No, you *never* shall use the workspace (I mean the .metadata folder).
You can move the *projects*, but not the workspace (.metadata).
So if you do this, you will screw up things badly.
You need to create a new workspace on the new location.
You can copy/import workspace settings from the previous workspace, see Copy my workspace settings | MCU on Eclipse
The project folders inside the workspace folder you can move/copy, then import them again into your new workspace.
I hope this helps,
Erich