SSD + spinning disc--help me understand

[adam1991]

is there any currently supported method for configuring Windows--either 7 or 8--to install itself on one partition (SSD) but put the users/program data/programs on another partition (spinning disc)?

[newfiend]

I Installed Windows 7 on a SSD.. (inside my Desktop PC and HTPC) And a 2TB HDD on the desktop PC..
After installing Win 7 I moved some of the most used locations to the HDD.. Like the default Windows folders such as.. My Documents, Music, Downloads, My Pictuires..etc. You can right click the file and select properties, Location Tab and move the file to another drive.

As far as the Users, Program Data and Programs I left all that on the SSD as once that Data is written it isn't re-written much.. and reading off an SSD doesn't wear like writing to it.
Any reason you want to move users/program data etc..? You can always install programs to the HDD if you like (instead of c:) usually during installation of programs you can select the installation directory..
newfiend~

[adam1991]

Just curious, really, thinking about how one would make a hybrid system work (non-HTPC).

So if I read you correctly, the Users folder stays where it is but the subfolders for each user can be located anywhere the user chooses. That makes sense. I never explored the actual user folder itself, at least to the subfolder properties level.

[newfiend]

Yep... You can move folders to other drives/locations even network drives as well..

Folder Properties Window

This way you can move folders that see a lot of writes to other locations so that the wear on the SSD is kept to a minimum. So far it has worked really well for me. I have two SSD's in RAID 0 and a HDD 2TB for storage.
newfiend~

[adam1991]

Two SSDs?

Now I'm curious. Idly so, but still.

I was looking today at a potential project for my son, a BYO. SSDs have hugely come down in price; what appears to be a decent Sandisk 128GB unit is $70 or so.

[newfiend]

Yep 2 Force GT's in RAID 0 ... seriously crazy fast at just about everything.. it's my gaming rig/everyday PC...

Fiend's Machine (Desktop)

newfiend~

[choliscott]

I Believe that most people install the apps to the SSD, but move the docs, music, photo, video folder to another drive. Newfiend posted the easy way of moving the docs/music, etc folders

If you wanted to move the public folder, the easy way I found is as follows:

a) Create public folder on the drive you want this moved to
b) Run Command Prompt as an "administrator" & type "robocopy /mir C:\Users\Public D:\Users\Public" (Without the quotes & Replace D:\Users\Public with the correct path) & press enter
c) Reboot the computer & go into Safe Mode
D) Run command prompt as an "administrator" & Type "rmdir /s /q C:\Users\Public" & Press Enter
E) Type "Mklink /j C:\Users\Public D:\Users\Public" (Replace "D:\Users\Public with the correct path)
F) Open Windows Explorer & navigate to the C:\Users\Public folder you should see a square with an arrow on it (like a short cut)

is there any currently supported method for configuring Windows--either 7 or 8--to install itself on one partition (SSD) but put the users/program data/programs on another partition (spinning disc)?

[richard1980]

The method posted by Newfiend does not actually move any folders. My Music is a library, not a folder. By default, the library includes 2 locations: C:\Users\Username\Music and C:\Users\Public\Music. You can delete those two paths from the My Music library and add D:\Music, but you are not actually moving C:\Users\Username\Music or C:\Users\Public\Music to D:\Music.

Adam, if you are wanting to do this during install check this out: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/12 ... ation.html

[adam1991]

nice, but.

I wonder if Win8 changes any of this.

[newfiend]

The method posted by Newfiend does not actually move any folders. My Music is a library, not a folder. By default, the library includes 2 locations: C:\Users\Username\Music and C:\Users\Public\Music. You can delete those two paths from the My Music library and add D:\Music, but you are not actually moving C:\Users\Username\Music or C:\Users\Public\Music to D:\Music.

Adam, if you are wanting to do this during install check this out: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/12 ... ation.html

So using the Move button in properties doesn't move the folders I am assuming it just moves the Library to another location is that correct Richard? And then I guess my question would be what's better? moving the Library or moving the users and folders to another drive?

I used this method to move the Download folder to D:\Downloads and all my downloads save to that drive.. (amoung aother user libraries as well.. pictures, music, etc.) I guess if the only reason is to reduce wear on the SSD.,. wouldn't moving those locations with my method do that? It would still keep the default locations yet move all the data that is written to the drive to the HDD instead correct?
newfiend~

[richard1980]

I'm off my game today. I mixed up two completely different things.

"My Music" is a nickname for a specific folder...the user's music folder. The default target is "C:\Users\Username\Music". You can customize the target to be any path you want. When customizing the target, you will be given the option to move the contents of the old folder to the new folder. If you choose to do move the contents, the contents will be moved and the old folder will be deleted from the system. However, you can choose not to move the contents, in which case the new folder will be empty and all the contents of the old folder will remain in place.

"Music" is a library, and libraries do not contain any files or folders. A library is basically a single view of one or more folders. When you make a change to a library, you aren't making a change to the actual files/folders on disk...you are just changing the view.

I think the better method is to change the target for "My Music", "My Pictures", "Downloads", etc.

I would also like to point out that while it is technically possible to change target locations by using symlinks, it is not a good practice. Using symlinks to move a user's folder can lead to system instability.

[mdavej]

The method posted by Newfiend does not actually move any folders.

Yes it does. It asks if you want to move your files, and if you answer, it moves them. Then all references to those libraries point to the new folders.

[richard1980]

The method posted by Newfiend does not actually move any folders.

Yes it does. It asks if you want to move your files, and if you answer, it moves them. Then all references to those libraries point to the new folders.

I already posted a correction. Go up one post from yours.

[newfiend]

Ok I feel better now.. I thought it moved the folder(target).. lol
Thanks for the update Richard. It's ok brother.,.we all have off days..(thats usually monday-sunday for me)

[Mike88]

I have a single HDD with Win 7 on it along with all my docs, pix, etc. I thought about adding an SSD for the OS & programs. In my case I'm not moving data from an SDD, I would be moving the OS & programs to an SSD. Is there a recommended way to do this?

I thought about doing this:
Copy all the User folders to an external HDD.
Then delete the User folders from the internal HDD.
Make an image of the internal HDD which should have only the OS & programs on it.
Copy the image to an SSD.
Delete everything from the internal HDD.
Copy the User files from the external HDD back to the internal HDD.
Obviously I'd have to change where the programs look for & save data, presuming this can safely be done.

Plan B:
Back up most of the docs, pix, etc. (but don't delete any folders) and shrink the C drive down to the size of whatever SSD I was going to use. Make an image of this & copy it to the SSD, that way the folder structure remains intact.
Then delete the OS & programs from the internal HDD.
Copy the backup data back to the internal HDD.
Then change where the programs look for & save data.

Do either of these sound like reasonable approaches, or is there a better way, other than starting from scratch?

[newfiend]

One problem you will have right away is that HDD's are set to defrag every so often in Win 7. SSD's are not defraged as it is not needed. If you move an image of c: to the new SSD it will still be set to defrag the c: drive which now no longer needs it. This is all set up during windows installation. You would also have to change some of the registry settings to use AHCI mode and make sure TRIM is enabled on the new SSD. I think you would be better off backing up the necessary files you want to keep, installing the OS fresh on the new SSD wipe the old HDD then move the folders you want onto the HDD. I know it isn't the easiest way to accomplish this but I think you would have a much more stable system that way. Once everything is set up and working correctly then make an image of the system and save that on an external disk in case you have to restore at some future point.

Sent from my SGH-i937 using Board Express

[Mike88]

One concern is if the HP recovery discs will work with an SSD. IOW will they be looking for the original HP configuration in order to do a restore?