My friend seemingly spends most of his day just tinkering with his computer. When I asked about moving applications, he said to go for it and install normally if it didn't work. His method of using a dual OS setup apparently involves a cracked install and a registry hack.

I've installed the SSD, but decided to not use it for the OS just yet. I spent two hours just squeezing the thing into the case (there were a lot of very inconveniently placed cables), and I honestly can't be bothered to sort my entire hard drive after that; right now, I'd rather just see this thing in action.

Is there any way of formatting the hard drive without using a third storage unit?

slightly OT - now would be good time to change that Vista to actually good OS.

Win7 and(!) Win8 would give you good system boost besides SSD itself you know.

There's a way of moving certain special folders like that. I haven't done it in a while, but it results in the special directory being moved and sort of linked.

Believe it or not, I am one of the eleven people in the world who likes Vista. Regardless, I can't afford a copy of Windows 7 or 8 right now, and I don't want to use a cracked version. I'm putting off the OS upgrade for when I get a new computer - hopefully Windows 8 will have reached an acceptable level of usability by then.

Not come across it myself - but wouldn't recommend trying it to someone who's just taken two hours to install a hard drive... ;)

I don't open up my computer very often. I stopped constantly because I was worried I was going to break something. Also, it was nearly impossible to get enough slack from the power cord.

Excuses.

Not saying it's a bad thing - but it sounds like you're not particularly experienced with the more technical side of working with computers. As such, I think it's best to keep things simple!

I've used computers since I was 5 or 6. I forget which. Don't hold back on the technical suggestions, although I probably won't try the more fiddly ones with marginal utility.

It only applies to certain folders. For instance you can do it with Desktop or My Documents. You basically right click on the folder and select properties. One of the tabs is for location. If you change the path there, then Windows will move the files to that location and create the relevant registry changes.

But, the correct way is to roll your own install and just specify that the folders be put in the correct location. Which may require some linking as some software is improperly coded and will install to the same directory come hell or high waters.

Ah, does Vista even support the TRIM command? If not (and I think it does not), you're going to end up reducing the life span of that SSD every time files get deleted. And for an OS drive, that would be often. Maybe there are programs from the SSD manufacturer that can handle TRIM, but you really should get Windows 7 or 8 sooner rather than later. It sounds terribly risky to me to not have a supported OS, or one that does not even recognize SSD technology.

Also, the main reason to get a SSD is for your OS drive. It's kind of backwards to use it just for storage. It's main purpose is to speed up windows.

I use it for MMOs. They are one and all notoriously read heavy, with long loading times and constant dynamic loading required, yet they write almost everything to the server. I am investigating various venues for upgrading to a TRIM-compatible OS, however.

Update: the SSD works marvelously, but the hard drive does not. I suspect I may have bumped it too hard while I was tinkering. Before I do anything drastic, however, I'd like to rule out some other possibilities. I am experiencing frequent freezing, and sometimes the system recovers briefly, sometimes not at all. Memtest finds no problems with the RAM, I have found no bad sectors and the Vista installation does not appear to be damaged. If I manage to boot into fail safe mode, everything works perfectly. According to Window's error log, I'm getting a lot of error 11s (or possibly 12s, I forget which). This apparently indicates a possible power supply problem, so my question is this: does the order of connection to the serial power cable matter? In the event that I need to change the order, should I remove the enormous graphics obstructing access into the bowels of the computer?