Does anyone here use partitions for WinXP system folders?

[idea]

For the purpose of speed, organization, and ease of reformat/reinstall, I would like to make a seperate partition for C:\Documents and Settings\. I admit I did not attempt to do it yet, since I don't want to screw anything up. Have any of you tried it? I bet TweakUI can do it.

 

[Navid]

I installed XP on C.
Then, I moved the "My Documents" folder to D.
I moved the IE favorites to the "My Documents" folder.
I have moved my emails to the "My Documents" folder.
When I install a program, I install it on D.

Having installed all my favorite programs and utilities, I have made an image of C.
Now, whenever I want, I can restore the image in 3 minutes and get a fresh new operating system with all my programs working.
C is only 3.7GB. The image size is only 1GB.

The advantages of this setup:
1- C is relatively small and easy to backup and restore.
2- Re-installing the OS does not require a full backup of all the data on the hard drive.
3- I can boot into another primary partition (after hiding the first one) and still use all the programs and "My Documents" on D.

The disadvantage of this setup is that if I install a program now and then, restore the OS, the new installed program may not work anymore and require re-install. So, you need know what you are doing if you do this.

 

[boomerang]

No need for TweakUI or any other utility.

Right click on My Documents and choose properties. Click on the move button and choose the location you wish. You can even choose a network share.

 

[idea]

Originally posted by: Navid
I installed XP on C.
Then, I moved the "My Documents" folder to D.
I moved the IE favorites to the "My Documents" folder.
I have moved my emails to the "My Documents" folder.
When I install a program, I install it on D.

Having installed all my favorite programs and utilities, I have made an image of C.
Now, whenever I want, I can restore the image in 3 minutes and get a fresh new operating system with all my programs working.
C is only 3.7GB. The image size is only 1GB.

The advantages of this setup:
1- C is relatively small and easy to backup and restore.
2- Re-installing the OS does not require a full backup of all the data on the hard drive.
3- I can boot into another primary partition (after hiding the first one) and still use all the programs and "My Documents" on D.

The disadvantage of this setup is that if I install a program now and then, restore the OS, the new installed program may not work anymore and require re-install. So, you need know what you are doing if you do this.

Holy crap thats a good idea! It would work for me if I wasn't always upgrading programs and stuff... but its a good idea.

Luckily I only have 2 users on my machine, so choosing to move "My Documents" for both users is an easy task. If I had more, it would be trouble... but I guess I'm okay for now.

 

[idea]

You know what... I don't like this idea... I really want all of the folders relocated to D:\Documents and Settings\Username not just My Documents and a few others. That way, when I reformat, I will not lose cache, saved passwords, anything like that.

C:\Documents and Settings\Sean>dir /A /b
Application Data
Cookies
Desktop
Favorites
Local Settings
My Documents
NetHood
PrintHood
Recent
SendTo
Start Menu
Templates
UserData

 

[idea]

bump

 

[idea]

I figure its not possible then... oh well

 

[idea]

one last try, still very interested in this

 

[hopejr]

It is possible, I've done it, but it's really dodgy (I also imaged all my partitions too so that I didn't need to do it again). It took about 2 weeks for me to perfect it, but that's because I also moved Program Files to another partition in a really dodgy way.

EDIT: Just removed the instructions because they're way too dangerous and I'm not sure if they're rite (I did it a long time ago and can't remember exactly what I did).

You could just create a fresh partition and copy all your user profiles to it (go to System Properties > Advanced > User Profiles and click Settings. Then select a profile and click Copy To and specify where it is to go - the root of the new partition. Note that to copy the current profile, you must be logged in as another user because you can't copy the current profile), and then go into the registry and change the Profile Paths. This is much easier and safer, but I can't remember where it is.

 

[tiap]

Done this in several different ways in the past.

EDIT: Just removed the instructions because they're way too dangerous and I'm not sure if they're rite (I did it a long time ago and can't remember exactly what I did).

That is the reason I just use Trueimage (or whatever) to image the c drive, Move the data saving like my docs, favorites, .pst files etc to another partition. Keep the image backup on another partition and reimage from there. It takes me about 20 min. to have C: redone which is faster than a format/reinstall.