Moving programs to another drive.

Win 7 Home Prem 64 Bit & SP1

C drive is a 120 GB SSD
Also have another internal HD - a 500GB Western Digital - which is Drive E.

I am using the E Drive for backups (photos, documents, mp3's...)

I am thinking of moving (not copying) various programs from the C to the E in case the SSD fails, then only need to re-install the OS and a few programs.

How does one move programs fully off the C?

Also what programs should I NOT move?
What about M/S Office 2010; Firefox; Thunderbird; iTunes; DVD Catalyst; etc ?

Thx

There is not a lot of gain from what you propose. There is, of course, equal chance also of your E drive failing.
But, in the event that you wished to reinstall the OS, you would still need to reinstall your third party software, in order to associate paths and .dlls..etc.
But, if you wish to go ahead that is, of course, your decision. Best way, imo, is to reinstall but direct the path to your drive E. Most programs offer an option for where to install, at the commencement of the process.

fwiw. As well as the install originals, I keep all my own installation software on DVDs or CDs. This is a double backup should I have a major breakdown

You'll have to reinstall all programs, even if they aren't on the ssd if you reinstall Windows, as Windows won't know they're there if you don't reinstall them. What brand and model ssd do you have this is important regarding firmware updates for the ssd ? For example, I have a OCZ Vertex 3 120 GB. Max IOPs ssd in my pc.. The firmware can only be updated with my ssd one of two different way's. Option one: Install Windows temporarily on a 2nd hard drive and the do the firmware update. With this option, I move all folder's off the drive Windows is temporarily going onto my external hd. Option 2: For OCZ sata 3 ssd's, they have a version of the firmware for Linux. To use it you need to make a bootable cd of Linux, but you need to either add the ssd's firmware update to it or save the firmware update to a flash drive. Also use Windows Backup to make a System Image before the firmware update. This image has saved me alot of time after any ssd firmware updates, as it restores Windows and my programs while leaving the ssd's firmware updated.

Well, it was just a thought.

I use acronis true image weekly - though always have at least a recent and one about 2-3 weeks old just in case & have a Carbonite acct. so I guess my new plan not needed (?).

Oh - and I have the same SSD.

Yeah, I love the Vertex 3. However, I wish OCZ would make it simpler for applying the firmware updates on them. PS. If you have any games. You may want to make a Games folder in C:\Program Files (x86) and then go to Disk Management and partition your 500 GB. hard drive to say 300 GB's and on the 200 GB partition name it games and then right-click that partition in Disk Management and choose Change Drive Letters and Paths and select the C:\Program Files (x86)\Games folder you created. Then when you go to install any games, choose Custom for the install and put it in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Games folder. That will actually install all your games on the mechanical hard drive's partition you created, while the game itself and Windows thinks it on the ssd's C: drive. I found that out after putting 4 games on my Vertex and they took up roughly 50 GB's. I found that on a old article on MaximumPC's website The games all still perform like they're on the ssd, too.