Problem moving files from SSD to HDD?

I just got a new Windows PC with a SSD and HDD drive.  Although I am new to dual drives, I did move files from C drive's Documents, Downloads, Pictures, and Music into the D drive.  I used a tutorial that showed how to move files from one drive to the other.  I believe that the moves were successful as I checked storage on both drives and as expected, there was a increase for D and a decrease for C equal to the GBs moved.  However, when looking at any of these folders in C after the move, they still had the same file/folders that are now in D after the move.  Clicking on the same file from the C and D drives opened identical files.  So, here's the problem:

 

1.  The move was successful, but shouldn't the moved files from C to D still not be present in C? I don't think so and how can this be resolved?

 

2.  The image attachment of my File Explorer's folder pane is needed to help me straighten out some folder naming that may have gone awry.  Namely, in my naive effort to be able to quickly distinguish between files/folders in the C and D drives, I had renamed the D folders by adding a "-D" to each of them.  Not sure, but I think I did the renaming after the data was brought over to D.  Now as you see from the image, I've got the "-D" showing in the C drive folders also???  But, when right clicking the affected C drive folders, Rename does not come up in the context menu and I can't rename them back to their original names. Unless, you have a solution, I don't mind if I will have to redo the file/folder moving in order to get the affected folders in the C drive back to their original names...but how?

 

Thanks

 

Hopefully you went to C: documents (for example) right  clicked on it. Select properties then "location" and changed the C: Documents to D: Documents. This is the way I do it. 

So, here's the problem:

 

1.  The move was successful, but shouldn't the moved files from C to D still not be present in C? I don't think so and how can this be resolved?

 

If moved in the correct manner, then the files will no longer exist on C but only on the D: drive. This can be verified by right clicking the folder and selecting "Properties"

 

Note that the following default folders are system related and tracked by Windows 10. These folders and contents need to be moved in a correct manner explained below. Those folders I'm speaking of include the following:

 

Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Favourites, Music, Pictures, and Videos

 

In order to correctly move the above folders and contents to another drive, the following steps should be used. I'll use the "Downloads" folder as the example.

 

Using File explorer, browse to the following location on your C: drive. C:\Users\YouProfileName

 

Right click the Downloads folder and select Properties

 

Click the Location tab and use the Move... button to redirect the Downloads folder location to somewhere else on the C drive, or to another drive like your D drive (see pic below)

 

 DownloadsProperties.png   38.88KB   1 downloads

 

The folder and files will then be "Moved" not copied to the new location specified.

 

Not sure, but I think I did the renaming after the data was brought over to D.  Now as you see from the image, I've got the "-D" showing in the C drive folders also???

 

 

When moved correctly, the folder will still show a placemark (shortcut) to the system tracked folder on the C drive under your User Profile Name on C, however the physical location will still be the D drive. This is normal and expected behaviour when dealing with any of the folders I've listed and bolded above. When you rename any of those folders, you are only renaming the shortcut to the folder, not the folder itself. The bolded system folders I listed can not be permanently renamed to something else. To rename the shortcut place markers back to their default name, go back to C:\Users\YouProfileName in File Explorer again and rename them back to default names there. Make sense?

 

Regards, Andrew

Edited by hamluis, 18 August 2021 - 10:39 AM.

Hopefully you went to C: documents (for example) right  clicked on it. Select properties then "location" and changed the C: Documents to D: Documents. This is the way I do it. 

Yes, that's how I did it.  And after the establishment of these libraries on the D drive, I then renamed them by adding a "-D"
 
Hi flycaster,
Read the italics.

So, here's the problem:
 
1.  The move was successful, but shouldn't the moved files from C to D still not be present in C? I don't think so and how can this be resolved?

 
If moved in the correct manner, then the files will no longer exist on C but only on the D: drive. This can be verified by right clicking the folder and selecting "Properties"
 
Right off the bat, I've screwed up by now adding Libraries to the D drive by following this tutorial (https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-libraries-windows-10), and now I have no idea where I'm at.  Under DATA (D) has changed and here's what the pane looks like now...see attachment.  And here's the outcome of selecting Properties for the folders in question:
1. For the folders under This PC, location for Downloads-D, Music-D and Pictures-D is D, location for Documents is C???
2.  For folders under DATA (D), location for all four folders is D.
3.  For folders under Libraries, looks a little complicated when viewing their Properties.  First, there is no Downloads.  For Docs there is a checkmark next to Documents and under that there is file icon next to Documents (C:|Users|xxxx|OneDrive).  Yes, "|" is correct.  For Music there is a checkmark next to Music-D...that's it. For Pictures there is a checkmark next to Pictures-D and under that there is a file icon next to Pictures-D (C:|users|xxxx|OneDrive).
 
Although I find this unbelievably confusing, I am very hopeful that you can continue to help me straighten things out.  Ideally, I would like to rid this mess of duplication and have a proper folder pane showing that the data from Documents. Downloads, Pictures and Music on the C drive have been properly moved to the D drive.
 
Note that the following default folders are system related and tracked by Windows 10. These folders and contents need to be moved in a correct manner explained below. Those folders I'm speaking of include the following:
 
Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Favourites, Music, Pictures, and Videos
 
In order to correctly move the above folders and contents to another drive, the following steps should be used. I'll use the "Downloads" folder as the example.
 
Using File explorer, browse to the following location on your C: drive. C:\Users\YouProfileName
 
Right click the Downloads folder and select Properties
 
Click the Location tab and use the Move... button to redirect the Downloads folder location to somewhere else on the C drive, or to another drive like your D drive (see pic below)
 
I did follow these instructions when moving the folders to the D drive, but obviously may have made some mistakes.  Furthemore, I probably screwed things up when after the move I then decided to rename the folders in the D drive by adding "-D" to each.
 
DownloadsProperties.png
 
The folder and files will then be "Moved" not copied to the new location specified.
 

Not sure, but I think I did the renaming after the data was brought over to D.  Now as you see from the image, I've got the "-D" showing in the C drive folders also???
 

 
When moved correctly, the folder will still show a placemark (shortcut) to the system tracked folder on the C drive under your User Profile Name on C, however the physical location will still be the D drive. This is normal and expected behaviour when dealing with any of the folders I've listed and bolded above. When you rename any of those folders, you are only renaming the shortcut to the folder, not the folder itself. The bolded system folders I listed can not be permanently renamed to something else. To rename the shortcut place markers back to their default name, go back to C:\Users\YouProfileName in File Explorer again and rename them back to default names there. Make sense?
 
Unfortunately, Andrew, although I am very greatful for the effort you are putting in, I have to say that I am confused about this renaming stuff and hope you can further lead me to clearing this mess up and get me back to how things should look and act if done right. 
 
Thanks, again, Adam
 
Regards, Andrew
 

Edited by hamluis, 18 August 2021 - 10:43 AM.

Hi Adam,

 

Right off the bat, I've screwed up by now adding Libraries to the D drive by following this tutorial (https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-libraries-windows-10), and now I have no idea where I'm at.  Under DATA (D) has changed and here's what the pane looks like now...see attachment.

 

 

Ahh. I thought you were only talking about Folders. Throwing Libraries into the mix changes things quite a bit.

 

Although I find this unbelievably confusing, I am very hopeful that you can continue to help me straighten things out.  Ideally, I would like to rid this mess of duplication and have a proper folder pane showing that the data from Documents. Downloads, Pictures and Music on the C drive have been properly moved to the D drive.

 

 

Don't beat yourself up over it too much. We've all mucked up like this and forgotten what we've done at some stage Let's take it one step at a time.

 

The easiest way to get back to something resembling what makes sense is to reset things back to defaults and start again.

 

Let's tackle the Libraries you've created first. Note you will be using Windows File Explorer to do the following.

 

Follow the quick TechNET tutorial linked below to restore the default libraries first.

 

• https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/33150.windows-10-how-to-reset-libraries-documents-pictures-music-and-videos.aspx

 

Delete all the libraries as shown in the tutorial and then use the Restore default libraries option to recreate the default Windows 10 Libraries.

 

Now you should be back with Default Libraries settings.

 

How do things look now? Once you've confirmed that the libraries have been sorted out, we'll tackle the physical folders next.

 

Let me know how you go.

 

Regards, Andrew

When moved correctly, the folder will still show a placemark (shortcut) to the system tracked folder on the C drive under your User Profile Name on C, however the physical location will still be the D drive. This is normal and expected behaviour when dealing with any of the folders I've listed and bolded above. When you rename any of those folders, you are only renaming the shortcut to the folder, not the folder itself. The bolded system folders I listed can not be permanently renamed to something else. To rename the shortcut place markers back to their default name, go back to C:\Users\YouProfileName in File Explorer again and rename them back to default names there. Make sense?

 

Regards, Andrew

Edited by hamluis, 18 August 2021 - 10:45 AM.

Hi Adam,

 

Right off the bat, I've screwed up by now adding Libraries to the D drive by following this tutorial (https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-libraries-windows-10), and now I have no idea where I'm at.  Under DATA (D) has changed and here's what the pane looks like now...see attachment.

 

 

Ahh. I thought you were only talking about Folders. Throwing Libraries into the mix changes things quite a bit.

 

Although I find this unbelievably confusing, I am very hopeful that you can continue to help me straighten things out.  Ideally, I would like to rid this mess of duplication and have a proper folder pane showing that the data from Documents. Downloads, Pictures and Music on the C drive have been properly moved to the D drive.

 

 

Don't beat yourself up over it too much. We've all mucked up like this and forgotten what we've done at some stage Let's take it one step at a time.

 

The easiest way to get back to something resembling what makes sense is to reset things back to defaults and start again.

 

Let's tackle the Libraries you've created first. Note you will be using Windows File Explorer to do the following.

 

Follow the quick TechNET tutorial linked below to restore the default libraries first.

 

• https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/33150.windows-10-how-to-reset-libraries-documents-pictures-music-and-videos.aspx

 

Delete all the libraries as shown in the tutorial and then use the Restore default libraries option to recreate the default Windows 10 Libraries.

 

Now you should be back with Default Libraries settings.

 

How do things look now? Once you've confirmed that the libraries have been sorted out, we'll tackle the physical folders next.

 

Let me know how you go.

 

Regards, Andrew

Thanks for hanging in there with me, Andrew.  My net was down most of today and it now 9pm which is too late to start the repair.  I'll be getting on with it tomorrow morning. And I hope that the next time I'm on the forum, I'll be able to say..."things back to normal."

Adam

OK, things are looking good. Followed the excellent tutorial and have restored the Libraries to their default.  Next....

Edited by hamluis, 18 August 2021 - 10:46 AM.

Hi Adam,

 

Good stuff. Now, have all of the -D folders returned to being named normally or is that still an issue? If so, I'll get you to check a few things and report back.

The -D issue still exists. Under DATA, all folders have the -D, but under This PC, all but Documents still have the -D.  And, most interestingly, when selecting Properties for all these folders both on C and D drive, all but Documents (not Documents-D) under This PC, show their locations as being the D drive.  Documents shows its location at C:\users\xxxx\, whereas all the other folders just show D:\ for their location. I hope you find this info useful towards a solution.

Adam

Hi Adam,

 

Thanks, that's helpful. All we need do now is to hunt down where you changed those names and reverse them accordingly. To do that safely, I'll need to see a couple of things to verify my suspicions.

 

Please post a snapshot of what your folders look like in File Explorer in the following directories:

 

C:\Users\YourUserName

 

D:\

 

An example of the type of snapshots I'm looking to see is the following:

 

 UserFolders.png   102.33KB   0 downloads

 

Also, when you select Properties on the folders that have a -D added to their names, what is in the path shown in the rectangular box of the Locations tab? Does the -D exist there too? If so, then simply renaming those folders (Press F2 in File Explorer while the folder is highlighted) back to their original names without the -D should be all that's required. That goes for both the C:\Users\YourProfile folders, as well as the ones existing in D: drive.

 

Let me know how you go with the above. This should be a relatively simple fix, but I don't want to make assumptions without verifying what you're seeing.

 

 

Sorry, forgot to address this:

 

Documents shows its location at C:\users\xxxx\, whereas all the other folders just show D:\ for their location. I hope you find this info useful towards a solution.

 

 

 

That will be because Documents was never moved correctly. In Properties > Locations of the folder, click the Move button and then point to the D: drive for the location and then click apply. The folders contents will be moved to the new location selected.

 

Regards, Andrew

Edited by achzone, 18 August 2021 - 06:13 PM.

One more thing, if you want to get all of the folder locations and names back to default, use the Restore Default button available in the Properties > Locations tab of the affected folders. You could then just manually delete any left over folders with the -D on them after verifying that all files have been restored back to the C: drive under c:\users\YourProfileName locations. They will either be removed by Windows or if not, left orphaned with nothing in them. In the latter case, simply deleting them should be all that would be needed.

Edited by achzone, 18 August 2021 - 06:20 PM.

Andrew, here's what I have after doing the F2 which worked with the folders in the D drive removing the -D, but nothing happened with the folders in the C drive.  I started working on getting the C Documents into the D Documents, but wife needs me now and it is getting a little late for this, so I will continue tomorrow.  But from the looks of things, I think I will be able to sort it out...let you know tomorrow.

Adam

 

Edit: Documents transferred. No -Ds on the D drive.  In C drive, -D still on Downloads, Pictures and Music.  All folders on both C and D now pointing to D.  And, lastly, Still showing files and folders in all the folders in question on both C and D drive. Here's the code from Flickr for how the folder pane now looks:

Folders by Adam, on Flickr

Adam

No worries Adam, sing out here if you need more help.

 

Renaming them in File Explorer when you find the -D drive ones should be safe enough to do. The displayed shortcuts under Quick Access should update and change once all have been renamed accordingly. Alternatively, you can clear the Quick Access list and let it repopulate again once the folders have been renamed back.

 

Best, Andrew

Edited by achzone, 18 August 2021 - 07:32 PM.