Transfer of .gnucash folder from SSD system disc to HDD data disc

[L. D. James]

On 03/29/2015 04:54 PM, Mike or Penny Novack wrote:
> Stop folks. I think Russellji is reporting  a bug. Take a look at what 
> he is saying he did and let's for a moment assume that he did that 
> correctly BUT .............
>
>
> "I am a newby to this forum and GnuCash.
>
> I have recently upgraded to a new Windows 8.1 system with a SSD drive
> devoted to programs and a HDD drive for data.  When I installed 
> GnuCash, it
> automatically placed the data files to C:\Users\Russellji even though 
> I had
> changed my library and user locations to the HDD previously.  In fact it
> created the user Russellji as it had already been transferred to the HDD.
>
> So I cut and pasted the GnuCash folder from c:users\Russellji\.gnucash to
> D:\Users\Russellji\.gnucash and restarted the GnuCash program and it
> recreated c:users\Russellji\.gnucash!"
>
> In other words, logged in as user Russellji he opened gnucash, and 
> gnucash not finding a directory C:\Users\Russellji\.gnucash the 
> program created those directories. Normal for the program to do the 
> first time coming up (well it expects the directories C:\Users and 
> C:\Users\username to already exist --- but obviously coping with the 
> surprise). In other words, not finding C:\Users it didn't check to see 
> if there was a :\Users on some other drive ---- in this case, the D 
> drive.
>
> At least that's what I think is going west here, that gnucash is 
> assuming a Windows OS will NOT be partitioned. Or that while it might 
> be partitioned in some regards, it won't be as far as :\Users is 
> concerned.
>
> I think we need a developer with Windows 8 and multiple drives to 
> check this out.
>
>
> Michael
Hi, Michael.  Russellji's problem is that he's trying to have the OS us 
a different profile directory.  His OS isn't going to use a different 
profile directory.  This isn't a bug of Gnucash.  It's a normal 
functionality of the OS.  If the .gnucash doesn't exit, it's going to be 
created.  He described what he did.  He also described the normal 
function of the OS.

It created the profile directory on C: drive because that is his 
home/default drive.  I can easily this just by what he wrote.  He can 
put the profile anywhere he wants to put it.  If he deletes it from his 
Windows' home space, it'll be recreated in the proper area.

If he wants to make custom changes to his profile (the .gnucash 
directory) he can easily look to where it's being created so that he 
will know where he has to put hos custom files.

I really don't think he's trying to have his profile/work directory in 
some removable or backup space.  He's trying to have his actual data in 
a specified place.  This is done by specifying where he puts his 
*.gnucash file.  Not where the .gnucash directory resides.

Trying to patch or modify his OS configuration isn't something that 
would represent the developers of gnucash trying to fix.  It's something 
that he'd have to work on as far as his OS installation. If he 
reinstalls his OS on D: drive, then the profile space would be on D:.  
It's clearly not a glitch.  It's the way the OS is by default.

I can describe how to change the behavior and the default spaces 
(variables) of his OS.  Making those changes might break a lot of his 
other programs... but he can specify a different drive/folder for his OS.

 From a DOS command prompt he can type "set" and see his OS installation 
areas.  He'll see that his system drive is the variable, "SystemDrive=C:".

Many of those variables can also be checked and modified by:

(right click) Computer -> Properties -> Advance Settings -> Environment 
Variables

Again, if a user makes changes to these default variables he might break 
his OS installation.

I think a good question would be to actually have the user specify what 
he's really trying to achieve.  I'm sure he's trying to achieve 
specifying where his accounting data files will be located.

-- L. James

-- 
L. D. James
ljames at apollo3.com
www.apollo3.com/~ljames