Solved How to keep data on separate partion

C

copiman

Member
I have a new 500G hard drive that I just installed. I loaded Vista on a 50G partition with all updates and a few apps (adobe, web browsers, and such). I now have 19G free space on the 50G partition. Is this free space enough for growth?

Also, I would like to store data on the other partition away from system partition. I am doing this because I was told if I did this and ever needed to reload the OS that I would not need to worry with reloading the data. I could point the install to the partition that the OS is installed on. Of course I would still need to reload all apps.

I have researched storing data on the other partition but came across conflicting information so I immediately came here to get the right answer. How do I make all data store on the partition not containing system? Do you have to do it per user? And I may be asking a lot here but can you install apps outside the system partition?

My goal is to have the system separate from everything (data and apps). This way if the OS gets corrupted, all I would need to do is reload OS and updates. I hope this makes sense and I posted in the right place.
 

My Computer

System One

Honestly you're possibly pushing it wwith 50Gig.

My drives I just dump everything over onto it after portioning and formatting.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Dual L5639 // i7 950 @ 4.0Ghz
    Motherboard
    Evga SR-2 // Gigabyte x58a-ud3r
    Memory
    12Gig Corsair XMS3 // 6Gig OCZ Gold
    Graphics Card(s)
    gtx 560 ti // gtx 260-216
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual 22" // Headless
    Hard Drives
    OCZ aGILITY 3, 120Gig + Seagate 500Gig x 2
    PSU
    Silverstone da700 // Corsair 520hx
    Case
    Rosewill BlackHawk Ultra // Antec 900v1
    Cooling
    Twin CM Hyper 212+ // Noctua NH-u12
    Other Info
    Acer 8930 laptop with x9100...
I'd suggest shrinking the big drive and expanding C: to 100GB then you should be fine.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s)
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750, Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 27" C27F398 Curved Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (HDMI)
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB
    Seagate ST2000NM001 2TB
    Seagate ST31500341AS 1.5TB
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Lenovo USB
    Internet Speed
    50MB Down, 10MB Up
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 Pro X64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP xw4400 Workstation
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    HP 0A68h
    Memory
    5GB
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI FireGL V3300
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer KN242HYL 24" (KVMS)
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST3120026As 120GB SATA (boot)
    Toshiba DT01ACA200 2TB SATA
    Mouse
    Logitech via KVMS switch
    Keyboard
    Dell USB via KVMS switch
    Internet Speed
    50 Down, 10 Up
    Other Info
    Apache Web Server since 2001

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
Here is how to move your personal documents (music, videos, word files, etc) to another drive. Note though that certain programs might need to be configured to point to your documents' new location. itunes is one such program that comes to mind. http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/107990-personal-user-shell-folders-move-location.html

As for applications you can't just move the files. You will have to uninstall and reinstall them however not all programs have the option for customizing their installation location. Another option is to use imaging software to copy the entire OS-documents and your programs included-to the new hard drive. There are multiple software programs that will do so that are free but the best cost money. I've only used the Seagate tools which are free but you must have a Seagate hard drive to use the program.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
Thanks everyone. I installed the hard drive for a friend and thought keeping everything away from the OS partition would make it easier to repair the OS without having to back up and reload apps and data. They have a tendency to get their PC corrupted which they bring to me for clean up. Although I don't mind because I'm a student and need the experience. Again thank you for your help. Good information.
 

My Computer

System One

Due to the nature of how applications are installed most would need to be reinstalled anyway. The only way to avoid that is to perform a full image of the OS and programs. Keeping the application files on another drive won't help.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
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