Storing only Operating system on one ssd, everything else on a second?

[Bainyy]

So I currently have a 256gb SSD with my operating system on and a few steam games, I plan on revamping my entire build which would include buying a 1TB SSD as my 256GB is near max capacity but I don't want to waste a 256GB ssd.

So my question is would it be possbile to store just my Operating system on the 256GB and then have the 1TB ssd for everything else such as games and other software (also have a 1TB Western digital drive as backup). If it is possible would someone be able to explain how I would limit it so nothing else would be installed/downloaded onto the 256gb SSD

Really appreciate any feedback or possibly suggesting a better option?

Thanks.

 

[RolandJS]

Some 3rd party program installs are "hard-wired" for C:\Program... etc etc etc. The only problem I see is if/when you have to do an OS restore, you will have to do two restores, the OS partition and the All Others partition, one right after the other.

 

[JaredDM]

You should probably consider moving your games off the SSD as those tend to be large and really don't benefit that much from an SSD. Your other apps though, you should keep on the SSD.

However, to answer your question, if you really want to be sure that nothing gets installed to the SSD there is a way. What you'll need to do is create Program Files and Program Files (x86) folders on your HDD, and move all data from your SSD program files folders to those. Then you'll need to delete those two folders on your C: (I'm assuming that's your SSD letter) and create Symbolic hard links with those folder names pointing to the directories on your other drive.

Here's some info on creating symbolic links:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365006(v=vs.85).aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa363878(v=vs.85).aspx
https://www.data-medics.com/forum/create-symbolic-links-folder-shortcuts-that-aren-t-drive-letter-dependant-t1674.html#p7687 (if you don't want it dependant on a drive letter and want the ability to later change the drive letter)

Basically you'd need to run cmd as admin, navigate to where you want to create the links (e.g. C:>) and put in a command such as:
C:>mklink /D "Program Files" "D:\Program Files"
C:>mklink /D "Program Files (x86)" "D:\Program Files (x86)"

The quotation marks are due to the fact that there's spaces in the folder names.

What this will do is make programs that are installed in the future actually install to the other drive even though they'll think they are installing to the C:.

Also, you'll probably have to copy the data and delete the folders from another computer or using a Linux live boot disk. Most likely a lot of files in those folders will be locked when you try to copy / delete.

 

[RolandJS]

What happens to all of those mklinks if an OS restore or a re-install is called for? I need to find me a mklink tutorial to read!