System-Data separation strategies

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  1. Posts : 72
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
       #1

    System-Data separation strategies


    There are now many different ways of separating Users' data from the rest of the system data usually to another drive. Sevenforums has excellent tutorials on each, so let's put together some data about the pros and cons of them all....




    In no particular order :
    1. User Profiles - Create and Move During Windows 7 Installation - By Kari - This one moves the ENTIRE users folder using sysprep. Complete and supported, but blocks upgrades and refresh (windows 8)
    2. User Folders - Change Default Location - By Brink - This one moves those user's folders (C:\Users\{username}) created AFTER the edit to another location. Less drastic, not supported (involves registry editing), and still blocks upgrades and refresh. Corollary : User Folders - Moving User Folders by Modular Script - By Alain Quarré - Also changes the symlinked shortcuts, and sets permissions, and lots of other small things that can make it perfect.
    3. User Folders - Change Default Location - By Brink - Moves all the folders inside the profile (Documents, Desktop, etc.) to a different location. Supported, no system-level downsides (need to test this), but labour intensive... Also, AppData continues to grow.
    4. Funnily, you CAN move AppData folders, properties applet of Local, LocalLow, and Roaming have a Location tab, where you can choose a different place, and move it. Supported, no system-level downsides (? need to test this), but labour intensive... Also, not sure if it's a good idea... Is AppData user data or system data?
    5. The Library approach (thanks to whs for reminding me) - Keeping all user-generated data in other folders and including them in Libraries. But it's easy to keep saving/putting stuff in the default folders. The save-to locations can be changed to remedy this. However, applications may not go through libraries. Eg. Outlook, which would have to be manually configured.
    6. http://lifehacker.com/5467758/move-t...y-in-windows-7 - Anon? - Basically using an NTFS junction point link, This one achieves a similar effect to method (1) , but seems to give mysterious error _sometimes_ . Other times it works better than the sysprep idea. It fools virtually all programs, with only windows updates occasionally finding something out of the ordinary.
    Also note that (1) and (2) are very similar, in that (1) is (2) plus actually moving the Users folder.

    Let's make this an authoritative thread on the tradeoffs involved.
    Last edited by milindsmart; 04 Sep 2014 at 08:22.
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  2. Posts : 72
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Well I didn't pay attention and now it's a problem resolution thread, rather than a discussion thread... Mods, can you do something about it? I can't seem to change it from my end.
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  3. Posts : 72
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Bump.... No one?
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  4. Posts : 17,545
    Windows 10 Pro x64 EN-GB
       #4

    We are on Seven Forums but you only mention the Sysprep relocating tutorial for Windows 8. Here's the same for Windows 7: User Profiles - Create and Move During Windows 7 Installation
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  5. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #5

    I prefer a different approach. I define an empty data partition and in there I make 4 new folders - XYZ Documents, XYZ Pictures, XYZ Videos and XYZ Music . (in my case I use WHS Documents, WHS Pictures, etc.). The "XYZ" or the "WHS" are only there to distinguish the folders from the original folders. You can use any appendix though.

    Then I right click on each of the 4 folders and INCLUDE it into the appropriate library. Then I move my data folders from the original default folders to these folders in the data partition.

    The advantage of this approach is that the default folders stay intact and the system and program generated folders stay clearly seperated from my user folders. Example of system generated folders:

    System-Data separation strategies-2014-09-04_1359.png

    My library structure looks like this:

    System-Data separation strategies-2014-09-04_1356.png
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  6. Posts : 72
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    @whs and @kari : updated :) Thanks.
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  7. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #7

    I took an even simpler approach. I just dragged the My Documents, My Music, and My Pictures folders from my C: drive to my E: drive and the My Videos folder to my F: drive.
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  8. Posts : 72
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    What do you mean drag? Where are they actually stored?
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  9. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #9

    Example: For My Documents, I opened a window for the C: drive and another one for the E: drive. I left clicked on the My Documents folder and, while still holding the left click button down, used the mouse to literally drag the folder from the C: drive to the E: drive. Data in My Documents stays in the folder which is now on the E: drive.
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  10. Posts : 72
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Holding Shift? Else dragging it would have just copied it to another drive, not moved it.

    And yeah nice way of doing it :) It's the same as option 3 in my post above, but I did not know it can be done so easily and elegantly :)
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