G51j-A1 Harddrive question

Sorry I'm sure this is a noob question but I'm annoyed. Everything I've installed is loading onto drive C: which is the OS partition. Why isn't it loading onto drive E: already labled as DATA? How do I switch it so everything from now on will not install on the OS partition? Can what I already installed (Civ IV, CoDMW2 and Batman AA be moved? If so how? If not what should I do?

 

I just got my 51J today, and one of the first things I did was redo the ridiculous stock partition scheme. If you go to online Help at Microsoft they explain how to resize your partitions - this is something you can do without disturbing your data or programs, assuming they are all still on C: (OS), and it takes less than 5 minutes.

Basically what I did was create one logical drive on each physical drive (although I left the Recovery partition on C: alone). My plan is to use the C: drive for all my programs and data and use D: for backup of the C: drive.

If, however, you want to stick with a multi-partition physical disk then during program installation you need to specify that the program should be loaded on the DATA partition, in which case both the application and its data will reside there. This choice usually comes up in one of the installation screens: don't accept the default path C: but specify one of your other partitions. If you truly want your applications on C: and their data on DATA I believe you'll need to go to each individual application and change its data storage path; discovering how to do this with some programs isn't obvious, however.

I hope this helps.

 

You cannot move the already installed applications to the E partition, as this will break the registry keys and W7 won't be able to find them, rendering the software inoperable. If you want things you've already installed to be on E rather than C, you'll have to un/reinstall them.

Another way to describe tallan's suggestion:
To install items in the future on the E partition, you need to NOT allow the default installation location when the Installation Wizard programs get to that point in the install process. You need to click Browse and then select the folder on E or else just the default 1st level E drive as the location and then Batman (for example) will install there instead of on C.

Now the trick to this is that some software requires that it be installed only on C - but you won't know which until you get to installing it. Most software won't care, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

The advantage of this multi-partition scheme that Asus uses is that, in the event that you need to reinstall the OS (either from DVD or the hidden recovery partition) your data will be safe on E and untouched by the reformat/reinstall. While it makes sense at one level, my experience is that it's more confusing to the majority of folks who don't think this way and wonder why their C drive is only half the size of what's listed on the box .

 

This is exactly why I'm annoyed. Stream is dumping Batman to C: and I'm not even sure how to change it. I can't find where to change the setting.

If I uninstall Batman will I be able to dl it again with no worries? If I reinstall CoDMW2 (I have the retail version) will stream keep my progress or do I have to start all over?

 

You'd need to back up saves, and while you can redownload, it would make sense to create a backup instead, both to make it go faster, and so you don't waste your bandwidth (and Steam's).

I don't think Steam gives you any options though. I just recently read an article in...either Maximum PC or PC Gamer that talked about a work around of using...I don't know, some kind of symbolic links or something that's a new feature in Vista, so that when Steam thinks you're saving one place, it's actually saving to a different drive.

Personally it just sounded like a huge hassle to me.

 

Is Steam in the same drive you want to install Batman to?

 

Thanks for the replies. I figured out an easy way to do what I wanted.

In order to do this just copy the SteamApps folder to the drive you want (in my case E: ) Then uninstall Steam. Reinstall it to the new drive (again for me it was E: ) Once it's installed shut it down, and move the SteamApps folder into the Steam folder and choose overwrite. When you open Steam again you're all set. If you want your desktop shortcuts you can just right click on the games in Steam and choose to add them back.