Moving Program Files and Program Data

[Guest]

I am going to repartition my C: drive and want to move my program files to a
new location. I know all about the path-related headache that this will
cause but want to know what problems may arise with Vista Home Premium. I
notice that it will not let me move the Program Files and Program Data
folders to a new partition. Can someone please give me advice/information on
this?

 

[Ken Blake]

I am going to repartition my C: drive and want to move my program
files to a new location. I know all about the path-related headache
that this will cause but want to know what problems may arise with
Vista Home Premium.

It's got nothing to do with Vista Home Premium. It's the same with every
version of Windows since Windows 95. The problems that *will* (not may)
arise is that the programs will no longer run (except perhaps for a very
occasional small self-contained program).

There is software that purports to address this issue and fix the problems
(such as COA2.exe), but my experience with these has been that they miss
many things that need fixing.

 

[Guest]

Thank you, Ken. Yes, I know that I will probably have to uninstall and then
reinstall everything (I have been there many times before - since Windows 3.0
was it? I have upgraded my Windows OS at least four times as each new
version appears - and was using MS DOS before that.) My question was
stimulated more by the Program Data folder that is unique to Vista? I do not
remember that before although it may have had another name.

The problem is that I use Acronis True Image to back up every night but the
image is getting too big. I need to separate out the program files, which I
do not need to back up, from the boot information and the data files (the
latter are on another drive). The 'obvious' thing to do is to split my 300GB
SATA c: drive into two partitions.

Thank you again for your comments.

 

[Guest]

i'm not sure you'll benefit as much as you expect - i read you backup each
night but it's normal practice to backup personal 'data' (which could get
lost forever) and not the system/programs (which can always be
reinstalled) - i personally have C: for system files & programs & D: for
data and since upgrading to Vista I have had to relocate all users (data
folders) from C: to D:

i think it's reasonable to make a ghost back of the system at certain points
so it would be easier to reinstall - but every night?

 

[Guest]

Jethro,

There are several issues here. As for the system files, I can assure you
that the ability to replace a messed up set of system files and the registry
with a functioning version can be very useful. One can certainly use a
rescue boot disk but it is rarely up to date. Without an up- to-date
registry one is asking for trouble. As for the every night part of it, this
is obviously a personal decision. As a tinkerer who can be guaranteed to
screw up his system now and then and who is a heavy user, the question
becomes just how many days of data one is prepared to lose, be it important
email correspondence, financial data, or edited videos (a very time-consuming
thing to re-do)? Given the large size of drives that one can buy these days
for a reasonable price and the software that automates the backup, it is a
no-brainer to do it every night in my case. I am thinking of buying a 1TB
drive for backup. Each to his own! I should add that I also continuously
back up designated folders to a web service. This program has saved my bacon
more than once. â™ As we used to say in the UK it is the belt and braces
approach. Here that would be belt and suspenders. By the way, my
Program Files folder has 5.12 GB in it at the moment. It would be nice not
to be backing that up as those programs can always be reinstalled.

 

[Ken Blake]

Thank you, Ken.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

Yes, I know that I will probably have to uninstall and then
reinstall everything (I have been there many times before - since Windows
3.0
was it? I have upgraded my Windows OS at least four times as each new
version appears - and was using MS DOS before that.) My question was
stimulated more by the Program Data folder that is unique to Vista? I do
not
remember that before although it may have had another name.

The problem is that I use Acronis True Image to back up every night but
the
image is getting too big. I need to separate out the program files, which
I
do not need to back up, from the boot information and the data files (the
latter are on another drive). The 'obvious' thing to do is to split my
300GB
SATA c: drive into two partitions.

Let's say you make an image of the drive with Windows and data, but without
installed programs. and your drive fails. You buy a new drive, then restore
that image to it. The registry is not out of synch with the rest of your
drive because all the programs are missing.

If you then reinstall all the programs, you will probably get the registry
largely in synch again, but I wouldn't expect this process to be perfect,
and I would expect problems as a result.

In another message in the thread you say you are planning on buying a 1TB
drive for backup. I think that's a much better plan, and would permit you to
image everything.

 

[Ken Blake]

i'm not sure you'll benefit as much as you expect - i read you backup each
night but it's normal practice to backup personal 'data' (which could get
lost forever) and not the system/programs (which can always be
reinstalled)

As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as "normal practice" here.
Both practices--backing up data only, and imaging the entire drive--are
common, and what's works best for one person may not be best for the next.

For example, many people have invested siubstantial time and effort in
customizing Windows and their applications to work the way they are most
comfortable with.Yes, if you just backup data, you can always reinstall the
operating system and the applications, but it can take substalial time and
effort to reset all those customiaztions back the way they were. For such
people, an image is a much better choice than a data-only backup.

- i personally have C: for system files & programs & D: for data and since
upgrading to Vista I have had to relocate all users (data folders) from C:
to D:

i think it's reasonable to make a ghost back of the system at certain
points so it would be easier to reinstall - but every night?

Here too, how often to do any kind of backup, whether just data or an image,
depends on the individual, his personal preferences, what his work habits
are, what on his computer changes, how often, and how much. I know some
indiduals who don't turn on their computers more often than once every two
weeks; such a person clearly doesn't need daily backup of any kind. Other's
computers are much more volatile.

 

[Ken Blake]

You're welcome. Glad to help.




Let's say you make an image of the drive with Windows and data, but
without installed programs. and your drive fails. You buy a new drive,
then restore that image to it. The registry is not

Sorry, typo. That word last should be "now."

 

[Guest]

Ken,

This dialog has helped me think things through and reminded me of past
events. Unmentioned so far is the situation with previous versions of
Windows in which registry bloat occurred as a result of the various
installations and uninstallations of programs as well as other maneuvers.
Although some of the registry cleaners were of help, from time to time a
reinstall of Windows and ones programs seemed to be the only way. Often this
was done at the time of buying a new drive and of course would take a long
time in a complex setup. From my experience to date with Vista this creates
a real revalidation headache. Can y ou tell me how they are going to handle
that, Ken, with Vista's new precautions in support of "one computer one
license?"

By the way, thanks for strengthening my excuse to buy the 1TB drive.

 

[Ken Blake]

Ken,

This dialog has helped me think things through and reminded me of past
events. Unmentioned so far is the situation with previous versions of
Windows in which registry bloat occurred as a result of the various
installations and uninstallations of programs as well as other maneuvers.

In my view, what you call "registry bloat" is of no consequence whatever.
Other than using a tiny amount more disk space, there is no disadvantage to
a bigger registry. It has no performance impact at all.

Although some of the registry cleaners were of help,

Expect for very specialized uses by knowledgable users, I am very much
against the use of registry cleaners. These purport to remove unused
entries, but the problem is that they often misidentify something as being
unused when it isn't. Sometimes such an error is easy to recover from, other
times it's not. Worst case, a registry cleaner can render your system
unbootable.

Although they clearly don't always cause problems, they are always a bad
risk. You are trading their doing things with no perceivable benfit for the
risk of an unbootable system. It's a bad bet.

from time to time a
reinstall of Windows and ones programs seemed to be the only way. Often
this
was done at the time of buying a new drive and of course would take a long
time in a complex setup.

And entirely unnecssary, if done just to reduce the size of the registry.

From my experience to date with Vista this creates
a real revalidation headache. Can y ou tell me how they are going to
handle
that, Ken, with Vista's new precautions in support of "one computer one
license?"

If you are asking me to tell you what Microsoft's plans are, sorry, I'm not
privy to those plans.

By the way, thanks for strengthening my excuse to buy the 1TB drive.

You're welcome.