Use separate partitions for the operating system and your personal files
Having all personal files (Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, Downloads etc.) separate from the O/S is a very good idea. Fx. if you decide to upgrade the O/S to a newer version fx. to W10 (and later decide to go back to the previous version), or switch to a different O/S, then all your files will be safe, and very easy to "import" to a new O/S. This also allows you to restore the O/S from a system-backup, without loosing any personal files.
Since the files are on another partition, everything that you have created (or downloaded) after you created the system-backup are not affected by a system-restore.
Having O/S and personal files separated also allows you to create very frequent backups of just your files, without having to backup the O/S every time, which of course will save you a lot of space on your backup-location.
And if you have more then one O/S, it also makes it possible for multiple operating systems to share the same folders, allowing you to reduce the size of all those systempartitions, which then will save a lot of space on your harddrive.
Create a new partition for all your files (Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, Downloads etc.)
1. If you have a mechanical harddisk, (not an SSD !), First defragment the disk to free up the space you need to create the new partition.
Startmenu → Computer Put the mousepointer on your Windows-disk, and wait until it is "greyed out" Right-click and select Properties → Tools → Defragmentation Wait until it has finished...
2. Use Disk Manager. Control Panel → Administrative Tools Right-click on Disk Management, select Run as Admin
Alternative for steps 1 and 2 (simpler...) Open the Startmenu Type cmd in the command-box in the lower-left corner Right-click cmd, select Run as Admin
1. Enter dfrgui.exe Wait until it has finished...
2. Enter diskmgmt.msc Shrink your Windows-partition to get space for your new partition Create the new partition Assign a driveletter (fx. D)
3. Copy each folder to the new partition.
4. Change the locations of those folders. Open the Startmenu Right-click on each folder Put the mousepointer on the current location Click the button Remove ( Note: Donīt worry, this does not delete any files, just the link to them)
Select Include a folder Navigate to the new location Click the button Include a folder (lower-right corner) Click OK Repeat this until you have "moved" all folders.
Open your browser(s) Change the location of your download-folder
When you have confirmed that everything is working you can delete the files in the original location.
Note: if you have a mechanical harddisk (not an SSD !), Before you create a system-backup of your O/S, first defragment the disk to "clean up" the partition after removal of all your personal files. Depending on defragmentation, this can make the partition a lot smaller, which then will save time and space when you create backups...
I also have 2 other partitions, one for programs (the only programs i install on the O/S-partition are those that must be installed there).
And the other for the pagefile...
Startsize for the pagefile is 16 MB, but expandable up to 3.9 GB.
This setup gives me some "extra" space that i can use temporarily if the media-partition should get full.
I have 8GB RAM, so i normally donīt need any pagefile, but i have one just in case it might be needed.
Last edited by hackerman1; 21st May 2016 at 14:15.