S
SnookRed
Guest
New to Windows 10 but have decades of experience on prior versions. When running Windows (Win 7 & prior versions) it has always been my preference to use the C: drive for nothing but the Windows system along with application software along with ancillary data. In that, data created & used by the software that is typically unknown to the user. Some Windows systems use the term appdata to refer to such data. This means directing that Windows store all data that is the work product of users on a different drive. This was pretty easy to do by creating symbolic links for directories with names like Documents, Pictures, Music etc. However, Windows 10 is behaving pretty strangely when attempting to do this.
A technique that has worked very well in the past would involve renaming the applicable directories on drive C: to something different and then adding a symbolic link with the name that Windows assigns to these folders. That way it is also easy to restore a system to its' standard configuration by simply removing the symbolic link and renaming the original directory back to the Windows assigned name. That technique doesn't seem to work on Windows 10.
When I rename the Windows assigned folder (e.g., Documents) to something like Documents.original the rename operations appears to have taken affect in Windows Explorer. However, when a command prompt is opened, which would be used for creating the symbolic link, there is no folder with the new name but there is one with the original name. The obvious implication is that Windows seems to be pretending the directory was renamed when it was NOT.
The objective of these operations seems like it is something that is very natural for some users to want to do. In that, there is not sufficient space on the C: drive too store all of my stuff so lets put it someplace else but let's also be sure that all of my stuff goes to that same other place. It is also quite natural to want to do this is a manner that all of the software running on Windows that may normally use these directories (i.e., assigned by Windows such as Documents) will function as usual only the files will never be placed on the C: drive but rather the place referenced by the symbolic link.
How can the above be done on Windows 10?
More...
A technique that has worked very well in the past would involve renaming the applicable directories on drive C: to something different and then adding a symbolic link with the name that Windows assigns to these folders. That way it is also easy to restore a system to its' standard configuration by simply removing the symbolic link and renaming the original directory back to the Windows assigned name. That technique doesn't seem to work on Windows 10.
When I rename the Windows assigned folder (e.g., Documents) to something like Documents.original the rename operations appears to have taken affect in Windows Explorer. However, when a command prompt is opened, which would be used for creating the symbolic link, there is no folder with the new name but there is one with the original name. The obvious implication is that Windows seems to be pretending the directory was renamed when it was NOT.
The objective of these operations seems like it is something that is very natural for some users to want to do. In that, there is not sufficient space on the C: drive too store all of my stuff so lets put it someplace else but let's also be sure that all of my stuff goes to that same other place. It is also quite natural to want to do this is a manner that all of the software running on Windows that may normally use these directories (i.e., assigned by Windows such as Documents) will function as usual only the files will never be placed on the C: drive but rather the place referenced by the symbolic link.
How can the above be done on Windows 10?
More...
