haven't found a way to do that to a non-physical drive though.