Optimal Personal Folder Structure for Windows 7

stlsailor said:

essenbe said:

I just found C:/users and copied it to my E drive. Then used the location tabs to move it to the folder of the same name on the E drive, then click apply. then click yes. If you don't click yes I believe it will be in both locations.

Do you mean that you copied the entire directory tree including all folders and files to your E:/ drive before you moved the personal folders? Did you copy and move all of the personal folder files, even those just there for compatibility?

Yes, that's what I did. It is not necessary, but was simpler for my small mind to keep the exact structure on my data drive as it was on the OS drive. It will work no matter how you name them. Copy/paste does not move them, it just gives you a place to move them, you could just as easily move my pictures to a folder named flicks. I did it my way because I was familar with the users file structure, so I kept it the same. A lot of other ways will work also.

stlsailor said:

Barman58 said:

My personal folder structure is located on my Data drive under a "MY Stuff" folder - This contains a my Documents, My Videos, etc. but also the desktop, searches and other special folders that are re-locatable using the Locate feature.

I also include these in the libraries which also include Overflow areas for videos where space constraints mean I have to use other drives / partitions for storage

With this set-up I can enter the folders via the Libraries, User Folders or directly.

So you used the Move feature to move all the personal folders into "My Stuff?" You had no problem with any of the personal folders disappearing in transit like mine did?

Yes I created the "My Stuff" Area as essenbe did, back in the days of vista, and each install I do I repeat the Locate procedure for each of the special folders.

This I've done for multiple installs of win7 all through the Beta stage including pointing two Operating systems to the same data

If you ever have a problem with the location of the folders "losing" focus or the special Icons you can reset the location to default, (choose no to move files), and then using the location feature again. (always choose yes to the move files option as this moves any special hidden files, such as desktop.ini)