Solved Move program files to another hard drive

laakspen

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Hi!

I have windows 8.1 and c-drive is system drive.
Programs are mainly installed to C: but I have also some programs installed to E: Program Files, Program Files (68), Program Data etc .
Now I want to to move E-drive contents to another hard drive (all files stored on e-drive).

I think the safest way is to reinstall all programs, but I don't want to do this. Also it is possible to move files to new partition which has another drive letter than e: and create link, but this I don't want to do either.

Can I do it like this:
1) Change e-drive letter to x
2) Create new e-drive to another hard drive
3) Copy e-drive contents to new e-dive
4) that is it?

Can I use normal copy - paste to copy all files?
I think register references are the same after these steps because drive letter and content of the e-drive are still the same.

Does my method work? It sound so easy to do. Is it "too easy"? Does it have any risks?

Best regards
Laakspen
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Yes, it should as long as the drive letter is the same and also I would move instead of copy to retain the ownership of the files.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
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    Home Brewed
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    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
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Does my method work? It sound so easy to do. Is it "too easy"? Does it have any risks?

It is too easy. Some applications will work this way but many will not. Moving an installed application is very problematic. The only safe way to do this is to uninstall and reinstall at the new location. I wouldn't consider anything else.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I think TopGunDCP is right. As long as the "new"drive is called E like the "old" one, it should work.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 PRO 64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Own Build
    CPU
    Intel i7 3400
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 De Luxe
    Memory
    4 x 2 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA 550i GTX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Ilyama E2710HD
    Internet Speed
    3200 Mb
Hi!

I have windows 8.1 and c-drive is system drive.
Programs are mainly installed to C: but I have also some programs installed to E: Program Files, Program Files (68), Program Data etc .
Now I want to to move E-drive contents to another hard drive (all files stored on e-drive).

I think the safest way is to reinstall all programs, but I don't want to do this. Also it is possible to move files to new partition which has another drive letter than e: and create link, but this I don't want to do either.

Can I do it like this:
1) Change e-drive letter to x
2) Create new e-drive to another hard drive
3) Copy e-drive contents to new e-dive
4) that is it?

Can I use normal copy - paste to copy all files?
I think register references are the same after these steps because drive letter and content of the e-drive are still the same.

Does my method work? It sound so easy to do. Is it "too easy"? Does it have any risks?

Best regards
Laakspen

Why not just make a disk Image with Macrium Reflect then restore that image to your new disk after physical removing your old E: Drive Since you would do all this in Win PE your OS would not see any difference
1. Start up using USB recovery media and create MR Image E:
2. Remove Old E:
3. Restore Image to New E:
4, Boot to Windows
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro MC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus G75VW / Z97 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3610QM / I7-4790K
    Motherboard
    Z97 Pro
    Memory
    16 GB Hyundai HTM315156CFR8C-PB PC3-12800
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (GF114M)
    Sound Card
    VIA 6.0.10.1600
    Screen Resolution
    1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256, Samsung 850 Pro 1TB
    Internet Speed
    30 down 3 up
    Browser
    Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    NIS and Malwarebytes
Sounds as a safe option.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 PRO 64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Own Build
    CPU
    Intel i7 3400
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 De Luxe
    Memory
    4 x 2 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA 550i GTX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Ilyama E2710HD
    Internet Speed
    3200 Mb
Hi!
I did it as the workflow was described in my first post:
1) Change e-drive letter to x
2) Create new e-drive to another hard drive
3) cut - paste old e-drive contents (now x-drive) to new e-drive

I used cut - paste to retain ownership as Topgundcp adviced. I had to kill some processes during the copy, because those were holding some files / folders.

Everything seems to work so far.

Clintlgm's workflow would be the safest.

Thanks to all :) !
BR
Laakspen
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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