What folders can be moved in Win7?

I've seen a method for moving the Users directory as well as the program files folders. Anything else?

edit:
http://www.windows7home.net/how-to-move-user-data-folder-to-non-system-partition-in-windows-7vista/

I'm going to use that to move the appdata directory. Should I delete the old one when I'm done with the symlink?

mklink /D C:\Users\myusername\AppData D:\users\myusername\AppData

Should work right?

edit: What's the easiest way to move my program files?

 

I don't know what's easiest but the only sure way is to re-install the software. Software often needs to call in modules and if you change the location(s) won't be able to find them.

 

Yeah but there should be a way to change the default location. I know I can do it via the registry but I'm wondering if there's a better way.

 

There's really no reason to use an unsupported method to move the Users folders to a different location: Simply moving the user data folders using the supported approach of changing the location of those folders through the Windows Explorer interface works just fine, and accomplishes pretty much the same thing (with the exception of a bunch of configuration folders for which there is not much reason for moving them).

As for the Program Files folder, while there are instructions on the web for doing this that seem to kinda work, the instructions are incomplete and partially wrong. You'll end up with a half-broken system afterwards. Worse yet, your system will be broken in subtle ways which will come back to haunt you long after the deed is done. In simple words, you cannot move the Program Files folder(s) to a different partition without negatively affecting system functionality and security.

I might add that I am running a Vista system for a number of years now that has its Program Files hierarchy moved to a different partition. This system works (because I have moved the folder the right way), but it does have some subtle, and un-fixable issues, because of the non-standard configuration it is running in. I would not do this again if I had to do it over. My advice: Stay away from that idea.

P.S.: Yes, you'll have to delete everything in your old location before creating the link. You cannot create a link to a folder that has data in it.

 

I don't want to move the entire users directory as I want to keep downloads and some things on my XT. I'd just like to move the AppData folder.

I'll just install those programs TO the drive instead of having the folder default there. That shouldn't cause any issues, right?

 

Yes, that is perfectly fine. One of the main sources of problems with relocated Program Files folders arises when standard Windows executables and libraries are moved to a different partition. Since you're not doing that, you'll be fine.

 

Any other thoughts on what stuff I can move? I got a deal (basically free) on an express card SSD through a friend so I'm looking into what I can put on it.

edit: 48GB SSD
http://www.amazon.com/Wintec-FileMate-48GB-Ultra-ExpressCard/dp/B001QSZDJ8

 

So I'm going to install my programs to it, move my appdata folder over with:
mklink /D C:\Users\myusername\AppData D:\users\myusername\AppData

and then can I move my program data too?

 

http://www.windows7home.net/how-to-move-user-data-folder-to-non-system-partition-in-windows-7vista/

Ok I'm going to use this for the entire User folder I guess and then can I use the registry to change where my default Downloads folder is?

 

You don't need a registry hack to move the Downloads folder. Just right click on it and select properties then go to the Location tab. Most of the user folders are like this.

Gary

 

Oh I see. Thank you.

 

good thing you got that card for free, it's not much more than a sdhc card in an express card casing. No wear leveling, no redundant controller, no spare sectors, etc, etc.

Lose one memory cell and you're likely to lose the whole card (and contents).

 

you shouldn't move the whole folder, but just the data folders (downloads, pictures, etc..). that's the os-provided way. appdata never grows big anyways, and is not really restorable 100% after a fresh installation.

and no, that ssd will not be good for user data on it. frequent writes will kill it, as newsposter said. it's not really an ssd most likely.

 

Not really an SSD? Meaning?

 

I could possibly trade this card in for something else. I won't bother with it if it's useless.

 

I can probably get 8GB of RAM instead. I just feel that I'll see so little performance gain with 8GB.

 

an ssd is a bunch of flash chips that get feed trough an expensive controller that does all the complex logic.

a typical usb stick on the other hand (as well as sd cards and all that) don't have such a controller, they have the flash chips and let the os write directly to them. the result: they die rather fast (good enough for 100thousands of fotos in a camera. not that good for, say, the temporary internet cache or similar stuff).

the difference is the controller. does it have one (indilinx, sandforce or one of those), or not. if not, then it's just a "usb stick in a different casing" (or as newsposter said, an "sd card in a different casing").

so you have to check that out to know if it's worth anything.

 

Hm.

Perhaps I'll simply go with 8GB of RAM. I can get either one but the SSD was more expensive so it made more sense for me to use my freebie on it. Perhaps I'll wait until a better version comes out.

edit: My question was how you knew it wasn't a SSD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=expresscard_ssd-_-20-161-410-_-Product

all positive reviews

 

i didn't say "i know". it's just possible it isn't really one. seen enough of those popping around when ssds came up.

but it looks like a valid ssd from what i can see. still searching for the controller information, though.

 

I haven't found much info but it's the fastest one I've found. It's gotten many good reviews.

I can get 8GB of RAM but it's so rare that I use over 2 anymore.

 

scary, it might be a jmicron. if true, run away as fast as you can.

if it's indilinx, it would be okay(ish).

so you have money to spend on tech?

 

No, I have a friend at a store who said he's give me the SSD. I wouldn't want to ask for anything more expensive but I'd be willing to ask for something less expensive, like 8GB of RAM.

 

well then, i'd get the ssd. why?
- the curious part of me wants to know what it is exactly, how good it works, if it's worth it, etc..
- the social part of me wants to share that on this forum
- the polite part of me does not want to off the offer of a friend by asking for someone else
- the rest of me can't think of something else worth anything (f.e. 8gb ram if you never use it anyways).

 

I'd like to know what it is as well but not if it'll be a waste. I'm sure he won't mind my asking for something cheaper.

I'm trying to think of how I can use the ram. Drawing a blank. Perhaps eboostr but I'm' unsure about how it would work with my hybrid drive.

edit: Is there any way to drastically increase superfetch?

 

no, superfetch should use as much ram as is useful for it (you can see it in the resource manager (there's a button in the taskmanager for that).



the "Standby" is what superfetch uses afaik. and that should grow and shrink automatically and by default use up quite a bit of ram. on my current system, it uses all. i just have 4mb free.

in the picture, there's more free, as there's just not more useful stuff to cache, i guess.


haven't had good experiences with eboostr. tried it to boost up some netbooks and such, never resulted in any gain at all. but others had good results. i don't want my whole disk management go trough some random third party driver of a tiny company you never know how good they work.

 

That's fair.

I'm sure I'll find a use for 8GB. I won't have to worry about OOM ever and games like Civ5 will be noticeably better.

 

what ever fits your needs best as long as you can enjoy your stuff.

do you get 2x4gb? what have you planned with the other 2x2gb? charity for some friends who need another 2gb? (not me, i have enough)

 

I'll keep the 2x2GB in case I ever need to reinstall/ I have another computer that needs an upgrade. We'll see. I may sell it.

 

Anyone know of a way to increase prefetching?

 

no. that's stuff that "just works". no need to mess around with it, and no way to mess around with it except by messing it up. believe me, you don't want to (i got mine to want to prefetch a full movie (9.6gb or something, 720p) into my back-then 2gb of ram. so it prefetched into Pagefile right from the start. so random disk reads and writes, that on a 4200rpm 30ms latency drive. it blocked everything after logon for around an hour.. till i was able to reset superfetch to default)

 

I gotcha. Good to know.