Moving "My Documents" folder

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ted Zieglar
  • Start date Start date
Hi all,

Can anyone tell me how to change the default location of "My Documents" from
the C: drive to the D: drive. I'm running xp pro sp2 & want to put it on a
seperate drive for safety sake, like a backup.

Thanks,

Ted.
 
Ted said:
Can anyone tell me how to change the default location of "My
Documents" from the C: drive to the D: drive. I'm running xp pro sp2
& want to put it on a seperate drive for safety sake, like a backup.
Click to expand...



There can be good reasons for keeping data on a separate drive or partition
from the operating system, but safety is not one of them. What you want to
do is not at *all* like a backup.

It leaves you susceptible to simultaneous loss of both drives to many of the
most common dangers: severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus
attacks, even theft of the computer. And if your D: drive is a second
partition, not a second physical drive, add head crashes and other forms of
drive failure to that list.

In my view, secure backup needs to be on removable media, and not kept in
the computer. For really secure backup (needed, for example, if the life of
your business depends on your data) you should have multiple generations of
backup, and at least one of those generations should be stored off-site.

Relying on the kind of separation you are talking about as a backup is
foolhardy, in my view. If your data is important to you, you need *real*
backup.

But to answer your question, TweakUI can help you change the location of My
Documents.
 
Right clisk on My Documents icon od desktop -> Properties ->Move.
Select folder ->OK ->Confirm moving your documents ->OK.
 
Make a new folder on the D: drive ("my documents" or whatever), and
basically do what Zed said (Right-click on my documents - Move - browse to
the new folder - confirm moving the files)

Some more tips, hope someone find them useful(?):

I'd also right-click on the new "my documents" folder and make it private,
especially if there are more users on the same computer. In wich case maybe
you should get those users to move their documents as well.

In addition to moving the "my documents" folder, I'd also recommend turning
off system restore on the D: drive, especially if all you have there is
documents. Control panel - system. In the "System properties" window, click
"system restore" tab, and select the D: drive, click settings and turn it
off for that drive. Repeat for other data-drives you have, but keep it on
for your system drive (C: drive with windows on) if you wish to use system
restore.

I have to admit I'm not entirely sure what a system restore on a "my
douments"-drive will actully do to the documents, since I've never done
that. But I'd think they would revert back to some earlier state, or go
missing if they weren't present at the time of creating the restore point.


And I agree (of course) that it's for safety's sake to separate documents
from the system. Not as a backup for the "my documents", since the new "my
documents" will be the original, only copy of "my documents". But for backup
purposes of the system:

I'd use a partition imaging program and make a complete image of the C:
drive and not rely on the system restore alone (or at all, if you don't want
to).

This way, should disaster struck and windows be irreparable somehow, you can
get it back as it was without disturbing "my documents". (Just make sure you
restore the image to the correct drive...)

And as for backup of "my documents", I personally just burn it on DVD or CD
from time to time... I don't have a multi-generation backup-plan for those
but I'm not in any business either.

Hope this helps.

-G
 
Back
Top