Advantages of mounting partitins as folders?

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Guest

Thank you all for your dedication to this site. I have learned so much in
the few weeks I have been reading. I started reading because I have been
planning a clean re-install-- the basics of which I am fairly familiar with
since having installed/upgraded XP for several friends. My target date is
this weekend. So I will likely be posting several times until then. My
question of the moment is in regards to Larry Gardner's recent reply about
partitions:

<snip>

My system is setup this way:

1. C: - Windows XP OS
2. D: - Documents ans Settings for all profiles
3. E: - Third-Party/Additionally installed Software (software not part of
basic Windows out-of-the-box XP OS)
4. F: - Backup

<snip>

My current setup is similar (except for a copy of Win98 on C, thus XP
enumeration starts at letter D) but I have apparently set it up in a rather
cumbersome fashion; I sometimes find myself fiddling with organizing data on
partitions instead of working.

My question is this: would it be better to mount partitions to folders,
i.e.- E: as the Program Files folder and F: as the Docs & Settings folder,
rather than "forcing" 3rd party software to install onto a folder on the E:
partition? If so, should one mount before or after installing the bulk of
applications (does it even matter?).

Also, as regards to taking system images, if one has mounted partitions as
folders, I assume that Norton Ghost would include the contents of a mounted
partition as part of the backup since it should read the partition just as if
it WAS the folder. Is this asuumption correct? Further, in the event of
restoring said image, would Ghost automatically "re-mount" the partition to
its original configuration? or would it try to stuff it all onto the same
partition as the OS?

System:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, v2002, SP2
Intel Celeron CPU 2.40GHz
2.39 GHz, 512 RAM
40GB hard drive (more than I need)

Thanks,
Mark
 
Hi! Guess who?

The problem with your setup is that Windows is not at the point of being
totally User Configurable. Believe me ... I tried.
This is what I found:

1. You cannot totally eliminate the use of C:\Program Files from being used
since some of Software Installations don't allow modification of the
destination folder (Microsoft is known for this, e.g., Windows Messenger -
all versions).

Even if you modify the ProgramFiles and CommonFilesDir values under
HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion,
some applications still insist on installing under C:\Program Files.

When you re-install, Windows XP defaults to C:\Program Files for
installation. You could immediately change these fields and then move
anything under C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files\Common Files, but then
you would have to go through the Registry and manually replace any
C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files\Common Files to the new places.

You could just leave what's there and then install to the new places, but
some apps depend on C:\Program Files\Common Files being consistent with
other files.

I have modified my ProgramFiles to E:\Program Files and now whenever I am
asked to install, that is the default folder. It just saves me time in
typing.

You cannot basically 'mount' partitions to drive letters, as in Unix, under
Windows XP. There are too many places in the registry that are hardcoded to
look for C:\...... paths.

You can change the profile paths, and you can change the change the
'Documents and Settings' as part of the default Profile folder. The
ProfilesDirectory variable for 'Documents and Settings' is under
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList. Microsoft
must have seen this as a problem since under Vista, they renamed the
'Documents and Settings' folder to 'Users'.

However, all pre-existing profiles are all hardcoded, instead of using a
%ProfilesDirectory% environment variable. Once you change this field, all
subsequent new profiles will use that path.

You can change, which you probably know, the ProfileList variables for each
user. For all existing users, you will need to go and change that
definition, HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
for that user. Then move everything to that new path.

I noticed that you stated that Windows XP enumeration starts on 'D'. Did
you know that you can have both separate partitions as 'C'. All it takes is
hiding the old 'C' at the time of installing Windows XP. That way, Windows
XP could also be C.
 
Thanks Larry.

I did NOT know that one could hide an existing (Win98) OS on C: and thus
"force" XP to create another C: partition for itself. I have always
installed the Win98 on C: (since it is difficult to do otherwise) and then
let XP do as it wishes; in that case, XP seems to prefer D:. If XP installed
as C: after installing and hiding Win98 on "old C:", I guess the "old" C:
would have to remain hidden for all time?.

The point you raise about some programs being hard-coded to C: is probably
at the root of my current need/desire to do a clean install: I downloaded an
update from HP for my printer and it hooked itself into scattered locations
all over the place-- including the C: partition (Win98).
Uninstall/re-install, System Restore and interaction with HP Help and Support
have made things incrementally worse so I quit trouble-shooting while i was
ahead. In re-tracing my steps I see that ithe HP update was aimed at C: and
either I did not catch and change every default entry or, as you say, some
entries just refuse to be forced onto D:.

I am thinking more and more about just ditching the Win98 since I very
rarely use it anymore-- one less complication!!

Thanks for your insight.

Mark
 
My Uncle had Windows 98SE installed and needed to kep it because he did not
want to buy a new printer (Windows XP) would not recognize it ... and he had
some games that would not run under Windows XP.

This is what I did (I used System Commander 8) from v-com - this was after I
installed Boot Manager (which comes with suite):

1. Cleaned up C: (remove crap, chkdsk - full, defrag), Installed Boot
Manager
2. Using Partition Commander (comes with System Commander), resize
partition C: for limited size (Win 98SE).
3. Created a new partition as FAT32 for copy of Win98
4. Copied Win98 to new partition.
5. Hid C: partition
6. Rebooted and let Boot Manager configure for new Windows 98
7. Chose new Windows 98 and logged in
8. Updated with reformat new Win98 to WinXP

The book shows you how to set Win98 (on C:) to be hidden when you want to
come up in Windows XP, and hows to hide Windows XP when you want to come up
in Windows 98.

That way, each OS is C:

The System Commander OS is cheap ... I no longer use it since I went to
Acronis Suite ... which has a much better GUI and Backup software ... was
only $49.95. System Commander is cheaper but not as inclusive.

I have an ISO file of System Commander that I will no longer use ... but it
is quite large ... 2.3 MB ... that you could have ... bt have no way to get
it to you.
 
Well thanks again Larry. And thanks for the offer. I am using Partition
Magic 8 and Norton Ghost 9 which I have finally become accustomed to after
much reading and head scratching. :-)
 
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