Separate data partition in Windows XP?

J

jkh107

New Member
Is it possible to install Windows XP and to set up a separate partition for user data? I know about the method for moving individual users' "My Documents" folders to a separate location by right-clicking on "My Documents", selecting Properties and entering a new path, but this does not move all user data (the "Documents and Settings folder stays in the same place) and only moves files for a single user. However, it would be much easier to set up a computer so that by default all user data is on a different partition.

I had thought that there must be a fairly simple method because this is roughly how the network at my university is set up: the computers store user data on a separate drive that can be accessed from any of the computers that are attached to the network, while each one has its own C drive on which Windows is installed. So is there an easy method in XP? And will there be an easy method in Vista?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Why would it be much easier to set up a computer that way? It is easy to set one up the way things are now! I think it would be harder because you have to change things after the os install. I have a seperate partition for my downloaded and other data that I don't have to move when I reformat and I do that 2-3 times a year.
 
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Sorry, perhaps I wasn't quite clear. So far the only way I know to put every user's data to a separate partition is to log on as each user in turn and specify that I want to move their "My Documents" folder to another location (in this case, the D drive), then find the new folder and make it private. This is a bit of a tedious process because there are a few different users.

I think it would be easier if, either during or after install, you could tell Windows "drive D is where I keep all the user data for everyone" and it would set up individual, private folders for each user. I suppose in a way, what I am asking is how to change the (default) location of the "Documents and Settings" folder from the C drive to another partition. This way I would not have to log in and move the "My Documents" folder every time I add a user.
 
I would assume that you would have to change the registry for that, but I only know of the reg key to change the location of system folders for the current user.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

Following this basic idea of "...Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" ,
I checked to see if a path like that exists other than in the "current user" section. I found the following possibilities, but I cannot tell you for sure if that would be where to change things. So, if you try it, do it at your own risk and before playing around, back-up the registry and create a restore point in case something goes wrong later. These are some paths that I found. Check them out.

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

or

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

Maybe someone else here can tell you if that is indeed where you would change things and if so, which one of the two paths I posted is the right one to mess with. If it does work, please write back. I'm sure several of us here would want to know that as well.
 
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Thanks for the reply. I'm afraid I really don't feel confident enough to start changing registry keys on my computer just yet. It's starting to look like there isn't a really easy way of doing this in XP. Thanks again.
 
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