I'd like to install x64 on my PC. I've partitioned the single 500GB drive so that I have the OS in drive C: and the data in drive F:. Can I install x64 on the computer, and keep the data files in F:?
Thanks
Data files are generally bit agnostic, so it should be no problem.
Install Windows 10 64-bit in C:. To change the default Documents folder create a new folder in partition F: and name it Documents or whatever you want. Go to the user folder (this has the name of the current user) and right-click on the Documents folder. Select Properties. Go to the tab Location where you can change it to the new folder in F:. You also have to move all your files to the new folder, if you don't want to browse to the old folder every time you need them, and to free space in C:. Now every application will save documents by default to that folder. Same way you can move your Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos folders. Alternatively you must remember each new file to Save As and select another folder. If you just Save it, will go to the default folder. I have done it once for a customer that had a small 80GB SSD and was full with data. I moved all folders to a second hard disk so I could free the SSD for applications. You can even change the location of Program Files folder, but this is not recommended as many applications may have problem afterwards. Best it to choose Custom installation during setup and make sure you install them in another folder.
One drawback with this is that you are not allowed to upgrade to a new Windows version until you restore the location of the folders to their original folder. The advantage, apart from keeping an SSD free, is that if something happens to your Windows installation you can just format and reinstall Windows without worrying about taking a backup since your files are already in a separate partition. Of course you will need to reinstall the applications, but it is better than nothing.
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