0

I have a notebook with a small system disk (32GB) and an additional 160GB ssd drive. Windows can be installed only on the small drive.

I would like to move everything to the bigger drive to free up space on the smaller.

Could you please recommend what to move and how?

Dávid Molnár
  • 281
  • 1
  • 6
  • Why can it only be installed on the smaller disk? What type of notebook is it? – Seth Dec 27 '17 at 09:34
  • It's a Lenovo Ideapad 100s. – Dávid Molnár Dec 27 '17 at 10:27
  • It has an OEM Windows, so, I don't want to mess with reinstalling etc. – Dávid Molnár Dec 27 '17 at 11:12
  • According to the information I can find online you don't have a 32GB SSD but instead a eMMC ([manual](https://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles_pub/ideapad_100s_11_iby_hmm_201509.pdf)). You don't have the space to install another hdd/ssd. In addition the BIOS likely won't allow you to change the devices in a way that supports booting from them. As for just moving data it would depend on what you want to move. E.g. if you check the properties of your document folder you will find an option to move it. – Seth Dec 27 '17 at 11:19
  • I've never said I have a 32GB SSD. I can install a M.2 SSD. I already moved the users folder and the pagefile. What else is possible to move? – Dávid Molnár Dec 27 '17 at 11:31
  • This is fairly easy using partclone on Linux. But I think you only want a Windows answer? – jdwolf Dec 27 '17 at 12:24
  • 1
    It's not about copying the windows partition to a different disk. This notebook can not boot from a different device, only the built in one. – Dávid Molnár Dec 27 '17 at 14:03
  • As it is your question lacks detail or is unclear. Most of the information you have supplied seems kind of superfluous (though probably good intended). I'm pretty certain that you know how to move files so in order to figure out what files you move you'd have to get an understanding of what is taking up the space. There are quite a [few questions](https://superuser.com/questions/8248/how-can-i-visualize-the-file-system-usage-on-windows) on how to figure that out. As I mentioned the properties of some profile folders allow you to move them (for instance). Otherwise mention what you want to move – Seth Dec 27 '17 at 14:16
  • This is a very basic Windows installation. Nothing special. The questions is about what to move on a simple, basic Windows to the different partition to free up space. User files is probably the first, then maybe Microsoft Office. My other idea was the pagefile. Is there anything else? – Dávid Molnár Dec 27 '17 at 14:22
  • Every program can be installed on another drive. You usually have to go through a custom installation vs defaults. I used to do this years ago when short stroking HDD. You might be able to move the system restore files as well. – Damon Dec 28 '17 at 01:11
  • Unfortunately, this is not the case anymore. Most programs install by default on the system drive and there is no advanced installation option: Chrome, Skype, Office 2016. It is a very stupid trend, though. – Dávid Molnár Dec 28 '17 at 08:42

3 Answers3

2

One easy and (usually) painless way of moving things is a combination of copying and leaving NTFS junction points in their place, so that anything that expects things to be where they were would still "think" it's there.

Assuming your 32GB disk is C:, let's say you have a folder called C:\Data you want to move to D:\Data. In that case, run these commands in Command Prompt (depending on the current setup, you may need to run as Administrator):

  1. Copy the original data: robocopy "C:\Data" "D:\Data" /E /COPYALL /XJ
  2. Delete the original data: rmdir "C:\Data" /S /Q
  3. Create a junction where the original was to point to the new location: mklink /J "C:\Data" "D:\Data"

You probably don't want to do this for most "standard" folders though:

Because of this, I recommend you only move the things that take the most space, rather than the whole of Users of Program Files. WinDirStat can be help pinpoint what those things are.

Finally, hiberfil.sys can't be moved, but can be disabled and the page file can be moved through settings.

fstanis
  • 358
  • 3
  • 8
  • Thanks, creating junctions is a very good idea. Unfortunately, it's not always easy, e.g moving Office 2016 folder doesn't work after restart, maybe I should create the junction before installing it? – Dávid Molnár Dec 30 '17 at 09:32
  • Why not just install it to a different drive? – fstanis Dec 30 '17 at 13:54
  • Yes, but you need a Volume licensed Office to be able to do that. Office for home use comes with a not customizable installer. – Dávid Molnár Dec 30 '17 at 20:01
  • OK, fair point. Care to elaborate what doesn't work with moving it? In theory, junctions shouldn't be visible to software, so moving it before or after shouldn't make a difference. – fstanis Dec 30 '17 at 20:34
  • Yes, after moving Office 2016's folder, it works. But after restarting the computer, it doesn't work anymore. Word, Excel, etc. starts with an error message, saying the installation is corrupted... Maybe it would work if I would first create the junction and then install... – Dávid Molnár Dec 31 '17 at 08:30
0

You cannot move the partition to another disk. For now, i suggest you back up all important data. And then do a clean install on SSD according to this guide:

https://www.disk-partition.com/articles/windows-wont-install-on-ssd-4348i.html

Waka
  • 1,164
  • 6
  • 5
  • I'm sorry, but your answer is completely unrelated to my question. I don't want to move the partition to a different disk. I don't want to do a clean install, because this notebook can boot only from the built-in storage. – Dávid Molnár Dec 28 '17 at 10:11
0

I would say that if you can't custom install your newer programs to your D drive your only other choice is to move the page file and all your data over to the new drive, and see how much space you have then.

If it were me I would purchase a bigger C drive along with a good backup program that allows you to create an expanded backup onto a new bigger drive and swap it that way.

Some types of drives even comes with this software included. I don't claim to know anything about your specific computer, but I have done this many times over the years with various systems.

Mokubai
  • 89,133
  • 25
  • 207
  • 233
Smokin' Eagle
  • 1