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What I need to do is move the whole "Documents and Settings" system folder from C: to D:. I know TweakUI can do this, but it's use is only supported on English-language versions of Windows (and this one's in French).
Does anyone know an easy way of doing this? Also, is it possible to switch any other folders over to the second hard drive easily?
Suggestion: you will likely find that the My Documents folder is the major culprit. Start by making a My Docs folder on D:, move all your wife's stuff into it, then see where you are. Also run "clean up" as suggested above. However, once clean up has finished, check to see if you need to MANUALLY delete stuff from the windows/temporary internet files folder - even using "delete files" from Contro Panel/Internet Options sometimes doesn't get it all.
Also double check the windows/temp folder, as it sometimes retains hidden setup files which are needless. As an aside, before you start cleaning up and moving etc., make sure you've UNHIDDEN all the files - it's hard to tell what you're doing if you're copy n pasting and you don't know which files are hidden - especially if you get the error that tells you such n such is in use etc.
As a last "helper", ask your wife what programs she doesn't use - bound to be some. Uninstall them. And finally, if there are some pretty large data files that she doesn't really use but doesn't want to archive to disk, use winzip or whatever to compress them for "storage".
I'm tempted to try TweakUI anyway, because I can't believe it will break things as much as all that, even if some of the dialog boxes will be in English. I know TweakUI can do what I want easily and automatically. If I move the Documents and Settings folder, then all the emails and other stuff associated with the profile will go onto the larger drive.
I think I know what filled up the C: drive - I accepted the downloading of SP2. The auto-update mechanism says it still needs to be downloaded, but I suspect that it is there in some incomplete form on the drive. If I could find that and delete it, then I reckon the space issue will be helped out enormously. After that, I'm going to have to uninstall all the programs and reinstall them on D: instead, but that's a hassle and very time-consuming.
The most frustrating aspect is how Windows seems to accumulate a ton of junk after being installed. I know that many recommend wiping and reinstalling everything regularly, but the system is still working well, so why the hassle? I just can't imagine how XP plus a cut-down Office XP, plus Mozilla 1.7 plus the GIMP has filled up 3Gb of disk space. Other than those programs, there's basically nothing installed.
I tend to do this on all machines I install immediately after install, then run Norton WinDoctor to fix any discrepancies.
In fact, it's a good idea to run WinDoctor (or equivilent) after doing any moves like that anyway.
Another thing that can be taking up a lot of space, and you can do something about is the pagefile - move it to the new drive, and that'll free up some more drive space (and from the size of drives, the new one should be faster, so you might see some performance increase too)...
Robin
I really ought to learn to spellcheck before posting ;-)
Until two months ago, everything was squeezed into the 3Gb drive - including Windows, all the programs and all the documents.
<added>OK, it looks as if I have a virus - svchost.exe is running about 50 times, and the whole machine is grinding to a halt with 100% CPU use. This is why I hate running Windows...</added>
I'd suggest you get your wife's data off somehow, then just reformat. Might want to look for a flash upgrade for the bios while you're at it.... IBM has one for my '97 ThinkPad....
