| Windows 7: Re-directing Windows 7 Users folder to another drive |
24 Oct 2009
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#1 | | |
Re-directing Windows 7 Users folder to another drive Being the impatient type, I decided to go for max performance(Minimun boot up and application start-up time) by adding a 300 GByte 10,000 hard drive as my Windows 7 boot and application drive. What I want to do is keep all data off this drive. Any suggestions on how I could re-direct Windows 7 Users Folders to one of my other RAID 0 drives? | My System Specs |
| System Manufacturer/Model Number self built OS Windows7 Professional CPU AMD Phenom II 4X 940, 3000 MHz Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD$P Memory 8GByte Graphics Card HVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX Sound Card on board Monitor(s) Displays Samsung 24"HD PSU 700 watt Case Cooler Master 932HAF Full Tower Hard Drives WD3000HLF3 300 GByte 10,000 rpm boot drive;
Seagate ST310003 40AS 7400rpm 1TByte;
2 WD2500KS 7400rpm 250GByte In RAID 0 array;
2 WD400KD 7400rpm 400GByte IN RAID 0 array;
Maxtor One Touch III 750 GMyte External USB Drive |
24 Oct 2009
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#2 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 |
You could try creating a hard link (MKLINK dos command) in the C:\Users directory for each user. I have no idea how stable this would be, though. You should probably start with just creating a symlink for one particular folder, like the documents folder. Code: mklink /j "c:\users\user\My Documents" d:\wherever It might work, and then again it might not work. Give it a try. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell XPS 15 L502x OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 CPU Core i7-2670QM Memory 8GB DDR3 PC3-10600 Graphics Card Intel HD Graphics 3000 + GeForce GT 540M Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Hard Drives 1TB 5400RPM Seagate |
24 Oct 2009
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#3 | | Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (Technet) Charlotte, NC |

Quote: Originally Posted by ahinman27332 Being the impatient type, I decided to go for max performance(Minimun boot up and application start-up time) by adding a 300 GByte 10,000 hard drive as my Windows 7 boot and application drive. What I want to do is keep all data off this drive. Any suggestions on how I could re-direct Windows 7 Users Folders to one of my other RAID 0 drives? All you have to do is change the entries in the libraries...Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (Technet) CPU 3.00 gigahertz Intel Core2 Duo E8400 Motherboard ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5K/EPU Rev 1.xx Memory 4GB Graphics Card ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Sound Card Built in HD Audio Monitor(s) Displays 22" Gateway LCD Screen Resolution 1920 x 1200 Keyboard Logitech G11 Mouse Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 Hard Drives ST3160023A [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, rev 8.01, ST3500630AS [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 2, rev 3.AAK
ST3500630AS [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 1, rev 3.AAK Internet Speed 13.44 Mbps |
24 Oct 2009
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#4 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 |

Quote: Originally Posted by MacGyvr 
Quote: Originally Posted by ahinman27332 Being the impatient type, I decided to go for max performance(Minimun boot up and application start-up time) by adding a 300 GByte 10,000 hard drive as my Windows 7 boot and application drive. What I want to do is keep all data off this drive. Any suggestions on how I could re-direct Windows 7 Users Folders to one of my other RAID 0 drives? All you have to do is change the entries in the libraries...Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc. The library is merely a pointer of sorts, and doesn't have anything to do with the actual file locations of the folders in question. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell XPS 15 L502x OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 CPU Core i7-2670QM Memory 8GB DDR3 PC3-10600 Graphics Card Intel HD Graphics 3000 + GeForce GT 540M Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Hard Drives 1TB 5400RPM Seagate |
24 Oct 2009
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#5 | | Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (Technet) Charlotte, NC |

Quote: Originally Posted by kegobeer 
Quote: Originally Posted by MacGyvr 
Quote: Originally Posted by ahinman27332 Being the impatient type, I decided to go for max performance(Minimun boot up and application start-up time) by adding a 300 GByte 10,000 hard drive as my Windows 7 boot and application drive. What I want to do is keep all data off this drive. Any suggestions on how I could re-direct Windows 7 Users Folders to one of my other RAID 0 drives? All you have to do is change the entries in the libraries...Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc. The library is merely a pointer of sorts, and doesn't have anything to do with the actual file locations of the folders in question. Not true at all. A library is a collection of physical folders. By default, the Documents library points to c:\users\XXXX\documents. Delete that folder from the library and add the folder you want. It IS that simple. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (Technet) CPU 3.00 gigahertz Intel Core2 Duo E8400 Motherboard ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5K/EPU Rev 1.xx Memory 4GB Graphics Card ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Sound Card Built in HD Audio Monitor(s) Displays 22" Gateway LCD Screen Resolution 1920 x 1200 Keyboard Logitech G11 Mouse Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 Hard Drives ST3160023A [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, rev 8.01, ST3500630AS [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 2, rev 3.AAK
ST3500630AS [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 1, rev 3.AAK Internet Speed 13.44 Mbps |
24 Oct 2009
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#6 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 |
And when I go directly to my documents, bypassing the library, what then? Also, when applications write to the my documents folder, it does not go through the library at all. If you want to move the folder, you have to either relocate it (speaking of just the my documents folder) via the properties -> location process, or you have to create a hard link to fool the operating system into thinking the files are still where it thinks they are. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell XPS 15 L502x OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 CPU Core i7-2670QM Memory 8GB DDR3 PC3-10600 Graphics Card Intel HD Graphics 3000 + GeForce GT 540M Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Hard Drives 1TB 5400RPM Seagate |
24 Oct 2009
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#7 | | Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (Technet) Charlotte, NC |

Quote: Originally Posted by kegobeer And when I go directly to my documents, bypassing the library, what then? Why go there? Save documents wherever you want...that's what makes the library so brilliant. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (Technet) CPU 3.00 gigahertz Intel Core2 Duo E8400 Motherboard ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5K/EPU Rev 1.xx Memory 4GB Graphics Card ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Sound Card Built in HD Audio Monitor(s) Displays 22" Gateway LCD Screen Resolution 1920 x 1200 Keyboard Logitech G11 Mouse Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 Hard Drives ST3160023A [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, rev 8.01, ST3500630AS [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 2, rev 3.AAK
ST3500630AS [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 1, rev 3.AAK Internet Speed 13.44 Mbps |
24 Oct 2009
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#8 | | Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (Technet) Charlotte, NC |
And technically, there is no "My Documents" folder anymore. Even though you see it in a directory listing, if you click in the address bar so that the path is shown, you will see that it is c:\users\xxx\documents. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Windows 7 Ultimate RTM (Technet) CPU 3.00 gigahertz Intel Core2 Duo E8400 Motherboard ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5K/EPU Rev 1.xx Memory 4GB Graphics Card ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Sound Card Built in HD Audio Monitor(s) Displays 22" Gateway LCD Screen Resolution 1920 x 1200 Keyboard Logitech G11 Mouse Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 Hard Drives ST3160023A [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, rev 8.01, ST3500630AS [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 2, rev 3.AAK
ST3500630AS [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 1, rev 3.AAK Internet Speed 13.44 Mbps |
24 Oct 2009
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#9 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 |
I edited my post to include other arguments. However, the library is just a collection point and not a physical location. The OP asked how to move the user folders to a new drive, and playing around with the library does nothing to solve the original issue. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell XPS 15 L502x OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 CPU Core i7-2670QM Memory 8GB DDR3 PC3-10600 Graphics Card Intel HD Graphics 3000 + GeForce GT 540M Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Hard Drives 1TB 5400RPM Seagate |
24 Oct 2009
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#10 | | Windows 7 RTM (TechNet), XP Pro x64, Vista x64, Ubuntu Adirondack Mountains |
If you go to your documents and open file location you are able to move it to another drive. For example if you go to C:\users\<yourname>\My Pictures you can go to properties and there will be a location tab. You can move it to an empty folder with the same name on another drive. From then on My Pictures will default to the folder on the other drive. Windows will even change the folder icons on the other drive to indicate the default, say, My Pictures folder.
That's one of the beauties of Libraries. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell: XPS 420, XPS 420, XPS M1330, XPS M1330, Mini 9, Mini 10v OS Windows 7 RTM (TechNet), XP Pro x64, Vista x64, Ubuntu CPU Q6600, Q6700, T7500, T7500, N270, N270 Motherboard Dell Memory 4GB, 8GB, 4GB, 4GB, 2GB, 2GB Graphics Card ATI, nVidia, nVidia, nVidia, Intel, Intel Monitor(s) Displays Dell 2408WFP Keyboard Logitech Wave Hard Drives A drawer full. OCZ Vertex 2x30GB in RAID 0 on my main desktop.....fast, fast, fast! Internet Speed 29 Mbps DL / .95 Mbps UL Other Info New project(9/09)...Built a low power (38-40 watts using Kill-a-Watt) Windows Home Server machine. Zotac ION (Atom 330, GeForce9400), 2GB RAM, 2x1TB Seagate 7200.12, IN WIM miniITX Case. Fits on a shelf in laundry closet, practically silent. Re-directing Windows 7 Users folder to another drive problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:58 PM. | |