Windows 7 change desktop location. Moving the desktop and my documents to another drive

Once upon a time, at the very beginning, I wrote a couple of articles on this topic, these were articles about transferring the “My Documents”, “Downloads” folders, the Appdata folder and even the entire user profile. It turned out, of course, not very beautiful (the first pancake is always lumpy :)), so someday I will completely rewrite these articles. And although all folders are transferred in a template manner, remembering search engines, I will write a couple more articles: this one, about moving the desktop, and about moving the “Downloads” folder. Remembering to save the SSD drive, these actions will not only free up space on the system drive, but will also extend its uptime. So, let's get started with the operation. Just like with other system folders, there are two ways to transfer this folder:
I. Through the conductor

II. Using Registry Editor

I. Transferring your desktop through Windows Explorer

1) The first thing you need to do is create a folder that will be used to store files and desktop shortcuts:

C:\Users\*username*

We find ourselves in a folder containing the following:

3) Right-click on the “Desktop” folder and open its properties:

4) Go to the “Location” tab and click the “Move” button:

5) Go to our folder created in the first step and press the “Select folder” button:

6) Click the "OK" button to apply the changes:

And we agree to transfer files and folders by clicking “Yes”:

7) Files and shortcuts have been successfully moved, and now everything you save to your desktop is saved on another partition.

II. Transferring your desktop by making changes to the registry

1) Open the Windows Registry Editor. To do this, press the key combination Win+R and enter regedit :

2) We follow the path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

The Windows operating system stores the “Desktop” folder with program shortcuts located in it on its installation drive (usually drive C). In the event of a serious failure, the user may lose their conveniently configured desktop. To prevent this from happening, you can move it to another drive.

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Now the important folder: Internet cache! Why store them elsewhere? In the area associated with Temporary Internet Files, click the Settings button. Click the "Move Folder" button and select another partition! Make sure you are there and set the cache size.

Oh, this is usually available in other browsers too. Leaving it in a folder on another partition can do a lot to make the system partition clean and stable. This tip is good to use as soon as you install the operating system, before installing many applications.

Go to My Computer properties, click the Advanced tab, and click the Environment Variables button. Additional advice, and it is also important to maintain the stability of the system drive: move the page file to another drive. And this avoids fragmentation of the main block with temporary files that are only useful for a while, for example, when installing a program or rotating it.

Instructions

If Windows is installed on drive C, the path to the desktop will be: C:Documents and SettingsAdminDesktop. In this example, the username is Admin; yours may be different. To move your desktop to another drive, use Windows Explorer. Click Start, then open All Programs - Accessories - File Explorer. Next, open in Explorer: C: Documents and SettingsAdmin and select the “Desktop” folder. In the menu, select “Edit” - “Move to folder...” and specify the location where you want to move the desktop - for example, just select drive D. The folder will be moved. After this, be sure to restart your computer. Please note that you can only move the desktop through Windows Explorer and nothing else. Do not move the Desktop folder by simply dragging it with the mouse or using various file managers. When you move the desktop through Explorer, the operating system remembers its new location, so you won't have any difficulties in the future. It is possible to move the desktop by editing the system registry, but this option is much more complicated, so there is no point in using it; it is much more convenient to use Windows Explorer. In addition to the desktop, it is useful to store the “My Documents” folder on another drive. In this case, you can save files in it without fear of Windows crashing, since your data and the operating system will be on different drives. To transfer this folder, click “Start”, right-click the “My Documents” line in the menu. In the context menu that opens, select “Properties”. The properties window will open, in it click the “Move” button. In the new window, select the desired drive and create the “My Documents” folder. Click OK and you will be asked to confirm moving the files. Agree by clicking “Yes” and the file transfer will begin. After it finishes, restart your computer. Please note that all applications must be closed when transferring files. How simple

Why change the user folder location?

And it can benefit you in many ways.

Ability to use two disks on one computer

Use your drive on different computers. Do you know when we are about to format a machine and wonder if we are copying everything or not? Well, if the user's folder is in a different location, you don't have to think twice.

For example, I have some operating systems on my computer. There were some situations above, but each of them may have a specific application. First, we need to define. Assuming we have three users. All these folders are created in the Users folder. Inside the folder users we will have three folders: Ana, Carlos and Clara.

When reinstalling the operating system, the issue of restoring the selected settings is relevant. This includes installing the necessary software, desktop design and screensavers, as well as restoring files and folders in the “Desktop” and “My Documents” system folders. To you

The Microsoft Windows operating system provides the ability to transfer the Desktop component, which is part of the user profile, to another partition of the computer disk. This operation is carried out using standard system tools. Sponsor of P&G placement Related articles

Ways to change the location of your personal files

Now that we understand what we are going to do, let's move on. We have two simple ways to change.

Using the program to change the user folder

Then know that only profiles created after running the program will be saved elsewhere.

The program is free, small and has. Just continue and order as needed. Proceed at your own risk. Place a destination for new users and click Start. After some time, the process completes successfully.

As you guessed, today we’ll talk again about setting up your computer and operating system. To be more precise, I want to tell you about how you can move, in different types of Windows, the folder in which “ Desk" And " My documents"to disk" D:\».

Perhaps you may be wondering why this is necessary? There are so many reasons for this that you don’t need to think long about it. Every day, someone and for-for or such flies Windwos or file system, which leads to or.

Now you need to either log out or restart. Click Manage Another Account. Then click "Add New User" in your computer's settings. He's gray, like he's disabled, but he's not! Click "I don't have this person's login information."

Please note that we have not posted any user information until now. Now enter your username and if you want to enter a password, click Next. Typically the account you create does not appear as "Administrator - Local Account". If you want this user to have administrator rights, click "Change account type" and select "Administrator".

Such cases often lead to the loss of important files that were stored on the “C:” drive, in the desktop and document folders. Of course, you can try those that were lost, but after they are restored they may be damaged. Well, disappointed users, with sadness before their eyes, begin to reinstall the system.

In this article, I will show you how you can prevent yourself from losing important files when Windows is damaged. I’ll also show you in detail, how to move the “Desktop” and “My Documents” folders for storage, on the “D:\” drive, so that later, after installation, you don’t have to worry about losing them.

Accounts with an administrator profile can make changes to the system, such as installing and removing programs, changing advanced settings, and others. User accounts do not have these permissions. In fact, it completely recreates the users folder structure, creating default system folders as well as our new account.

Just to be clear: this procedure does not transfer old accounts to the new destination. This new destination will only be used for new user accounts. So if you want to transfer the old one, you must create a new account and move the files there.

Moving Desktop and My Documents Folders in Windows XP

So, to change the location in Windows XP we need, you can see how to do this here. Now, in the registry that opens, go to the following branch:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

By clicking on " Shell Folders» A large list of different properties and values will appear on the right. Here, we look for those folders in which we want to change their storage location. So, we move “Desktop” and “My Documents”, respectively, we find the items “” and “”.

Changing the User Profile Folder Manually

The second, much simpler but less effective option is to change only a few local folders. First, you can create a folder with any name on another drive. Then we will find the folder to move. Already registered user you want to change the folder location, right-click the Quick Access folder, for example, under Downloads and open Properties.

Part 2: Moving All New Content

On the Local tab, enter a new location for this folder. So you can move all those folders there. But it must be one after the other, individually. This significantly increases productivity. Updating an old backup or creating a new backup will ensure that all content is transferred correctly and will simplify the transfer process. This way, all content added to the new computer will be separate from the old library.

By clicking on “” twice, in the window that opens, enter a new value, namely the path where our desktop will be stored.

We do the same with “”, open and enter the folder address. For example, I will store folders immediately in the root of the drive “D:\”, accordingly I will write the following value: D:\My Documents. If this is some other folder on the disk, then the path will look something like this: D:\Folder name\My Documents.

Files can be added back to the library. Follow these steps to copy all your media files, including the library file that stores all your playlists and other settings, to your new computer.

You've now moved all your music, playlists, and other information, including game counts and ratings, from your old computer to your new one.

Part 4: Re-adding new content

After transferring the library

After logging into the user account you transferred. If you have problems with data transfer. If the above steps do not work properly, please follow these steps. Follow these steps to prevent other applications from opening during migration.

By clicking " OK», save the changes made. And in order for them to fully take effect, you must restart the computer. After this, everything that you save on your desktop will be automatically duplicated in the above-mentioned folder on the “D:\” drive.

Disable antivirus software

If it doesn't appear, make sure the computers are connected to the same network. Once the migration is complete, you can enable the firewall software. Then try opening the Migration Wizard again. Once the migration is complete, you can activate your antivirus software.

If your computer doesn't support Migration Assistant

There are other data transfer options. See what exactly can be downloaded from applications and what types of data. Email, contact and calendar information. Migration Assistant moves your email settings, email account settings, contacts, and appointments.

Changing the desktop storage location on Windows 7 and 8

In the situation with Windows 7, everything is much simpler. To do this, we do not need to go into the registry or manually change the storage location of the user folders. All we have to do is simply select all the folders and cut them out.

Risks are inherent in using the Internet. For more information. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. We'll show you four methods you can use to copy your files and settings to a new computer without much effort.

The advantage of this option is that you don't need to download any software or follow any special instructions. But there are two points you need to pay attention to. First, the media must have enough space for all the files you want to transfer, or you will have to make multiple "trips." And in addition to helping you transfer files, it can be used to store your backups for the future.

Then, go to the desired folder on another drive and paste them there. After copying is completed, restart the computer and check the result. To do this, having created any file on the desktop, it should appear in the copied folder. If so, then everything was done correctly.

Another thing is that you need to manually select the files you want to transfer. You will also find a Desktop folder there, which contains all the files and folders that are on your desktop. If you don't save your documents in the My Documents folder or one of your subfolders, find them using your file manager and copy them to external media.

This can be a convenient way to transfer documents, but keep in mind that transferring large files can take a long time and eat up a good chunk of the monthly data allowance on your broadband plan, if you have one. Online storage, as well as removable storage, requires you to manually select files to upload. And if you don't feel confident enough, you may prefer one of the two automatic approaches.

Thanks to the fact that we will transfer the folders to another local drive, we can protect ourselves from losing our files. And let's not bother with this during the next Windows update. By the way, I regularly use transferring user folders at work, and I want to say that this has saved me more than once in various situations. Thanks to the fact that I moved the desktop to another drive, I saved a huge amount of time that I could have spent on restoring files. So, think about whether you should change your storage location or not?

Option 3: This application basically does what we have described in the previous methods, that is, transferring the contents of each user's folders, as well as transferring user accounts and their associated settings. If you wish, you can protect your backup with a password. The tool will automatically copy your documents, bookmarks and other user data to the desired locations.

Simply download and install the program on both computers. Don't forget your product keys. If you have software that you paid for, you should remember to return it. This way, you can download, install, and reactivate the software on your new machine without having to buy a new copy of the software or contact your developer.

Perhaps you may be wondering why this is necessary? There are so many reasons for this that you don’t need to think long about it. Every day, someone's Windwos or file system flies, which leads to or.

Moving Desktop and My Documents Folders in Windows XP

So, to change the location in Windows XP we need, you can see how to do this here. Now, in the registry that opens, go to the following branch:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

By clicking on “” twice, in the window that opens, enter a new value, namely the path where our desktop will be stored.

Changing the desktop storage location on Windows 7 and 8

By moving the folders to another local drive, we can protect ourselves from losing our files. And let's not bother with this during the next Windows update. By the way, I regularly use transferring user folders at work, and I want to say that this has saved me more than once in various situations. Thanks to the fact that I moved the desktop to another drive, I saved a huge amount of time that I could have spent on restoring files. So, think about whether you should change your storage location or not?

I received an interesting question, to which I considered it necessary to devote an entire note. The question was:

How to move the “My Documents” and “Desktop” folders?

Based on this lesson, you can move not only these folders, but also other service ones, for example, the “Favorites” folder.

You may have a question - why is this necessary? Well, they are sitting in one place, well, let them sit, why change them?

The point is that “My Documents” and “Desktop” folders, like other service folders, are located on . And many people like to store folders with movies, music, photos and games right on their desktop, I’ve seen this several times already.

Therefore, for such fans this will be very useful material. Since all this information stored on the desktop or in the “My Documents” folder will be located on the system drive, which is usually smaller than the rest of the computer. And if you fill it to capacity, I’m talking about the system disk, then your computer may start to work poorly, or even stop booting.

But when you specify the workplace "My Documents" and "Desktop" folders on another drive, for example, drive D, then this problem will simply disappear.

You will be able to store all the information that another local drive can hold, without worrying about the performance of the system drive.

Now let's start implementing the technical plan.

Some of you may already know about the Windows Registry. For those who don’t know, I’ll say it briefly - all system settings are stored in the registry, including the programs to be installed. You can change almost everything from the registry!

But, I must warn you that you need to poke around there with extreme caution, since one wrong step and the functionality of the operating system may be disrupted. And then it will be difficult to find your joint! Since there are a great many entries in the registry.

However, if you have 7 installed and not XP, then you won’t have to go into the registry at all. Since everything can be changed in the folder settings. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to give complete detailed material on Windows XP, since a week ago I installed Windows 7.

But I still remember how you can change the storage location of these folders.

Moving the “My Documents” folder in Windows XP.

Moving it is quite easy, since it is a service folder, all you need to do is right-click on it in the “menu” Start" From the drop-down menu select the last item “ Properties”, then, in the window that appears, open the “ tab Destination" There you can specify the path to store this folder. Moreover, there should be a button “ Move”, when clicked, the entire contents of the folder “ My documents” - will be transported along the path you specified.

If this folder is not in the Start menu, try finding it on your system drive in your profile folder.

But, you can force the “My Documents” folder to appear in the “Start” menu. To do this, just right-click on the “ Start”, from the drop-down menu select “ Properties”, and press the button “ Tune" A list of Start menu items will appear, and there you will find the item “ My documents” and set it to appear as a link or menu. Don't forget to press the “ OK” so that all changes take effect.

Moving the “Desktop” folder in Windows XP.

I would like to note right away that I cannot provide pictures for the topic on Windows XP, since I don’t have this one, but perhaps it is possible move the “Desktop” folder as well as the “My Documents” folder. Just find it on your system drive and open the “ Properties”, if there is a tab “ Destination” - just change the path and click move; if there is no such thing, you will have to go into the Windows registry. Again, I can’t check this myself.

To enter the registry, run the command “ Start” - “Execute”.

In the window that appears, enter the following command - “ regedit”, without quotes. Press the key “ Enter” and you will see a system registry window.

Let me remind you once again, don’t try to fake anything there if you don’t know what you’re doing, as the consequences can be very unpredictable.

And so, the registry window is open in front of you, and now you can change the destinations of the service folders; in order to do this, you need to follow the following path (in the left column):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

It is in this path that you can change the location of the “Desktop” folder (the right side of the window), and not only that, all service folders are registered there. And so, we go along this path, there you will see several more folders, and one of them will be called “ Desk" or " Desktop” (in Windows 7 this folder is called this way, perhaps in XP it will be the same).

Here we select “Desktop” or “Desktop” in the right half of the window, see the picture below, however, this is a snapshot of the Windows 7 registry:

Click to enlarge.

Please note that the “Change string parameter” window will appear and you just need to double-click on the list item, in my case “Desktop”, I have highlighted it with a red line.

A window appears in front of you where the path to the folder is already registered. Inscription " %USERPROFILE%” means the path to the user entry on the system disk. What to do now? When have you already opened such a window?

Create a folder in the location where you want it to be located, for example, on drive D, create a “Desktop” folder and indicate instead of the inscription “ %USERPROFILE%\Desktop” - “D:\Desktop”.

That's it, we apply the changes, and your desktop is already in a different location. Just remember to transfer everything from your old desktop to the new one. You just need to copy them to a new folder, and you can delete them from the old one.

Moving the “My Documents” and “Desktop” folders in Windows 7.

Everything is simpler here, we won’t have to go anywhere, since everything can be changed through the folder settings. You can apply everything, as I said above, through the “ ” menu, everything, almost exactly the same, you can apply everything through the registry, or you can simply find these folders, since they are all located in one place and you can call up properties directly from Explorer and change their location default location, which is what we will do now.

We go along the following path:

System disk :\ Users \ The name of your profile in the system.

Or in the start menu, select his name in the top right, under your profile picture. See the picture below.

After clicking on the name of your entry, you will immediately be taken to your personal folder, where all service folders are located. Then simply select the desired folder, right-click and select “ Properties” and in the window that appears, select the “ tab Location”:

Then create a folder in the place where you need it, press the “ Move”, in the window that appears, indicate this folder. After these simple steps, your desktop, like any other folder, will move to a new location.

Please note that the path (I have highlighted it with a red line) has changed. If it remains the same, change it manually and click apply.

To restore everything to its original position, simply select the “ Default”.

I think everything is here, as we can see, there is nothing super complicated here, and any beginner can cope with this.

PS: if you have Windows XP and you have found some simpler method, please post it in the comments. Since I can no longer have more detailed information.

I present to your attention a method by which you can move the Desktop and My Documents to another drive. Why is this necessary? Yes, because these folders usually contain a lot of all sorts of “necessary rubbish”. On the one hand, you may not need these files, but they will be needed for the system to work. Or you want all your necessary data to be at hand (on the Desktop), but often they weigh too much, and it is better to leave space on the system disk for programs. What's good about this method? The fact that it will not be involved here and all operations will be performed using standard Windows tools without third-party programs.

I already wrote in an article about Windows XP, but it used a script and it was necessary to edit the registry.

I'll warn you right away. It is advisable for everything to be beautiful and convenient, create a folder on another local drive Documents. So that after completing the steps described below, you do not have junk or unclear folders.

Moving the Documents Folder in Windows XP

1) Open Start, right-click on it My documents and choose Properties.

2) A window will open in which we press the button Move and in the next window select the created folder for documents on another disk.

3) Click OK, then Apply, agree with the windows xp message, click YES and OK =)

Moving the Desktop in Windows XP

1) Go to the path C:\Documents and Settings\(Folder with your profile)

You can find out what folder you have and its name in the Start menu in the header

2) Find the folder there Desk and cut it into a folder Documents to another disk.

Before moving, be sure to close everything open from the Desktop

You can test your actions by deleting or adding a folder or document in variable folders and see the changes on the Desktop and in My Documents.

Moving the Documents Folder in Windows 7

1) Same as for Windows XP

2) Click Add folder and select the created folder on another drive

3) Right-click on the newly added folder and select Set as default location.
Or just select it and press the button Set the save folder

The rest of the folders can be deleted directly in this window, but if you are afraid, then do not touch

4) Apply OK

Moving the Desktop in Windows 7

1) Start -> select your profile (top right)

2) We are looking for a folder there Desk(Desktop), right-click on it and select Properties.

3) Tab Location, button Move

4) Select the created folder on another disk

5) We agree with all windows curses

That's basically all. Sorry for so few pictures, but I think it’s clear where to click what.