Upgrading from Vista to Windows 7

[Chipstik]

Hi there, I was doubtful as to where this should go, either in here, or in the Windows 7 sub-forum, so I apologise if it is in the wrong place.

Basically, I have 2 Hard drives. One is a 200Gb Sata, the other a 500Gb Sata. At the minute, my Windows Vista installation is on my 200Gb, along with all of my program files and documents etc. I got the 500Gb HDD for christmas, and after installing have placed large files on here such as my videos/music collection etc. I have also installed any programs to the 500GB one after it had been installed.

My copy of Windows 7 has just got here and my ideal solution would be to partition the 200Gb drive, install 7 on one of the partitions and have the other 500Gb hard drive for storage with the second partition of the 200Gb for 'overflow' if the 500Gb ever gets full. Would it be possible/desirable to have my program files on a different hard disk (the 500Gb) or would that be pointess? If so, could I move all of my program files from my vista installation now to the 500Gb, then 'point' the new 7 installation to them, or change a value in the registry so that this is where it looks for the systems program files. Thanks for reading, and I would apreciate it if anyone could help me.

 

[pat]

split the 200 HDD with 2 partitions, one for 7 and the program file. save the 500 for data. use a software sync like Puresync and create mirror folder of your important file in a hidden folder on the second partition of the 200.

so, if one of both HDD had to fail, you'll have a backup of your important file anyway.

 

[Chipstik]

Ok, I have windows 7 installed, and I have all of my program files in the second partition of the 200GB. How do I make them available in the start menu of 7?

 

[m_foster]

First of all - did you do an inplace upgrade or custom install of windows 7? If you changed versions of OS or type (32bit to 64bit) you can't do the inplace upgrade.
A custom install does not save your program file installations and requires you to re-install any non-windows programs.
Assuming you did the in-place upgrade. You simply need to find your program file in the "All Programs" list right click it and say "Pin to Start menu" if they do not show up in the "All programs" list, then you did a custom install, which basically saves all your working files, even program files, but removes all the registry entries. You will not find them in the "Add/Remove" programs list.
You can re-intall these programs and generally they will detect existing program file structures and save your application data.

 

[Chipstik]

Yeah, i did a complete format and backed up my program files to another drive. I've then restored these to the correct place, and judt need to "pin to start menu". Would this put them in the most frequently used section though? Can I have then im a folder in the start menu like any other program?

 

[m_foster]

You can drag folders and drop them onto the START button and they will be pinned to the menu. You cannot alter the "All Programs" view because that is set during program installation.
Without re-installing programs windows will not know they exist. Some programs may not function properly unless you re-install because they have registry settings needed to function.
If you were upgrading from Vista, you should not have formatted, you should have performed an in-place upgrade which retains all your registry and program information.