Link My Documents folder to external SD Card
I have a laptop with 120GB SSD (limited space) and a 64GB SD card in the laptop. I have cloned my hard drive from a clean install of all the software installed.
I would like to have the My Documents folder linked to the SD card which is E:/ drive, so that when I reinstall back from the clean operating system, I can have all the info in My Documents there.
What are my options of doing this? I do not want to change the location of My Documents, just have a copy of it or a matching copy of this on the SD Card. I have looked at symbolic links or maybe a hard link, but I am unsure which would be suitable.
As I see it, you have two options, redirect Documents folder in registry or create symbolic link. I recommend using registry option, it's easier and you don't need any extra utils.
Redirecting method
- Open
regedit.exe
(via Run win+R) - Find key
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
- Change path under REG_SZ record called
Personal
to your SD - Logoff and back on
On pro version of Windows, you may do this also via gpedit.msc
.
Symbolic link
Download utility junction
from Microsoft Systeminternals. Delete your Documents folder and run from command line:
junction c:\users\%username%\Documents X:
(replace X:
with path on your sdcard)