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Thread: Moving User Data To An Other Partition

  1. #1
    Advanced User Renk's Avatar
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    Moving User Data To An Other Partition

    In order to transfert for example the folder C:\Users\<MyUserName>\Documents to D:\<MyData>\Documents, il suffices to go to %USERPROFILE% (in the previous case, C:\Users\<MyUserName>) and there to right click on the Document icon, then left click on Properties, then Location, and write here the desired address D:\<MyData>\Documents.

    The same procedure can be done for the folders Video, Music, Pictures, Downloads etc.

    But what about the particular folder Desktop? After right and left clicking, the tab Location is still here, so the address can be changed as previously. But aren't there any deleterious side effect in doing so?

    Moreover there are other folders in %USERPROFILE%, for exemple AppData (which is normally hidden). Transferring AppData to D:\<MyData> could make sense, as AppData contains for exemple all my (installed) FF profiles (Bookmarks, addons, passwords...).But you will not found any Location tab here, so the previous trick doesn't work.

    A workaround could be to browse the register tothe key HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Shell Folders and there, to perform the desired change concerning AppData address.

    The absence of any Location tab in that case may indicate that Windows doesn't like to be forced to move AppData elsewhere. So I wonder what will happen in doing so. Will the whole Universe explode? Or even worse my system become unstable???
    Last edited by Renk; 31.07.20 at 11:05.
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    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Renk View Post
    But what about the particular folder Desktop? After right and left clicking, the tab Location is still here, so the address can be changed as previously. But aren't there any deleterious side effect in doing so?
    No, since this is the intended way to relocate it. It's possible that a program hardcoded to assume the path is always %userprofile%\Desktop may fail afterwards, but that can be fixed with a symlink (and that's the exact reason we have one for "Documents and Settings" in the root of the system drive). Regarding AppData, itself it holds nothing besides three directories that can also be relocated in the same manner, with the same potential caveat as above.

    As always, you can and probably should test any changes inside a VM or spare computer before making them on your real system
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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    JohnareyouOK's Avatar
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    Better move the entire User folder to drive D using just one mklink command, which includes AppData, Desktop and other user folders created by software eg. OneDrive, and even User folder of Public and other users. This way I've been operating since 7/8 years ago and no side effects have been noticed.
    Last edited by JohnareyouOK; 08.09.20 at 20:15.
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    Renk (16.06.21)

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    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    "Users" has itself several symlinks and junctions inside it, do they keep working after you do this? I suppose you moved it and created the symlink offline using a live CD or similar, but how exactly?

    Also, I saw those deleted screenshots and was going to compliment your good taste on file managers Been using it since version 4.x, it can do pretty much everything. Was also more stable than Explorer back in the Windows 9x era, too.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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    JohnareyouOK (09.09.20)

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    JohnareyouOK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by anon View Post
    "Users" has itself several symlinks and junctions inside it, do they keep working after you do this?
    All works good. eg.
    Code:
    target => source
    C:\Users => D:\Users
    C:\ProgramData\Desktop => C:\Users\Public\Desktop
    C:\Documents and Settings => C:\Users
    C:\Users\XX\Documents\Warcraft III\CustomKeyBindings\CustomKeys.txt => D:\Dropbox\Backup\CustomKeys.txt
    Quote Originally Posted by anon View Post
    I suppose you moved it and created the symlink offline using a live CD or similar, but how exactly?
    Press F8 when booting, enter into "Repair your computer" mode, and choose "Command Prompt" when "System Rec Options" window appears, then execute copy and create link commands here, eg.
    Code:
    robocopy "C:\Users" "D:\Users" /E /COPYALL /XJ
    move Users Users_bak
    mklink /J "C:\Users" "D:\Users"
    Also better dir first to check the drive letters, because sometimes unallocated space before C drive may cause drive letter changes in Repair mode (unallocated space becomes drive C in Repair mode, drive C in Windows becomes drive D in Repair mode. etc.), so the command also needs to be changed accordingly, eg.
    Code:
    robocopy "D:\Users" "E:\Users" /E /COPYALL /XJ
    move Users Users_bak
    mklink /J "D:\Users" "D:\Users" <- important step although looks wierd
    Quote Originally Posted by anon View Post
    Also, I saw those deleted screenshots and was going to compliment your good taste on file managers Been using it since version 4.x, it can do pretty much everything. Was also more stable than Explorer back in the Windows 9x era, too.
    Haha, I felt like the screenshots exposed my personal info, eg. fonts, naming habits and esp. my initials, so I deleted them. TC is indeed a LIFE-changing software. But geez Windows 9x? I hadn't even touched a computer then!
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    Renk (11.09.20) , anon (09.09.20)

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    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnareyouOK View Post
    Press F8 when booting, enter into "Repair your computer" mode, and choose "Command Prompt" when "System Rec Options" window appears
    I keep forgetting this exists since I'm so used to Gandalf's Windows PE And in the past, Hiren's Mini Windows XP, but many modern computers can't even boot XP anymore without ACPI patches. Also, I use DiskCryptor for full disk encryption, and booting from a live OS that includes it is easier than attempting to inject the necessary drivers into the recovery image...

    But geez Windows 9x? I hadn't even touched a computer then!
    You will never know the joy of a hung Notepad bringing down the entire system On the other side, that may not be a bad thing. Things were different back then. Windows wasn't as stable as what we have now, or even fully 32-bit for that matter, but it was what we had. If you read Total Commander's help file from top to bottom (which I highly recommend as it mentions many configuration parameters not controllable via the UI) you'll see that it age really shows. Windows 95, 4DOS, descript.ion, CleanSweep... who even remembers those things?
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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    JohnareyouOK (09.09.20)

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    Quote Originally Posted by anon View Post
    I keep forgetting this exists since I'm so used to Gandalf's Windows PE And in the past, Hiren's Mini Windows XP, but many modern computers can't even boot XP anymore without ACPI patches. Also, I use DiskCryptor for full disk encryption, and booting from a live OS that includes it is easier than attempting to inject the necessary drivers into the recovery image...



    You will never know the joy of a hung Notepad bringing down the entire system On the other side, that may not be a bad thing. Things were different back then. Windows wasn't as stable as what we have now, or even fully 32-bit for that matter, but it was what we had. If you read Total Commander's help file from top to bottom (which I highly recommend as it mentions many configuration parameters not controllable via the UI) you'll see that it age really shows. Windows 95, 4DOS, descript.ion, CleanSweep... who even remembers those things?
    my favorite was windows xp sp3 professional edition, and my terrible dreams are windows 8 and 8.1, you lost your electricity power, voila blue screen appears :) sucks
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  12. #8
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jilboobseksi View Post
    my terrible dreams are windows 8 and 8.1, you lost your electricity power, voila blue screen appears :) sucks
    That's interesting, most people would get a black screen
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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    Quote Originally Posted by anon View Post
    That's interesting, most people would get a black screen
    Fail product with awful ads, i remember the songs... aaa aaaa aaaaaa i just wanna be.. blue screen hahaha
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