Windows 10: Directing data to a second drive ?

To direct data to a second drive I thought you opened File Explorer > This PC > then right clicked (for example) Music > Properties and changed the Location. However I can also open File Explorer > This PC > then left click Documents which displays Music along with other the folders. 1) If I right click the Documents folder & change the Location, will that also change the Music & other folders listed within Documents? 2) Why are the Music & other folders listed in Documents when they are already listed under This PC? File Explorer also shows Music under Quick Access. Thats 3 occurrences Im looking at. Does it make a difference which one I use to change the Location? Recently I came across this method which looks like it does the same thing, but does it? How to Change the Default Hard Drive for Saving Documents and Apps in Windows 10 Some online comments suggested creating a separate folder for each user account and make the new folders as subfolders of the user account folder. I am the only user. Is there some advantage of creating a user folder? I've never used a second drive for storage & any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

:)

 

Directing data to a second drive

I have a laptop running windows 10 pro, which has a 260g ssd and a 1t hard drive.

All programs and data reside on the SSD., which is nearly full.

How do I direct data to the other drive?

Thanks in advance.

 

Directing data to a second drive

Hi Graeme

You cannot retrospectively move Software or games to your Data drive, that can be done, but needs to be set up before installing that software.

Please Note, for an SSD to perform optimally, and to prolong the lifespan of an SSD, it needs to e minimum 1/4 free space

Please Note in the following I have assumed that drive letter is D, if it is not, you need to substitute the correct drive letter . . .

1

Personal Data:

You can move all your library folders (Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music . . .etc.) to your Data drive

Open Windows File Explorer

In the right hand pane, right click Documents and choose Properties

Choose the Location Tab, then in the Location box type D:\Documents, then click 'Apply' and OK

When that process completes, do the same for Pictures, Videos and Music. Each time, you must provide a different folder name, for example, Pictures will go to D:\Pictures and so on . . .

2.

Move all future installed Store Apps to your D Drive

Open the Settings App (gear icon on your Start Menu)

Go to System - Storage - Choose where new content is saved

From there et that to your D Drive

3.

If you are a gamer and use Steam

You can manually move your Steam folder to your D Drive and then point the Steam control Panel to the new location so it finds your Games. Please Note, the Steam process must be shut down before you move that folder

Finally when all possible data has been moved, run Disk Cleanup twice as explained here:

Open File Explorer

Click on your hard drive

On the Manage Tab, click Cleanup

Let Disk Cleanup do its initial scan

Select Everything in the list and choose Delete

Start Disk Cleanup again

Let Disk Cleanup do its initial scan

This time in the resulting dialog, click 'Cleanup System Files'

Let Disk Cleanup run another scan

Select Everything in the list and choose Delete

 

Lost data from hard drive, what to do now?

Well, I'm sorry to hear that it's a WD My Passport that failed on you, @tomhenry ! *Frown
I'd recommend you to try using a different USB cable with it and see if that will help your system to detect it without it disconnecting.
I'd also suggest you to go to Disk Management and see how the drive is listed there. It won't hurt to check up on the health and SMART status of the HDD by running the QUICK and EXTENDED tests from the WD's Data LifeGuard Diagnostics. Here's a link to the available software: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=11ZOpD

Give these troubleshooting steps a try and keep us posted with the results!
SuperSoph_WD