I'm sure there are people grumbling about the title/subject here, but
more specificity would probably be counter productive.
The question applies to all versions of Windows, probably starting with
Windows 95. I'm posting in the Windows 7 area as I was researching Win
7 items when I found the support article I'm now looking for and cannot
find.
Over the last two months, I've been researching Win 7's libraries,
document relocation, and system backup (not system restore points).
For years, I've been telling everyone that would listen, a smarter data
storage model is to put the user's data on a drive other than C:\.
Doing so would mean quicker reinstallation of the operating system if
needed, smaller boot drive/partition making back ups of that partition
faster, better protection of your documents from malware, etc.
And, of course, I take hits all the time with people telling me that's
not necessary.
During the web searching, I stumbled upon an MS article that, buried in
the text of the article, is exactly what I've been saying all these
years. Now that I want to reference this article, download it in fact,
I can't find it. It clearly stated that for some users, storage of data
somewhere other than C:\ was beneficial.
I thought I'd bookmarked it, but apparently not. Neither can I find it
listed in my browser's history. :-(
I thought it might be in the technet area, but I haven't found it there
either.
Does this ring a bell with anyone's memory? It's there somewhere! LOL
In an earlier post in this thread, I wrote "99% sure is was a Microsoft
site. Leaving the other 1% to the possible failure of human memory! LOL"
The 1% struck. It's not on the web AFAIK. Possibly in the technical
articles at Microsoft, and stated differently. My plan today was to
read those articles, but after Skyping with a friend, she told me where
it was. I'd emailed the information to her earlier.
The info I was looking for is in Windows 7 Inside Out, Microsoft Press,
Library of Congress Control Number 23009932321, pages 363-364.
Here's the text I was looking for:
**********************************
Relocating Personal Data Folders
Although the organizational scheme that Windows has adopted for personal
data folders— the 11 visible subfolders of %UserProfile% (see Figure 8-5
on page 275)—is suitable for many users, the scheme has one potential
defect: it combines data and system files on the same physical volume .
For a variety of reasons, some users prefer to separate their documents
and other profile data . These reasons might include the following:
â— Large collections of data, particular digital media files, have a
way of overwhelming the available space on system volumes, eventually
necessitating their removal and relocation to a separate, larger volume.
â— Separating data from system files makes restoration easier in the
event of system corruption (for example, by malware).
â— Separation reduces the size and time devoted to image backups,
encouraging their regular use.
â— Separation can make it easier, when the time comes, to upgrade the
operating system.
In earlier versions of the operating system, we routinely recommended
that users accomplish this separation by relocating their user profile
subfolders . In Windows 7, an alternative makes equally good sense:
store personal data in folders on a separate volume, and then include
those folders in your libraries . (For information about using
libraries, see “Work
ing with Libraries†on page 282 .) This approach
leaves you with a default set of profile folders, which you can still
use when it’s convenient to do so, but it keeps the bulk of your
personal information in a separate place .
**********************************
I like the phrase, "the scheme has one potential defect..."
My thanks and apologies to those that spent their time trying to find
this for me by looking in the wrong place.
--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.2
Firefox 19.0.2
Thunderbird 17.0.4
LibreOffice 3.6.5.2
