- Messages
- 182
- Location
- Portland, Oregon, USA
OK, first i'd like to say that i would have made the topic title longer and hence more descriptive, but the forums' built-in limitations wont let me.
And to the mods: if you feel a need to relocate this topic or rename it to something more relevant then feel free, i simply ask that you leave this initial post in its entirety and unedited.
The folders i am attempting to move are Users, Program Files, Program Files (x86), and ProgramData (at the root of C drive). I want to move the 2 Program Files folders to another partition on same HDD, and Users/ProgramData will go to yet another partition on same HDD.
I would like to do this for ease in regards to backing up my system (so i can make mirror images of entire partitions), also to increase performance, as well as to make it easier to reinstall Windows w/o losing important program and user info. My intention is to leave Windows itself, and ONLY Windows, on the C drive.
But to make things even more complex, and hence why i feel the need for this kind of non-standard setup arrangement, is because i plan to buy a bigger HDD and an SSD in the next few months, and i want to be ready before then. my intention is to install Windows on the SSD and have alot of other stuff offloaded to the secondary HDD.
I also plan to add to the complexity even more by encrypting my system drive (C:\) with TrueCrypt, since i'm a privacy conscious person, and my processor natively supports Intel AES-NI encryption acceleration. i feel that its important to compartmentalize my data, programs, users, etc into different partitions as a result of this (so that some will be encryption-protected while others will not, so as to benefit from better performance not being encrypted). i also plan to dual-boot with some form of linux once i get this right. as it stands right now i'm still having drivers issues with 8 itself but i know i will get things stabilized and worked out as time passes.
So, getting back to my original point/questions, how can i move these directories entirely to other partitions? i have done a bit of research and messing around on this, read up on some things that involved booting into Audit Mode, robocopy-ing folders, creating NTFS junctions/symbolic links, Registry edits, as well as accomplishing this automatically by creating an autoattend file which Windows Setup processes automatically before the user isw ever booted in for the 1st time. i tried my luck this morning and now have a basic 8 install in which programs like IE fail to open, certain files cant be found/opened (even if i click on them directly), an example is Regedit. also i cant run the CMD prompt as Admin (or otherwise), cant activate the real Admin account or open any of the Administrative Tools (despite having added them to my Start Screen). the list goes on. i only tried robocopy-ing Program Files and Program Files (x86) so far, creating junction points for them, and editing the Registry in the relevant locations. this is what im left with now.
I also read up on Kari's topic on how to move Users, etc directories here on this forum, as well as the following blog article which describes how to do this for Win 7 (which is originally where i got some of these ideas in the 1st place):
Isolate Windows 7 in its own partition
so, where should i go from here and where to find more info? i plan to test in VMware virtual machines from here on out until things are working correctly, while using a baseline default 8 install for daily tasks.
Well, thanks for any help!
And to the mods: if you feel a need to relocate this topic or rename it to something more relevant then feel free, i simply ask that you leave this initial post in its entirety and unedited.
The folders i am attempting to move are Users, Program Files, Program Files (x86), and ProgramData (at the root of C drive). I want to move the 2 Program Files folders to another partition on same HDD, and Users/ProgramData will go to yet another partition on same HDD.
I would like to do this for ease in regards to backing up my system (so i can make mirror images of entire partitions), also to increase performance, as well as to make it easier to reinstall Windows w/o losing important program and user info. My intention is to leave Windows itself, and ONLY Windows, on the C drive.
But to make things even more complex, and hence why i feel the need for this kind of non-standard setup arrangement, is because i plan to buy a bigger HDD and an SSD in the next few months, and i want to be ready before then. my intention is to install Windows on the SSD and have alot of other stuff offloaded to the secondary HDD.
I also plan to add to the complexity even more by encrypting my system drive (C:\) with TrueCrypt, since i'm a privacy conscious person, and my processor natively supports Intel AES-NI encryption acceleration. i feel that its important to compartmentalize my data, programs, users, etc into different partitions as a result of this (so that some will be encryption-protected while others will not, so as to benefit from better performance not being encrypted). i also plan to dual-boot with some form of linux once i get this right. as it stands right now i'm still having drivers issues with 8 itself but i know i will get things stabilized and worked out as time passes.
So, getting back to my original point/questions, how can i move these directories entirely to other partitions? i have done a bit of research and messing around on this, read up on some things that involved booting into Audit Mode, robocopy-ing folders, creating NTFS junctions/symbolic links, Registry edits, as well as accomplishing this automatically by creating an autoattend file which Windows Setup processes automatically before the user isw ever booted in for the 1st time. i tried my luck this morning and now have a basic 8 install in which programs like IE fail to open, certain files cant be found/opened (even if i click on them directly), an example is Regedit. also i cant run the CMD prompt as Admin (or otherwise), cant activate the real Admin account or open any of the Administrative Tools (despite having added them to my Start Screen). the list goes on. i only tried robocopy-ing Program Files and Program Files (x86) so far, creating junction points for them, and editing the Registry in the relevant locations. this is what im left with now.
I also read up on Kari's topic on how to move Users, etc directories here on this forum, as well as the following blog article which describes how to do this for Win 7 (which is originally where i got some of these ideas in the 1st place):
Isolate Windows 7 in its own partition
so, where should i go from here and where to find more info? i plan to test in VMware virtual machines from here on out until things are working correctly, while using a baseline default 8 install for daily tasks.
Well, thanks for any help!
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1 Pro x64, Windows Server 2012 R2 x64
- Computer type
- Laptop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- Lenovo G700
- CPU
- Intel Core i7-3632QM, 2.20 GHz
- Motherboard
- Lenovo
- Memory
- 6 GB DDR3
- Graphics Card(s)
- NVIDIA 720M, Intel HD 4000
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 1 monitor
- Screen Resolution
- 1600x900 (max)
- Hard Drives
- 1 TB HDD (5400 RPM), 1.5 TB HDD (5400 RPM) installed in a 12.7mm disc drive caddy
- Case
- Lenovo
- Keyboard
- Lenovo
- Mouse
- Laptop/notebook keyboard/touchpad
- Internet Speed
- It varies, since I'm mobile most of the time
- Browser
- Chromium (the open-source browser which Google Chrome is derived from)
- Antivirus
- Kaspersky, Malwarebytes, Spybot, Privatefirewall
- Other Info
- I will add more information here later