Move some system folders that will improve system performance - windows 10

Question

I want to buy an ssd drive - faster than the current drive. I want to transfer some of the disk operations associated with operating system processes to another faster new disk. I will transfer the virtual memory file. However, can I move some other system folders that will improve system performance? I'm going to do this with symbolic links. Are there any folders that can be moved and the change will have a positive effect on performance?

Answer 1

Rather than arbitrarily moving system files and folders onto a separate drive that's faster, and having to worry about the ramifications of doing that in the future, it's much better to simply move your OS entirely to the new drive.

If you're moving from a hard drive to an SSD, this is a fairly easy task, and as others have mentioned in the comments on your question, it's possible to clone your current drive to another and your PC will continue working exactly as it was before, just faster.

If for some reason cloning is too complicated or won't work for you, take this as an opportunity to start with a clean installation. Oftentimes I find that after just a year or two of normal use, an OS installation will feel bloated and cluttered even though I try my best to keep it clean and organized.

Taking the time to clone the drive OR install a clean version of Windows is certainly preferable to taking the time to move system folders, set up symlinks, and deal with potential issues your computer would face in the future because you're running a nonstandard setup.