Move MY DOCUMENTS to secondary hard drive

[Guest]

Hello, I am running Windows XP (sp2), and all my software is installed on my
80GB c: drive of course. I also have a d: drive, which is another 80GB hard
drive. I want to move all my documents into the empty d: drive, and use the
c: drive for programs only. I've tried moving MY DOCUMENTS to the other hard
drive, and all it does is put a shortcut there. Is there any way this can be
done?

Thanks!
Donna

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

Donna,

Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310147

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


Hello, I am running Windows XP (sp2), and all my software is installed on my
80GB c: drive of course. I also have a d: drive, which is another 80GB hard
drive. I want to move all my documents into the empty d: drive, and use the
c: drive for programs only. I've tried moving MY DOCUMENTS to the other hard
drive, and all it does is put a shortcut there. Is there any way this can be
done?

Thanks!
Donna

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

Donna,

Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310147

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


Hello, I am running Windows XP (sp2), and all my software is installed on my
80GB c: drive of course. I also have a d: drive, which is another 80GB hard
drive. I want to move all my documents into the empty d: drive, and use the
c: drive for programs only. I've tried moving MY DOCUMENTS to the other hard
drive, and all it does is put a shortcut there. Is there any way this can be
done?

Thanks!
Donna

 

[Kevin]

Right click the My Documents folder in either My Computer or Windows
Explorer. Choose Properties and click the MOVE button. This will enable
you to move the My Documents folder, or any other folder, to the location of
your choice.

 

[Jerry]

I tried that - right clicking the folder DID NOT offer move as an option
either in Explorer or My Computer.

 

[Ron Bogart]

In

I tried that - right clicking the folder DID NOT offer move as an
option either in Explorer or My Computer.

Right click on My Documents - choose Properties - click on MOVE - navigate
to where you wish the My Documents folder to be - click on Apply - Click on
OK

 

[Richard Urban]

Right click - then properties, as Kevin has said. You can't read?

--

Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[viclavaly]

I just did a test to move as Kevin said and every thing work well and moved
to another drive "E" I used to do that every week manually just in case
something go wrong with C drive , Thanks Kevin

 

[Alex Nichol]

Hello, I am running Windows XP (sp2), and all my software is installed on my
80GB c: drive of course. I also have a d: drive, which is another 80GB hard
drive. I want to move all my documents into the empty d: drive, and use the
c: drive for programs only. I've tried moving MY DOCUMENTS to the other hard
drive, and all it does is put a shortcut there. Is there any way this can be
done?

Do it by opening a My Computer window on
C:\Documents and settings\yourname\
to show it, another on the destination, then *right* drag it across,
taking *move* here. that will move the files, and update the logical
pointer in the registry

 

[PhotoDan]

80gb for applications only? Whoosh! That's a lot of applications!? Won't
there be 50gb or 60gb of hard drive space on c: just sitting around and
being wasted?

I use two 80gb drives and the c: drive has all of my applications, my page
file, a ton of data files, nearly 40gb of tif & jpg images and there's still
nearly 25gb of free space. In fact, I back up the data and photos to the d:
drive (along with synchronizing the jpgs with my notebook's drive) and that
drive has over 25gb of free space.

JMHO, Photodan

 

[Guest]

Thanks - that worked!

 

[Guest]

Sounds like you know what you're doing! I, on the other hand, am a hacker,
making it up as I go along. It seemed like a good idea to me.... i figured,
if I somehow got a virus on my c: drive, my data would be safe. Maybe that's
not even true! In any event, I had the 2 hard drives, so its either one is a
complete waste of space, or i can partially use both.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Ramesh [MVP]]

YW Donna.

--
Ramesh, Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://windowsxp.mvps.org


Thanks - that worked!

 

[Mike Fox]

I have two hard drives in removable trays and use Norton's Ghost to
'clone' C: to D: once a month. Then I put D: on the shelf and put
another D: in the slot. If C: dies, just slide the clone in and away
you go. It's almost that simple.

Mike

 

[J. S. Pack]

Sounds like you know what you're doing! I, on the other hand, am a hacker,
making it up as I go along. It seemed like a good idea to me.... i figured,
if I somehow got a virus on my c: drive, my data would be safe. Maybe that's
not even true! In any event, I had the 2 hard drives, so its either one is a
complete waste of space, or i can partially use both.

Thanks for your input!

PhotoDan has it exactly right. Don't move stuff off your C: drive if you
have a D:. Use the D: (and CDs) for backing up your C:. You might also keep
video files etc. on D: that you may not wish to backup.

Under normal circumstances, as PhotoDan implies, you also don't need any
extra partitions, which lead to needless complications and an illusion of
safety and organization.

This isn't a thread about backup strategies, but if I were you I would, at
minimum, sometimes (when major changes have occurred that you don't want to
have to repeat) make an image of your entire hard drive (using Acronis True
Image, Norton Ghost, etc. (there is a freeware imager, forgot the name) and
make a daily backup of your My Documents, or of your Documents and
Settings/User folder. I would also HIGHLY recommend using ERUNT to backup
your registry before and after major changes, or regularly (say, once a
week). Get ERUNT here:

http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have two hard drives in removable trays and use Norton's Ghost to
'clone' C: to D: once a month. Then I put D: on the shelf and put
another D: in the slot. If C: dies, just slide the clone in and away
you go. It's almost that simple.

And then you would have lost up to a month's changes in My Documents.
It is better to have that separated from the system, then you can
restore such a clone and lose nothing. Though of course you should have
proper separate backup arrangements for essential files

 

[Art]

And then you would have lost up to a month's changes in My Documents.
It is better to have that separated from the system, then you can
restore such a clone and lose nothing. Though of course you should have
proper separate backup arrangements for essential files

With today's relatively high-speed hard drives and modern disk imaging
programs such as Symantec's Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image programs,
there is little reason not to frequently clone one's working hard drive to
another drive for a near fail-safe backup system. The speed, simplicity, and
effectiveness of the cloning operation encourages one to perform the cloning
operation if not on a daily basis, certainly on a once-a-week or greater
frequency. Obviously this will depend upon how valuable the user considers
his or her programs and data. To my mind, the OP's system of equipping his
desktop computer with two removable hard drives and coupling this hardware
configuration with the cloning operation is a near-ideal arrangement for
many, if not most computer users. The flexibility and peace of mind this
arrangement affords the typical user cannot be overestimated.

If you need evidence of the value of equipping one's desktop computer with
two removable hard drives, just peruse this newsgroup (and related ones) for
a day or so. How many postings do we come across each day, nay, each hour,
where a user recounts the awful experience he or she has had after
installing (or trying to install) SP2? "I just installed SP2 and now my
computer won't boot", or "After I installed SP2 I can't access my XYZ
program", or, "I tried to install SP2 and now all I get is a black screen!".
Or what about these plaintive pleas for help."I just formatted my hard
drive by mistake", or, "A virus trashed my machine. What should I do?", or,
"After I moved my pagefile. (well, you know the rest of that one!), or, "My
hard drive just failed. It's completely dead; now what do I do?". The list
goes on and on. In all of these cases and similar ones, the hours of
frustration awaiting the users could be avoided by equipping their desktop
computers with two removable hard drives. Since one of the drives will be a
clone of the other, should any problem befall the working hard drive, the
user will always have a fresh, clean drive to fall back on and then be able
to easily clone that good drive back to the defective one (assuming it's
mechanically and electronically sound, of course). With two removable hard
drives you have the freedom to install any or all programs or configure your
drive this way or that way, secure in the knowledge that if anything goes
awry, you have your clone to rescue you. Until you work with two removable
hard drives in your desktop machine, it's hard to imagine the enormous peace
of mind and flexibility this arrangement yields.

Art

 

[Mike Fox]

Just my programs are on C: drive. All my data is on a RAID mirrored
G: drive.

Mike

 

[Art]

Mike Fox wrote:

I have two hard drives in removable trays and use Norton's Ghost to
'clone' C: to D: once a month. Then I put D: on the shelf and put
another D: in the slot. If C: dies, just slide the clone in and away
you go. It's almost that simple.

And then you would have lost up to a month's changes in My Documents.
It is better to have that separated from the system, then you can
restore such a clone and lose nothing. Though of course you should have
proper separate backup arrangements for essential files

With today's relatively high-speed hard drives and modern disk imaging
programs such as Symantec's Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image programs,
there is little reason not to frequently clone one's working hard drive to
and
effectiveness of the cloning operation encourages one to perform the
cloning
operation if not on a daily basis, certainly on a once-a-week or greater
frequency. Obviously this will depend upon how valuable the user considers
his or her programs and data. To my mind, the OP's system of equipping his
desktop computer with two removable hard drives and coupling this hardware
many, if not most computer users. The flexibility and peace of mind this
arrangement affords the typical user cannot be overestimated.

If you need evidence of the value of equipping one's desktop computer with
two removable hard drives, just peruse this newsgroup (and related ones)
for
a day or so. How many postings do we come across each day, nay, each hour,
where a user recounts the awful experience he or she has had after
installing (or trying to install) SP2? "I just installed SP2 and now my
computer won't boot", or "After I installed SP2 I can't access my XYZ
program", or, "I tried to install SP2 and now all I get is a black
screen!".
Or what about these plaintive pleas for help."I just formatted my hard
drive by mistake", or, "A virus trashed my machine. What should I do?",
or,
"After I moved my pagefile. (well, you know the rest of that one!), or,
"My
hard drive just failed. It's completely dead; now what do I do?". The list
goes on and on. In all of these cases and similar ones, the hours of
frustration awaiting the users could be avoided by equipping their desktop
computers with two removable hard drives. Since one of the drives will be
a
clone of the other, should any problem befall the working hard drive, the
user will always have a fresh, clean drive to fall back on and then be
able
to easily clone that good drive back to the defective one (assuming it's
mechanically and electronically sound, of course). With two removable hard
drives you have the freedom to install any or all programs or configure
your
drive this way or that way, secure in the knowledge that if anything goes
awry, you have your clone to rescue you. Until you work with two removable
hard drives in your desktop machine, it's hard to imagine the enormous
peace
of mind and flexibility this arrangement yields.

Art

Just my programs are on C: drive. All my data is on a RAID mirrored
G: drive.

Mike

Mike:
Is this suits your needs, then fine. But consider the advantages of having a
cloned drive of your working drive that contains *all* the programs and data
on your working drive. Can you have a more complete backup system than this?
There's no need to separate programs and data on different drives. And
unlike a RAID setup there are other major advantages to having removable
drives. The second drive containing the clone is electrically and physically
disconnected from the system when you're working with your day-to-day drive.
A simple turn of the key lock and a pull of the handle of the mobile rack
that houses the second cloned drive effectively removes it from the system.
So that in the event of any electrical surges affecting the system, the
second cloned drive is immune from any harm (unlike any internal drives in
the system). An additional advantage is that the cloned drive resides in a
removable tray that can be easily transported off the premises for
additional safety should the user desire this added security measure. And
when the time comes for connecting the second drive for purposes of
cloning -- again it's a simple matter of shoving in the removable tray
containing the drive into its mobile rack and turning the key lock to the
"ON" position. No more difficult than closing a desk drawer. And all from
the comfort of your computer chair.
Art

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the good information people! I rely on folks like you to steer
me in the right direction! I took your advice and moved MY DOCUMENTS back to
C, and am using D as a backup drive.

DOnna