Moving documents folder and backup

I'm having trouble getting my mindset to change from XP to Vista Pro
SP1. I had to clean install XP too many times and routinely moved all
data to its own partition.

When doing a clean install of Vista, I did the same. Documents,
Pictures, Music all point to D:\New Folder (with the green documents
icon visible on D:), D:\New Folder2, and D:\New Folder 3.

I have 2 questions.
1) Can I do anything about the New Folder, etc. names as seen from some
programs? I lose the green icons if i use a different name.

2) Which folder do I backup? The pointer on C: or the folder on D:?? I
didn't want to miss something, so I think I backed up both. That may be
why I ran out of room on the backup drive so quickly!:o

DonH


--
DonH

may I know how you have pointed documents, pictures etc to d:\new folder
etc?

secondly - pl clarify what you meant to say by this? -- "with the green
documents
> icon visible on D:), "

--
-sushil [MSFT]
this information is provided as-is without any warranties, implicit or
explicit.
"DonH" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:f93f45d35ffcd464152634e83ebb38f2@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> I'm having trouble getting my mindset to change from XP to Vista Pro
> SP1. I had to clean install XP too many times and routinely moved all
> data to its own partition.
>
> When doing a clean install of Vista, I did the same. Documents,
> Pictures, Music all point to D:\New Folder (with the green documents
> icon visible on D:), D:\New Folder2, and D:\New Folder 3.
>
> I have 2 questions.
> 1) Can I do anything about the New Folder, etc. names as seen from some
> programs? I lose the green icons if i use a different name.
>
> 2) Which folder do I backup? The pointer on C: or the folder on D:?? I
> didn't want to miss something, so I think I backed up both. That may be
> why I ran out of room on the backup drive so quickly!:o
>
> DonH
>
>
> --
> DonH

"Sushil Baid [MSFT]" <sbaid@nospam.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:eCBpdcm2IHA.5564@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> may I know how you have pointed documents, pictures etc to d:\new folder
> etc?
>
>
Right click on the particular folder, choose Properties, go to the Location
Tab and click on Move

You can move the physical location of your personal folders from the
default location on the C: drive to a different partion or drive. It is
explained here:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/10...-location.html

Vista uses icons with green folders for the personal folders. Click
start and then the user name on the top right of the black column and
you'll see them. When I redirected Documents to a new folder on D: it
displayed the same green Documents folder icon, but only if I left it
named "new". When I renamed the folder to something more meaningful
first, it retained the standard yellow folder icon. The green icon is a
good reminder that it's actually a personal folder.

My concern is making sure that I'm backing up the contents of the
redirected folders if I don't also select the folders on D: when doing
the file backup in Vista Business. On the other hand, I think that doing
both duplicates the same files, causing a lot of bloat in the backups.


--
DonH

wanted to know - what backup application are you using?

vista backup does not allow to select the folders. it picks the important
files/folders based on category selection.

--
-sushil [MSFT]
this information is provided as-is without any warranties, implicit or
explicit.
"DonH" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:5259c00c94f4f057df26dd4d93d56687@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> You can move the physical location of your personal folders from the
> default location on the C: drive to a different partion or drive. It is
> explained here:
> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/10...-location.html
> > Vista uses icons with green folders for the personal folders. Click
> start and then the user name on the top right of the black column and
> you'll see them. When I redirected Documents to a new folder on D: it
> displayed the same green Documents folder icon, but only if I left it
> named "new". When I renamed the folder to something more meaningful
> first, it retained the standard yellow folder icon. The green icon is a
> good reminder that it's actually a personal folder.
>
> My concern is making sure that I'm backing up the contents of the
> redirected folders if I don't also select the folders on D: when doing
> the file backup in Vista Business. On the other hand, I think that doing
> both duplicates the same files, causing a lot of bloat in the backups.
>
>
> --
> DonH

Vista backup, at least in the Business version, is more suited for
unsophisticated home users than for business users. Without some way of
previewing what will be backed up, you have to actually do a backup and
then methodically look through every empty folder (who thought it was a
good idea to backup empty folders?) to see what was and was not
included. That is a terrible waste of time! Yet, nowhere is there any
detail of precisely what will be included in each category. I spent days
searching white papers, MS blogs, technet, etc. and still had only a
sketchy idea. It was only through trial and error that I learned that,
for example, "Documents" were not the contents of the documents folder,
but apparently a group of files with certain suffixes located anywhere.
The other categories are similarly vague. Obviously a specific criteria
is used, but it's kept secret. The result for me was spending a lot of
time testing what should have been transparent only to discover that
many crucial files were not backed up. To add insult to injury, better
than 1/2 of the backup space was taken up with files that could and
should have been excluded.

The "important files/folders" as you said is really arrogant. Important
to who? The user's opinion of what "important files/folders" are is the
only opinion that matters. If a file that is crucial to the user is
assumed to be backed up, but isn't, you'll quickly see what I mean. To
hide what those "important files/folders" are is the height of
arrogance. Vista backup in the Business version has gone far beyond
helpful handholding. It assumes that the software engineers know what is
important to a business than the business itsef.

I really liked the promise of the vista backup, but the reality was
very disappointing. It would have been disaster had I actually relied on
it.

I've been testing Genie Backup Manager and so far it is doing exactly
what I want. It was easy to configure, yet I have complete control over
what is and is not included. Best of all, it didn't hide what it was
going to do. You can select categories as in Vista backup that clearly
spell out what is and is not included. You can also add or subtract
specific folders, files, or file types.

Sorry, this has been boiling around inside me for months. I guess I
finally unloaded!:o

Don

'Sushil Baid [MSFT Wrote:
> ;770945']wanted to know - what backup application are you using?
>
> vista backup does not allow to select the folders. it picks the
> important
> files/folders based on category selection.
>
> --
> -sushil [MSFT]
> this information is provided as-is without any warranties, implicit or
> explicit.
> "DonH" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
> news:5259c00c94f4f057df26dd4d93d56687@xxxxxx-gateway.com...> > >
> > >
> > > You can move the physical location of your personal folders from the
> > > default location on the C: drive to a different partion or drive. It
> > is
> > > explained here:
> > >
> > http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/107990-personal-user-shell-folders-move-location.html> > > > >
> > > > > Vista uses icons with green folders for the personal folders. Click> > > >
> > > start and then the user name on the top right of the black column
> > and
> > > you'll see them. When I redirected Documents to a new folder on
> > D: it
> > > displayed the same green Documents folder icon, but only if I
> > left it
> > > named "new". When I renamed the folder to something more
> > meaningful
> > > first, it retained the standard yellow folder icon. The green
> > icon is a
> > > good reminder that it's actually a personal folder.
> > >
> > > My concern is making sure that I'm backing up the contents of the
> > > redirected folders if I don't also select the folders on D: when
> > doing
> > > the file backup in Vista Business. On the other hand, I think
> > that doing
> > > both duplicates the same files, causing a lot of bloat in the
> > backups.
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > DonH > >


--
DonH

On Wed, 9 Jul 2008 10:41:06 -0500, DonH <guest@unknown-email.com>
wrote:

>
>Vista backup, at least in the Business version, is more suited for
>unsophisticated home users than for business users.

One thing people tend to forget... or maybe to overlook: Vista is an
OPERATING SYSTEM. While MS has incorporated many features over the
years that have taken business away from other software companies, it
has not tried to be the be-all-end-all for every job for all people.

That's why there is still a robust choice of third-party utilities
and programs to choose from.

Ranting about the limitations of Vista backup is silly - and I'm being
unusually nice in using that term.

>Without some way of
>previewing what will be backed up, you have to actually do a backup and
>then methodically look through every empty folder (who thought it was a
>good idea to backup empty folders?) to see what was and was not
>included. That is a terrible waste of time! Yet, nowhere is there any
>detail of precisely what will be included in each category. I spent days
>searching white papers, MS blogs, technet, etc. and still had only a
>sketchy idea. It was only through trial and error that I learned that,
>for example, "Documents" were not the contents of the documents folder,
>but apparently a group of files with certain suffixes located anywhere.
>The other categories are similarly vague. Obviously a specific criteria
>is used, but it's kept secret. The result for me was spending a lot of
>time testing what should have been transparent only to discover that
>many crucial files were not backed up. To add insult to injury, better
>than 1/2 of the backup space was taken up with files that could and
>should have been excluded.
>
>The "important files/folders" as you said is really arrogant. Important
>to who? The user's opinion of what "important files/folders" are is the
>only opinion that matters. If a file that is crucial to the user is
>assumed to be backed up, but isn't, you'll quickly see what I mean. To
>hide what those "important files/folders" are is the height of
>arrogance. Vista backup in the Business version has gone far beyond
>helpful handholding. It assumes that the software engineers know what is
>important to a business than the business itsef.
>
>I really liked the promise of the vista backup, but the reality was
>very disappointing. It would have been disaster had I actually relied on
>it.
>
>I've been testing Genie Backup Manager and so far it is doing exactly
>what I want. It was easy to configure, yet I have complete control over
>what is and is not included. Best of all, it didn't hide what it was
>going to do. You can select categories as in Vista backup that clearly
>spell out what is and is not included. You can also add or subtract
>specific folders, files, or file types.
>
>Sorry, this has been boiling around inside me for months. I guess I
>finally unloaded!:o
>
>Don
>
>'Sushil Baid [MSFT Wrote:
>> ;770945']wanted to know - what backup application are you using?
>>
>> vista backup does not allow to select the folders. it picks the
>> important
>> files/folders based on category selection.
>>
>> --
>> -sushil [MSFT]
>> this information is provided as-is without any warranties, implicit or
>> explicit.
>> "DonH" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
>> news:5259c00c94f4f057df26dd4d93d56687@xxxxxx-gateway.com...> > >
>> > >
>> > > You can move the physical location of your personal folders from the
>> > > default location on the C: drive to a different partion or drive. It
>> > is
>> > > explained here:
>> > >
>> > http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/107990-personal-user-shell-folders-move-location.html> > > > >
>> > > > > Vista uses icons with green folders for the personal folders. Click> > > >
>> > > start and then the user name on the top right of the black column
>> > and
>> > > you'll see them. When I redirected Documents to a new folder on
>> > D: it
>> > > displayed the same green Documents folder icon, but only if I
>> > left it
>> > > named "new". When I renamed the folder to something more
>> > meaningful
>> > > first, it retained the standard yellow folder icon. The green
>> > icon is a
>> > > good reminder that it's actually a personal folder.
>> > >
>> > > My concern is making sure that I'm backing up the contents of the
>> > > redirected folders if I don't also select the folders on D: when
>> > doing
>> > > the file backup in Vista Business. On the other hand, I think
>> > that doing
>> > > both duplicates the same files, causing a lot of bloat in the
>> > backups.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > DonH > >