Moving Files From C Drive To D Drive

Hi all. I'm using Windows 10 and everything is auto saving to the SSD c drive and consequently it is nearly full. I have found out how to change the default save locations but this does not move the files already on the C drive. I have been successful in moving My Documents folder to the D drive and next I tried to go down the list of files and chose move Pictures, Music etc. Unlike when I moved the documents folder I am no getting this message:-
" Do you want to redirect folder "downloads" into another system folder "Documents" located at D:/. If you proceed with redirection you will not be able to separate them or restore default locaton. Do you still want to proceed with redirection?
Can anyone translate! I don't want to do anything drastic without checking. On the C drive at the moment I have these:-
Intel
program files
program files
Users
Windows

Which should I move if any? Can I go ahead with moving pictures,music etc despite the warning message above? What about my two user accounts can I move them as some websites say you shouldn't. Others say its ok to move them. Thanks if you can help.

 

All the windows system files, program files (64 bit and x86) and user files should not total more than maybe 35-45gb.
You should just be able to copy over all music, videos, photos, documents to the D drive, then just delete them from the C 'SSD' drive.
Don't move anything except that personal data, ie do not move any system (inc users), or program data.

 

Hi MaxTurner. thanks for your reply. Do you know what the warning message means which I detailed above. I'm unsure if this message means its not safe to proceed.

 

Is your D drive a separate physical drive or is it just a separate partition of your SSD?

 

Hi Earthling. The D drive is not separate ie sitting outside the PC. Under Devices and Drives it lists Windows C and Data D as the drives so I don't know whether this means they are separate. I don't think the D drive is a partition of the SSD. thanks

 

Right click your Start button and click Disk Management. A panel will open - does it show Disk 0 and Disk 1 or just Disk 0? Attach a pic if you can.

 

It shows Disk 0 and Disk 1. Pic attached. thanks

 

Thanks Jannie, that's just what I hoped to see. The answer now is to move to the D drive the folders that make up your personal profile, Docs, Music, Pics etc, and Windows provides an easy way to accomplish this. Start File Exlorer and click your username. Using Downloads as an example, right click the Downloads icon and click Properties. In the Properties panel click the Location tab. Edit whatever is in front of /Downloads so it reads just D: Click the Move button and you will be asked if you want to move the files too. Confirm that and OK out. Repeat the process for those of your other folders that are using significant space.

It's possible that after making these moves you may need to edit the file save locations in some of your software though this should not be necessary.

 

hi Earthling. I followed as instructed above but I am still getting the message I mentioned above ie "Do you want to redirect folder "downloads" into another system folder "Documents" located at D:/. If you proceed with redirection you will not be able to separate them or restore default locaton. Do you still want to proceed with redirection?
Do you know what this signifies as it suggests something irreversible? Thanks

 

Hi jannie. I suggest you slightly modify what I suggested by creating the folder D:\Downloads first and try again, being careful not to deviate from the method I gave you. I am a bit mystified as to why the system is describing the D:\Documents folder as a system folder, as it isn't. Can you recollect exactly what steps you took when moving the Documents folder to D:?

 

Hi Earthling. I found the info of how to move my documents online but I cant find the website now in my history. I opened file explorer from the start button,then clicked documents, then the home button at top of the screen, then properties, then location then move.
The documents moved fine with no strange warning message as above. However, when I click file explorer now the documents folder is named D:\ rather than documents like it was before I moved the folder.

 

Well that isn't right, obviously. Does this mean that all your document files are now at the root of the D drive?

 

jannie, just wanted to advise not to try moving anything else until we've got your Documents folder and all of its files parked in the right place.

 

Hi Earthling. Sorry for the delays in replying. I don't know if all my document files are now at the root of the D drive but like you say its not right. All I did was follow the steps I described above but I suspect these instructions were wrong and that is why I am getting that strange warning message "Do you want to redirect etc .... ' as described above. As I mentioned when I click file explorer my documents is now named D:\ . Also on the desktop my documents icon has been changed to this

 

You can easily check whether all of your document files are at the root of D: using File Explorer. Just Click on D: and look at the contents. Are all your files there? Then click on Documents, are your files all listed there too? If so we need to separate Documents to make it a sub-folder of D: but wait for instructions on doing that. It will be easier to make the comparison if you first uncheck the option to hide extensions for known file types. Ask if you don't know how to do that.

 

Hi Earthling. I did as you said and clicked on D: When I did this it shows all my document folders are listed in there separately eg my Birthdays folder, Travel folder etc but there is no general Documents folder in which all these are contained. I've unchecked the tick box so that the file type names are no longer showing. Thanks.

 

What has happened is that your Documents folder has been assigned the same address as your D drive and we have to separate them somehow. I realise you cannot see Documents in File Explorer but if you just click your username in File Explorer it will pop out all the icons that make up your personal profile. Is Documents showing there? If so, right click it and then Properties and tell me or post a pic of the Location tab.

 

Hi Earthling .I've clicked on my username in file explorer but there is no folder named Documents just the individual folders which were in the Documents folder before.

 

Start by creating a new Documents folder in D and dragging your folders into it. While you are sorting that I'll try to find out how to add the new folder to your user profile. I've had to do it before so I know it's possible.

 

Ok Earthling I'll do that for now till you advise further. Thanks for the time you have spent on this for me. It's much appreciated.

 

You are now going to have to open and edit the registry. Hope you are OK with that as it has to be done. Click Start and type regedit and click regedit above, highlighted. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders and in the right pane double click Personal and edit its value data to D:\Documents and OK. Before you do all that it would be a good idea to create a system restore point.

If that all goes OK try clicking your username again. Has Documents now reappeared?

 

Don't fret if it still isn't there as there are one or two steps we still need to take.

 

Hi Earthling. Ive done that. Bit scary as I don't like the registry. Nothing has changed like you say apart from the desktop icon now looks like this:-

 

Whoops sorry that's the same as it was before!

 

That's fine, I won't be available for a couple of hours but I'll post the remaining steps later.

 

Ok Earthling. I'll look again tomorrow to see if you have posted. thanks again.

 

Right, the final steps - hopefully Right click the Start button and click Command Prompt (Admin) and OK the UAC prompt. Copy and paste the following into the command prompt box -

attrib +r -s -h D:\Documents /S /D

hit Enter, close the box and reboot. Once booted click your username again and hopefully your Documents folder will now appear along with your others. Let me know how it goes and if successful you can look back in this thread and move Downloads and any other of your user folders you would like moved.

Good luck with it

 

Hi Earthling. Do I copy what you have instructed next to the flashing cursor ( same line as C:Windows) or put it on a new line? Thanks

 

Hi jannie, just right click in the window and click Paste.

 

Hi Earthling. I've done all that and restarted. I now have a folder on my desktop called Documents again but it has none of the sub folders of documents in it. I have to click on D:\ in file explorer to view the individual folders.
This newly created empty folder called Documents is located in the D drive. Shall I just move my individual folders into the empty Documents folder from D:\ Also I have just downloaded a file and it is automatically saved in C even though last week I set the storage up for files to auto save in D?

 

I asked you earlier to create a Documents folder in D:, which you seem to have done, and I also asked you to drag and drop all your subfolders from D: to D:\Documents. It doesn't appear that you did that so do it now please.

What I need to know now is whether Documents appears when you click your username in file explorer, along with Downloads, Pics etc. If it does, what does its location tab say?

Don't worry about the downloaded file atm, that's just a distraction.

 

Ok I've copied the folders over and now on my desktop all my sub folders are showing when I click the Documents icon so that's progress. Your question does Documents appear in file explorer under user name? - Yes on file explorer my user name shows when I expand DATA (D when I click user name under this there is a documents folder in there. Thanks

 

One or two things in that don't sound quite right. Would help if you could post a pic of File Explorer with D: expanded, like this -

also, is the Desktop Documents a shortcut or a folder?

and finally, in File Explorer, you haven't answered the question about the Documents Location tab.

 

Hi again Earthling. The Desktop Documents folder is a shortcut. The Documents location tab is D. I have been unable to attach a copy as you suggest. I used snipping tool but needed to edit it before I sent it to you so I've copied what I can below. I opened the document in Word 2016 which is new on me and cannot for the life of me find editing in this.

So I will have to explain:-
I click file explorer; Under This PC it shows a folder under D:\; Under this is Documents. Below this is DATA (D ):. Under this is Documents. Within documents is my user name.
In essence what I'm saying is my user name appears now under DATA (D): and shows as a sub-folder of Documents along with Birthdays, Holidays etc. Its not quite right I don't think is it?

 

Thanks jannie. I'm beginning to think we have finally cracked the problem with your Documents folder and got it back where it should be on D: and showing in your personal profile. However the pic you have posted does have some other odd features but they may be misleading due to the way you created it. Try using the snipping tool again and adjusting the snip so that it only includes the left column in file explorer. I'd like to get this bit right before we move on, if necessary, to moving some of your other personal folders to D: to ease the space problem on C:

We're doing just fine

 

Don't bother doing that jannie, I think it's OK. The drive and folder hierarchy doesn't run from top to bottom but from left to right. Look at Documents, it's inset one step from D: showing it's a subfolder, and your username is at the left, aligned with This PC, with its subfolders - your user folders - inset. That's all fine.

Turn your attention now to post #8. Hopefully with the help of that, plus the additional knowledge gained solving the Documents problem, you will be able to move Music, Pics, and Videos to D: but we don't want any more complications so ask if you aren't sure about something.

 

and Downloads

 

Hi Earthling. A big thanks once again for all your help. From looking at File Explorer again and right clicking Photos, they are located now in both the C and the D drives. So is the Music folder but the one in D is empty. I also have two user names and the documents folder on the second user account are located in C. I suppose I will have to sign with this and move the file over to D. I will let you know ( if you can bear it!) if I have any more problems. I just wish I knew why it went all wrong in the first place. It looked fairly easy but there again PC's can lull you into a false sense of security. Thanks again

 

I think you will find that if you move files from C to D for user A, user B won't be able to see them. It's a basic security feature in Windows.

Anyway, I think you will be able to get your data better organised now but don't be shy to ask if you have more questions.