MY Win 7 ULT 64 bit of a mess! Have a plan, input plz

Hey folks. I just have a really screwy running WIn 7 Ult. right now.

I'm trying to preserve if possible all the programs I installed on my D: drive.

Here's is where some confusion arises. When I built my system, I could only afford a 60GB SSD at the time,
I utilized the tutorial here on choosing a different install location for program and user files/folders.

Been working great till recently. I now have a 240GB SSD drive, so I can put all of Win 7 on the C: drive now.

Here's my plan appreciate any input and or gotchas I could run into.
I have looked at the tutorials for moving my users and program data files, since I changed the drive during install, would they still work the same?

Goal: Have Win 7 Ult installed on C: drive. Retain my D:drive installed programs..(670GB!)

Plan:
1. Backup C: with Acronis on 3TB internal drive(Z)
2. Create Acronis boot disk, should be able to see my drives....will test first for sure!
3.Install the new 240GB SSD drive
4. Verify the drive is seen in BIOS
5. Restore backup C: drive to the new 240GB SSD.
6. Follow the tutorials here, to move my USER and Program File folders back to C: Drive, now that I have the room.
7. Follow the tutorial for repair Win 7. Still a little confused on what step I would use.

My Win 7 64 ULT OEM (new computer install disk, not restore disk), doesn't have SP1 on the Disk.
However, my Win 7 ULT 64 Install has been updated to SP1. Unless I misread somethings, I didn't see my situation listed.

Since I used that bin file for my original install to select the drive to install the USER folder too, would the moving tutorials still apply? Or is something else needed, to restore these folders to the C: drive again.

Ultimately, I will do a complete fresh re-install on the C: drive and re-install my programs on D...uggh!

Right now, I just want to try the repair first, just to get something running for the interim.


For an interim fix, does this sound feasible?

One last question. Is there a way were you could merge 2 registry files, so I could have a fresh C: drive Win install, but still have the pointers in the registry showing my installed D: drive programs?

Thinking outside of the box a little.

Appreciate any input you folks can offer.

Thanks in advance.
David

Programs should be installed to C as they write registry keys which integrate them into the OS until uninstalled, and should be a part of its image.

I would do a Clean Reinstall Windows 7 to avoid problems.

An interim step to see how it performs might be to clone or apply a backup image of your C and D drives to the SSD to see if they maintain the program links. Programs cannot be moved from D to C without first uninstalling but they could remain on D to see if they provide instantaneous performance and decide if you want to reinstall them or the OS.

You didn't say where you moved the User folders but you can also clone or image that partition to the new SSD to move the files back to C using User Folders - Restore Default Location - Windows 7 Forums.

To do this I would use our favorite imaging app here Macrium Imaging
installed to the old OS drive, then simply drag the related partition to the new SSD. Once there a new Properties link will open up underneath each in the app where you can use sliders to adjust the partition size before dragging the next one.

We should probably see a screenshot of Disk Mgmt once you clarify where the User folders were moved so we can spot any possible problems. Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image

HI greg. One of my biggest issues with the typed word, sometimes I suck at trying to convey my thoughts and or issues.

If I was talking to you or others in person, my explanation I believe would be crystal clear to you and or others.

That said, You have made it pretty clear, clean install would be best. Looks like I have a lot of work ahead me. I wanted to try the repair thing first just incase it may work, then when I had a lot of time on my hands, I would do the clean thing.

What started this whole thread, was your emphasis that the USERS folder had to be back in C:\USERS to do the repair install.

Hence the plan above, now that I have the 240GB SSD I have the room for the USERS folder.

I get it though. This most likely will be a futile effort to try and repair; so looks like a clean install is in my near future.

I do have a FULL backup, but it's from OCT 2014, so I would lose a lot of programs installed since then.

When my flight schedule permits, Clean Install it will be....Crap!

Thanks for your valuable time.

Best,
David