Best method for moving user folders to another partition?

[greygriffin]

I wish to partition my rebuilt PC into C: (OS only), D: (games and utilities), and E: (data) drives, my intention being to make future upgrades or OS reinstalls easier. (The machine currently only has one HDD.)

Therefore I want to move C:\users to the E:\ partition. I've already searched for ways to do this and there are seemingly three ways of going about it:

1. Change the value in My Documents->Properties->Location tab as described here:
Move Your Data to a Safer, Separate Partition in Windows 7 | PCWorld

2. Change the value in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList as described here:
http://www.windows7hacker.com/index...e-user-profile-default-location-in-windows-7/

3. Leaving C:\users where it is and using a symbolic link to E:\users as described here:
Move the Users Directory in Windows 7

Is there a consensus on the 'best' method for doing this? If not, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the above methods?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[fireberd]

Check the links in the response to my similar question. I built a new PC and used an SSD and 1TB hard drive. I installed the OS and my recording studio software on the SSD. I have everything else on the 1TB hard drive.

http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/232405-what-do-i-install-ssd.html

My only comment is partitioning the drive. You are better off installing a second (or even third) hard drive for what you want to do. If you just partition the hard drive and the hard drive fails EVERYTHING is lost and unless you are doing frequent full hard drive (all partion) backups to another hard drive your partitioning had done you no good.

 

[greygriffin]

Thanks for replying. I presumed you followed this guide which was in your linked thread? Did you have any difficulties or did it go smoothly?

Re: multiple drives for protection of data, as this was a upgrade/rebuild of my old PC I just reused my old HDD to keep costs down. I will add another physical drive in due course, which is another reason why I wanted partitions so I can clone C: and D: without having to mess about with the user data. In the meantime I have a external USB drive which I use just for backups.

 

[fireberd]

I had a problem with that procedure and wound up just setting up the user folder on my hard drive and when I install a program I point it to the hard drive. Its working OK that way.