Solved Tidying up Win 11 Primary Drive


needlenoses

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I want to tidy up my Samsung 1T SSD drive. Getting too close to being full for my liking; I have an almost empty 1T WD internal that I want to move some programs to. Items like Microsoft Flight Sim will stay on the SSD as it is much faster.
For example; I have Software called AVS4YOU ( folder ) which contains 9 separated programs. I want to move this to the WD drive to gain disc space on SSD. And a bunch of others I hope. Any hints would be appreciated. I hope that I won't have to re-install everything on the WD drive manually.

Windows 11 home 21H2 22000.613

Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built on ASUS board
    CPU
    Intel I5 8600
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime B360-Plus
    Memory
    16 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    NVIDIA
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    Samsung S27D590
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    1920 X 1080
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    Samsung 1 T SSD/ WD 1T secondary
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    Logitech
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    Logitech
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    82.7 down/21.1 up 5 ms ping
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    Edge
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I'm suspecting that most of that drive space is used for data, and not programs.

Install something like Treesize free and check what is used for what

 

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    Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Dev
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    PC/Desktop
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    Homebuilt
    CPU
    Intel I3 10100
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    ASUS B460M
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4 Crucial
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel on chip
    Sound Card
    Realtek onboard
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    ASUS 24, LG 24
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    Full HD x 2
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    kingston A2000 NVMe PCIe 500 GB
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    LC Power 650W
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    Noname
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    Air 2x 120mm
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    Cherry G-81
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    Logitech M500
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    100/20
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    Firefox, Vivaldi
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    MS Defender
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    Windows 10 Home
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    Laptop
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    ASUS/Vivobook Flip 14
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    Ryzen 7 4700u
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    8 GB DDR4
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    AMD Vega
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    100/20
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    Firefox, Vivaldi
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    MS Defender
You can safely move your personal folders to another drive. Relocating default user folders on Windows 10

Only Windows store apps can be moved to another drive without using a third party program. You would not gain much space by doing this. As far as desktop programs I would not recommend attempting to move their file location, nor does Microsoft because it can cause issues, like the program not running or data loss. A safer, though less efficient, method is to uninstall the program and reinstall it to your desired drive.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
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    Logitech wired
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    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
OK; see your points; better to install future software onto the WD 1T drive unless speed is an issue. I could have installed software like PLEX onto the WD but even that is only 7.5 gig and office is only 2.66 gig. so thanks for the input which is what I was looking for.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built on ASUS board
    CPU
    Intel I5 8600
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime B360-Plus
    Memory
    16 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    NVIDIA
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S27D590
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1 T SSD/ WD 1T secondary
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    82.7 down/21.1 up 5 ms ping
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
I want to tidy up my Samsung 1T SSD drive. Getting too close to being full for my liking; I have an almost empty 1T WD internal that I want to move some programs to. Items like Microsoft Flight Sim will stay on the SSD as it is much faster.
For example; I have Software called AVS4YOU ( folder ) which contains 9 separated programs. I want to move this to the WD drive to gain disc space on SSD. And a bunch of others I hope. Any hints would be appreciated. I hope that I won't have to re-install everything on the WD drive manually.

Windows 11 home 21H2 22000.613

Thanks

For the most part, good advice here. One thing to note is that you should probably check to see what kind of space is being used - for example, use the disk cleanup tools and System --> Storage tools to clean up junk files, and see if you have an inordinate amount of System Restore files that you can delete and reclaim space with.

As for programs, most manually installed programs will give you the option to install wherever you want to, though many nowadays require you to run the installer using 'Advanced options' or some such setting(s). Basically, automatic installs will install to the default location, but if you get to the option where it actually asks which folder you want to install to, then you can usually change it there., There are some programs that do not allow you to do it - but otherwise you are fine.

Your system specs show that your second drive is a WD 1 TB - I'm assuming it is not an SSD as you specifically mention that for the first one. If so, then you really want to consider *hard* whether this is something you want to do or not. Programs loading off mechanical drives will load much slower, on average, than SSDs, but data (like pictures, music, videos, and documents) can be opened / loaded from mechanical drives with a (mostly) unnoticeable difference in load time.

So, first things first clean up the SSD with native tools and then assess what you can move and what you probably *ought* to move.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
I didn't want to install MS Flight Sim on the 1T Disc drive even though it would have saved a lot of space on the SSD. Speed is important for sure.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built on ASUS board
    CPU
    Intel I5 8600
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime B360-Plus
    Memory
    16 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    NVIDIA
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S27D590
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1 T SSD/ WD 1T secondary
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    82.7 down/21.1 up 5 ms ping
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender

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