256gb Crucial M225 or 128gb Vertex 2 SSD - Which Should I Keep?

On a Windows 7 or Windows Vista machine, the location of all of those folders is determined in a registry key:
HLCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\

Personal = Location of my documents
Desktop = Location of desktop
Downloads = automatically mapped as a sub-folder of "Personal"
My Music = Location of my music

I've been re-mapping My Documents folders for years now by editing a registry key.

 

That's an awesome tip that I never knew about. Thank you.

I found mine in

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\

 

I do not recall what it is but I know there is a side effect in doing that.

 

The only side effect that I've seen in the past 11 years of doing this is if you point these folders to a mapped network drive, and that mapped network drive isn't available.

But that was only a problem with Windows 2000... they addressed that problem in Windows XP by forcing your My Documents folder to be always available offline if you map to it.

 

That sounds ominous.

I'll try it anyways and let you know if my computer blows up. I'll be posting from my iphone in that scenario so be ready for lots of autocorrected swear words.

 

Or you can just do this recommended way that I did. Requires a reformat and reinstall, but Users folder and ProgramData folder are permanently moved to your D: drive (or wherever you tell it). Thanks to the folks at the Microsoft Forums:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...gramdata-folder-separate-drive-partition.html

Doing it the other way requires a ton of registry editing. I've done it but with mixed results. The way I suggest works flawlessly.

 

As explained here:

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-hitachi-7k500-benchmark-setup-specifics.html


Is the 'recommended' way.

Editing the registry is asking for trouble (as wikoogle has shown by finding another key to edit - instead of the one you suggest).

Good way to kill your installation (and force a re-install).


Short version:

Create a folder and give it full permissions (in Security tab).

Drag/Move (don't copy) your User folders to the folder you just created.

Done.


Note: Not the 'User' folder, rather, the folders inside the 'User' folder like Documents, Desktop, Pictures, Music, etc.

 

Some people in other threads said that for my usage (gaming, video playback, browsing, torrenting), there isn't much difference between a true SSD and a Momentus XT in terms of performance.

Is that a good call?

 

If by "performance" you mean gaming framerate, smooth video playback, faster torrent downloads, etc, then you are correct. Those activities will not be affected by an SSD.

An SSD affects load times of programs, as well as allowing you to multitask more efficiently (e.g. do multiple read / writes to your drive simultaneously). The people who buy an SSD typically prioritize speed above all else, and are willing to sacrifice low price and storage capacity to get that performance. If you are looking for a balance between performance, price, and storage capacity, then the Seagate Momentus XT is a very popular choice.

 

I don't know how many people actually used both of these drivers and can vote objectively. Since YOU have them why don't you try using both and see...?

 

I can't because I already sold the Vertex 2 brand new sealed in package. And now, I think I'm selling the 256gb SSD too on the marketplace because I don't need that much performance as an ssd provides.