Blue screen errors and Boot failures may sometimes leave the system not repairable leaving us no option but to reinstall the entire operating system. Users of the organization may have sensitive data in windows drive which should be recovered before OS reinstallation. Follow below steps to remap the default locations to another drive so user data is guarded against formatting.
- Open Registry
- Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
- The keys and relative default folders displayed are
Key Data AppData Application Data Cookies Cookies Desktop Desktop Favorites Favorites NetHood My Network Places Personal My Documents PrintHood Printers Recent My Recent Documents SendTo Send to Shortcuts Start Menu Start Menu Shortcuts Programs Start Menu Programs Startup Start Menu -> Startup Local Settings Local Settings Local AppData Local Application Data Cache IE Cache or Temporary Internet Files History File browsing History My Pictures My Pictures Fonts Fonts My Music My Music CD Burning CD Burning My Video My Video - Right click on the folders you want to change and select modify.
- Change the path to your folder’s path (example: D:\music)
Note: Name Personal Refers to My Documents and Remaining Same - Close Registry
- Reboot or Relogon To computer.