howto: future-proof your user data when switching operating systems

I use Windows XP. But someday, I may switch to Windows Vista, or maybe one of the many flavors of Linux. It will be an easy change for me because of the way I installed Windows in the first place. If you follow this tip, you'll be thanking yourself for the entire lifetime of your computer. Below is a high level overview of this concept, so be sure to explore what you may need to consider before doing this, and if possible, try this on an older machine first to test your process. I've done this so many times for myself, friends, and family, I'll be writing this from memory.

So here’s the summary: Install your Operating System (OS) on a C drive, store all your data on a D drive, and optionally store your computer images on an E drive. This could also be worded as install your OS on a bootable partition, and leave other partitions for your user data. To keep this less confusing, I should mention up front I always change my CD/DVD drive mapping to use the letter Z as soon as I install my OS.
If you're thinking your computer has only a single drive and this isn't for you, the term Drive is simply a holdover from the earlier days of computing. The hard drive is actually comprised of partitions, or segments reserved for data. Many computers ship from the manufacturer with a single partition, and thus a single "drive." A single partition gives you fits when you try to change your OS because your user data is mingled with your applications which are mingled with your OS.

The first thing you need to do when you get a new computer (or plan to upgrade an existing one) is make sure you have another computer and USB memory stick close by. You'll also need the Operating System you plan to install on it's own CD/DVD. For a new computer, begin by booting from the CD/DVD. Once it's loaded into memory, it will give you a chance to repair the current OS or install from scratch.

Start by removing all the partitions on the hard drive. Windows will warn you about the dangers of doing this, and I imagine other OS types will as well. The computer can't boot without an OS, so it's a fair warning for someone who may not understand what they're doing. Once absolved of all your partitions, you'll be presented with the opportunity to create a new partition for the installation. Instead of accepting the size it proposes, which is usually all the available disk space, use a smaller number leaving some of the drive space for other data. I've gotten by for years on XP (on my laptop) on a 12 GB partition (1024x12=12288), but as drives have grown larger, so has the space I've allocated. My current laptop build uses a 25 GB partition for C (on a 100 GB drive) and even now it's only half full. The point in doing this is to keep your OS and applications installed on the C drive, leaving another logical drive (or drives) for your other data.

As you install your OS, you may need drivers to enable networking services (once on the network, you can use your computer to download any other drivers you may need). Remember, the Operating System is almost always older than the hardware you're using, so finding and fetching drivers isn't unusual. Having another working computer and USB memory stick nearby will be helpful to download drivers and copy them over to the computer needing them.

Once the OS is completely installed (along with all the device drivers and OS updates), you're nearly done. If you haven't already, go ahead and create new partition(s) from the remaining space on the hard drive. This will give you a D or even an E drive (remember, part of my installation process is to map the CD/DVD to the letter Z). You can make as many new partitions as you like. I found two additional partitions are fine for everything I need.

Install your applications onto the C drive just like your OS. As you run each program for the first time, move the default "save as" file locations to your newly created D drive (or just move the physical location of "My Documents" to your D drive if you don't mind using all defaults - an easy right click option). Now any application which saves automatically to "My Documents" will be safely stored on your D drive. Because the D drive is on a separate partition, it's now possible reformat your C drive as many times as you want, or even completely change your OS, and you'll never be at risk of losing any of your data (files, music, pictures, etc). I use a third partition, an E drive, to store my computer images. I'll explain all about this in a future post.

If you have an existing computer and wish to change Operating Systems or just re-install it, my recommendation is to buy a USB enclosure and a brand new hard drive. You'll need a reasonably large sized drive to migrate your user data anyway, so if you pull the existing drive and install it into a USB enclosure, you can use the new (and probably larger, faster) drive in the computer. Once the new drive is installed, it won't have an OS on it and this process begins right at the point in which you choose the size of the primary partition. Once installed, connect the old drive via the USB enclosure, and copy your user data files wherever you'd like them. When you're done, reformat the drive in the USB enclosure and use it for backups of the files on your D drive (or wherever you place them). Now if the hard drive in your computer fails, you'll at least have your data saved externally.

filed under: hard drive, operating system, usb enclosure