Also another trick (i will try in future) is to MKLINK the folder.
So Program Files folder points to another directory on any other partition/disk subfolder.
In my mind i am thinking on an multi-windows (more than dual-boot) with two SSD:
- SSD1: Windows A, with program files pointing to SSD2:\WinA\Program_Files\, and program files (x8&) pointing to SSD2:\WinA\Program_Files_x86\
- SSD1: Windows B, with program files pointing to SSD2:\WinB\Program_Files\, and program files (x8&) pointing to SSD2:\WinB\Program_Files_x86\
- SSD1: Windows C, with program files pointing to SSD2:\WinC\Program_Files\, and program files (x8&) pointing to SSD2:\WinC\Program_Files_x86\
... and so on.
Since with \pagefile.sys and swapfile.sys it works, why not with such folders? I must try
For pagefile.sys and swapfile.sys i had done this:
- Configure Windows to not use any virtual ram and reboot
- With notepad create an empty file where you want pagefile.sys, when saving use double quotes, like "pagefile.sys", same for swapfile.sys (no need to be on the same place)
- Open a command prompt (CMD) with admin rights
- run mklink command to create a link between system partition root folder files pagefile.sys and swapfile.sys pointing to where you create them with notepad, i will put an example later
- Configure virtual ram on system disk as you wish (i preffer fixed size, btoh min and max to same value)
And voila, your pagefile.sys is on root of system partition, but it is stored on other place, mini-dumps and full-dumps works well.
Example commands for system partition be C: and place i want such files reside as M:\MyWindows\VirtualMemory\ can be:
MKLINK C:\pagefile.sys M:\MyWindows\VirtualMemory\pagefile.sys
MKLINK C:\swapfile.sys M:\MyWindows\VirtualMemory\swapfile.sys
Not to mention you can set different filenames, so this would also be ok:
MKLINK C:\pagefile.sys M:\MyWindowsA\VirtualMemory1\MyPageFile.DAT
MKLINK C:\swapfile.sys M:\MyWindowsB\VirtualMemory2\MySwapFile.DAT
The trick is to replace System root folder pagefile.sys and swapfile.sys with symbolic links to other files, so the data really resides away the system partition.
Very usefull in multi-boot, since such linked files can be the same for all windows, so you use theat space only once, see this sample:
- On each Windows A,B,C...N, you create links pointing to the same files:
MKLINK C:\pagefile.sys M:\CommonToAllWindows\VirtualMemory\PageFile.DAT
MKLINK C:\swapfile.sys M:\CommonToAllWindows\VirtualMemory\MySwapFile.DAT
So when booting any Windows it will use the same file as other Windows (such files are initialized at boot, so not any problem.
Warning: This 'common' can not be used for program files
and so on, since they must stay differenced from one Windows to another... but there is no reason to have all of them on the same partition with different names and such partition reside on different SSD to improve performance.
So i think it could the trick could be better to MKLINK rather than NTFS folder mount.
IMPORTANT: For MKLINK be able to do its job, both (source and dest) must reside on NTFS; and yes, FAT32 and exFAT will not be valid.
REMEMBER: If you UpGrade the Windows10 it will delete susch links and create normal files, so after UpGrade you must re-do the process for Linking them.