Any backup value in putting My Documents on a separate hard drive instead of C?

[Chet]

I am wondering if there is any value added to putting all my 'my
documents' files on a secondary hard drive versus the primary drive?

My logic was that due to the process of gradual 'operating system
degradation' whereby the operating system (win xp) over time gets
screwed up over time by new pgm installs, occasional pull the plug out
powerdowns, erant programs, drivers gone bad, etc. that if you put all
your 'my documents' on a 2nd hard drive that if you have to reinstall
windows that you wouldn't have to do anything at all with your 'my
documents' drive and you would just reinstall windows on the C drive
and keep the D drive with my documents on it there.

Does this logic seem worth the while in light of the relatively newer
very inexpensive external hard drive backups that are now available?
(Meaning that it's so cheap to back up the computer on an external
drive why even worry about where 'my documents' is now?

Thanks,
Chet

[JasonA]

People have used floppies to achieve the same thing: the fact is - if
something happens to that floppy or hard drive you still loose your data.
Still use your main partition BUT backup everything important (includes your
Windows Address Book if you use OE).

"Chet" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I am wondering if there is any value added to putting all my 'my
> documents' files on a secondary hard drive versus the primary drive?
>
> My logic was that due to the process of gradual 'operating system
> degradation' whereby the operating system (win xp) over time gets
> screwed up over time by new pgm installs, occasional pull the plug out
> powerdowns, erant programs, drivers gone bad, etc. that if you put all
> your 'my documents' on a 2nd hard drive that if you have to reinstall
> windows that you wouldn't have to do anything at all with your 'my
> documents' drive and you would just reinstall windows on the C drive
> and keep the D drive with my documents on it there.
>
> Does this logic seem worth the while in light of the relatively newer
> very inexpensive external hard drive backups that are now available?
> (Meaning that it's so cheap to back up the computer on an external
> drive why even worry about where 'my documents' is now?
>
> Thanks,
> Chet
>

[Roberto]

'operating system degradation' whereby the operating system (win xp) over
time gets screwed up.

Well this sort of thing can be avoided, if you create a restore point
before installing software then when something goes wrong simply restore
the OS to how it was prior, also it should be part of your on going
strategy to regularly check into the manufacture's web sites for update
drivers for your devices, don't use the ones from the MS site. Doing the
above will keep your OS sweet just like mine and all the rest of the
world that follows a similar strategy.
You could also learn how to image your drive, then if it gets mucked
up completely you can quickly restore to good image.
As you can see there are several strategies available, whatever suits
you're situation best....
rgds
Roberto

over time
"Chet" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I am wondering if there is any value added to putting all my 'my
> documents' files on a secondary hard drive versus the primary drive?
>
> My logic was that due to the process of gradual by new pgm installs,
> occasional pull the plug out
> powerdowns, erant programs, drivers gone bad, etc. that if you put all
> your 'my documents' on a 2nd hard drive that if you have to reinstall
> windows that you wouldn't have to do anything at all with your 'my
> documents' drive and you would just reinstall windows on the C drive
> and keep the D drive with my documents on it there.
>
> Does this logic seem worth the while in light of the relatively newer
> very inexpensive external hard drive backups that are now available?
> (Meaning that it's so cheap to back up the computer on an external
> drive why even worry about where 'my documents' is now?
>
> Thanks,
> Chet
>

[Rock]

Chet wrote:

> I am wondering if there is any value added to putting all my 'my
> documents' files on a secondary hard drive versus the primary drive?
>
> My logic was that due to the process of gradual 'operating system
> degradation' whereby the operating system (win xp) over time gets
> screwed up over time by new pgm installs, occasional pull the plug out
> powerdowns, erant programs, drivers gone bad, etc. that if you put all
> your 'my documents' on a 2nd hard drive that if you have to reinstall
> windows that you wouldn't have to do anything at all with your 'my
> documents' drive and you would just reinstall windows on the C drive
> and keep the D drive with my documents on it there.
>
> Does this logic seem worth the while in light of the relatively newer
> very inexpensive external hard drive backups that are now available?
> (Meaning that it's so cheap to back up the computer on an external
> drive why even worry about where 'my documents' is now?
>
> Thanks,
> Chet
>

It is a good idea to keep data files on a partition separate from the OS
and program files. It facilitates backup and restore. Always have a
full and complete backup.

I recommend using a drive imaging program. This makes an exact image of
the partition which can be saved on CD/DVD or to another drive -
internal or external. Imaging to an external USB 2.0 / Firewire drive
works well. Then occasionally burning an image to DVD gives you
redundancy. Restores can be done of the entire partition or individual
files / folders. These work well and make it easy to recover from a
drive crash. Examples of this are:

Norton Ghost 10
Acronis True Image
Terabyte Unlimited's Image for Windows

--
Rock
MS MVP Windows - Shell/User