In Windows Vista and Xp I love the way the user accounts are handled with music, documents, pics all available in an easily understandable structure. However, I find that data and disk management wise it is much better to have all these on either a separate drive, or a separate partition.

You can change the default location of user folders which means that the data in them will be accessible through the original location, but also in a new location you specify. The data will actually be stored in a new location, the old location will serve as a short cut to them.

In Vista, all you need to do is right-click the Documents folder for example and choose properties. Click on the location tab on the top left and using the move button, select a new location for your files. Click yes to move all your files to the new location and from then on, whenever you click on Documents in the start menu, or choose it from a save dialog you will actually be going to the new location. In XP the method is pretty much the same, except for maybe a button difference in the end, I can’t remember, but you should be able to get along fine.

Using this method you can backup your data much more easily, especially if you choose a location on a different hard drive. In this case you can just reinstall windows keeping your folder structures in tact easily.

I always liked Windows explorer and although I acknowledge its shortcomings, I never really grew accustomed to replacements like WinCommander or Xyplorer. An application I just found while reading Lifehacker enhances explorer with one of the best features yet, the ability to jump from folder to folder really quickly.

Direct Folders gives you the ability to navigate through your folders much more productively by letting you navigate to any folder you specified before hand from anywhere inside an explorer window. Just double click on an empty space to bring up the menu, and select the folder you want to go to.

This is free so far, if you want some added functionality you can buy the pro version which supports jumping to the last used folder, setting default folders for apps and so on. All in all this is a great app for productivity which should ease folder navigation for you.

Windows Vista tip: If you frequently use a folder but need to go through five minutes of browsing before you can get to it, this tip is for you.

Open up “Computer” from the start menu in Vista and right-click in the left menu under “favorite link”. Click on “Open favorite links folder” and you will see all the entries there. Delete what you don’t need to un-clutter the space and simply create shortcuts there to folder you need (right-click -> New -> Create shortcut).

Voilá, you now have easy access to any folders you need quickly.