Assisting with folder redirection on Windows 10
Assisting with folder redirection on Windows 10
I have two computers that serve as my everyday driver, depending on which room feels most comfortable. I'm looking for a method to create a shared space where both computers can store projects or saved games without constantly copying files or relying on the slow Steam cloud for syncing many saves. I only need to move a few folders here and there. Downloads works fine because there are no dependencies, but My Documents is complicated due to varying computer setups and RDP configurations. Both systems are similar except one has a GTX 1070 and the other an RTX 2070. So far, I've only transferred the entire My Documents folder to a NAS, not individual files. Can I redirect specific folders within My Documents to the NAS while keeping settings and files distinct?
I'm not sure about the folders, file types, or size of your data, but I checked OneDrive. You can back up your Documents folder there too. With Office 365, you get up to 1TB of storage available.
A similar service might work well, though it runs online. I prefer keeping things on-site because my gigabit connection is much stronger than my slower 100Mbps internet. Appreciate the idea!
Certainly! You can simply transfer folders and treat them as if they were stored locally.
I've been working on this but manual copying remains necessary for the files I need. What I aim to achieve is moving specific folders to a shared location on the NAS without copying them each time. While I can easily find the entire My Documents folder, individual subfolders aren't accessible. Since both computers aren't always connected simultaneously, a direct approach wouldn't be feasible. My server stays online, so it should serve as the central point between the two systems.
You're asking about sharing a specific folder for working files without copying everything. You also question the need to share user defaults and suggest creating your own dedicated workspace instead. It sounds like you want to avoid unnecessary data transfer and maintain control over your work environment.
Certain programs (games especially) will only save to one specific location that can't be changed. So, for example, I wanted to redirect the My Games folder to the NAS location. Windows 10 won't allow me to do that, only the entire My Documents folder which contains My Games. By redirecting that folder alone, to the NAS location would allow me to freely just switch between computers and continue where I left off without the need to wait for the cloud to sync, or without having to copy them manually.
I think this can be achieved using symbolic links (mklink). You'd place your latest "My Games" folder on your NAS and create a link pointing to it instead of copying the files. On each computer, you'd remove the original "My Games" directory and set up the same link there. For deletion, use rmdir on the target folder path rather than deleting the shortcut directly. I've only tried this once before, mainly for testing purposes. Would you like me to go over more details from @Mira Yurizaki's post?
To keep data on your NAS accessible via standard storage drives, you can connect the network path to a physical drive as shown in the Microsoft support guide.