User Profiles - Create and Move During Windows 7 Installation

How to Create User Accounts on another Partition or Disk During Windows 7 Installation ​

   Information

There are several methods to move user profiles to another disk or partition after you have installed Windows 7. The easiest way is to use Audit Mode and System Preparation Tool, both built-in Windows 7 features, to permanently move the location of the folder Users.

This tutorial shows how to relocate both Users and ProgramData to another disk or partition when doing a new, fresh and clean install of Windows 7. If you have already installed Seven, and you'd like to move those folders away from their default location in C: drive, please read first post number 22 in this thread. Follow the steps told in that post, and continue then from beginning of the page 4 in this tutorial.

When Windows 7 is installed, 5 or 6 system folders are created depending on chosen bit-version:

• PerfLogs (Performance Logs), where Windows stores performance and reliability logs
• Program Files, where applications and software are installed. Windows x86 (32-bit) stores all applications here, Windows x64 (64-bit) only native 64-bit applications
• Program Files (x86), only in Windows x64. All non-x64 applications are stored here
• Windows, which contains core operating system files and drivers
• ProgramData, where some applications store application and user specific settings and configuration files
• Users. This is the "home" of all user folders. When a new user account is created and this new user logs in first time, Windows creates a set of user specific folders Users\New_User

Moving Windows and Program Files folders is not recommend by Microsoft. However, moving both Users and ProgramData folders is safe and can save a lot of space on system disk. Pictures, mp3’s videos, documents and so on, a user folder with its subfolders can be tens, sometimes hundreds of gigabytes.

For instance, using this laptop of mine as an example, the total size of Users folder and subfolders is at the moment about 240 GB. The size of ProgramData folder is at the moment almost 18 GB. I simply could not have these folders stored in my system C: drive, there’s not enough space.

When installing Windows 7, I recommend using Windows System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) in so called Audit Mode to relocate Users and ProgramData, leaving C: drive only for Windows and applications.

   Warning

An upgraded Windows cannot be sysprepped. As this method is based in sysprepping, this tutorial is valid only for Windows setups which have not been upgraded.

This means that if you have for instance in-place upgraded Vista to Seven, you cannot sysprep. The same applies if you have upgraded from a lesser edition to a better edition, for instance from Windows 7 Home Premium to Professional.

Notice that a repair install is also an upgrade install, so if you have ever done a repair install (= in-place upgrade to same edition), you cannot sysprep.

In other words, when sysprepping an existing Windows setup it only works if the Windows was installed clean and has never been upgraded or repaired using repair install, or if it is the original pre-installed Windows.

Using this method causes Windows 7 to lose activation information, and it needs to be reactivated afterwards. If your Windows 7 is an OEM version, you might not be able to reactivate it, at least not without phone activation option.

   Warning

IE10 Users: Please read this article first: Sysprep Fatal Error With IE 10 (FIX) | System Administration

Complete tutorial as PDF: View attachment Relocate User folders during Windows 7 installation.pdf (1.22 MB)

Kari

Related Tutorials

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• How to Change the Default Location of a User Profile in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Change the Default Location of Windows 7 User Folders
• How to Restore the Default Location of Windows 7 User Folders
• How to Free Up and Recover Hard Drive Space in Windows 7
• How to Change the User Folder Name of a User Profile in Windows 7

 

[Kari]

You really don't bother to read the thread? "Answer me, I do not care how many times you have already answered this same question to someone else!"

Check my reply to another member only a few posts before this, two posts before your first question today. It was about 100th time I have answered this same question in this thread.

Kari

 

[scorpio1]

hey kari i only dont understand the step of creating and deleting usser map the steps befor that i understand .
must i creat e new user map and than deleting them ?
thx

 

[Kari]

hey kari i only dont understand the step of creating and deleting usser map the steps befor that i understand .
must i creat e new user map and than deleting them ?
thx

Sorry Scorpio but I really do not understand what you mean. If you have difficulties using English, please go to Google Translate and type your question in your language then translate it to English and post here.

 

[Britton30]

hey kari i only dont understand the step of creating and deleting usser map the steps befor that i understand .
must i creat e new user map and than deleting them ?
thx

It will be helpful if you say what step(s) you have trouble with.

 

[scorpio1]

this step i dont realy understand Use a temporary name, for instance Test to continue first boot routine.
When Windows stops for login, choose your old account to login,
for instance in my case I chose here Kari and not the account Test which I just created:



When finally in Windows desktop, go to User Accounts and remove the unnecessary Test account.
That account has yet no folders to remove because Windows does not create user folders when user account is created;
the user folders are only created when user logs in first time.

must i change myn user name firts and than make e new one

 

[Kari]

Ah OK!

If you sysprep an existing Windows installation, one with existing usernames, you cannot use any of those existing usernames on the first OOBE boot (first normal boot after exiting Audit Mode). You need a temporary user account.

An example: My PC already has user profile Kari. I boot to Audit Mode and sysprep the PC. I exit Audit Mode, boot to OOBE. This first so called OOBE boot is for Windows as if it was the first time it is ever booted, so it stops to ask an initial username and PC name.

If I now try to give username Kari, the system tells me that user already exists and asks for another username. I use Test or Temp here but you can use whatever you want to, the main thing is that you need to put a username there and it can't be one that already exists on your PC.

Then when Welcome screen finally shows, I select my old account Kari and when on desktop I delete the temporary user I had to use just to get pass OOBE boot.

Kari

 

[scorpio1]

so i let myn user map,then i go to audit mode to change the location of myne user map and then i creat TESt user name for to get back in windows?

I dont have to creat e new one before i co to audit mode?

corect ?

 

[Kari]

1. Boot to Audit Mode as told earlier in this thread
2. Run Sysprep as told in this tutorial
3. Exit Audit Mode as told in this tutorial
4. Boot to OOBE (normal) mode
5. When Windows setup asks a username, use a temporary name
6. When Welcome screen shows, select your old user account
7. When on Windows desktop, go to Control Panel > Users and delete the temporary user account

 

[scorpio1]

oke thx kari i hope i don"t mess up myne windows i whil try it tomorrow

thx

 

[scorpio1]

if i do this losse i myn program's that i have already installt or not?

 

[Kari]

No, you don't lose installed program but you lose Windows Activation so you need to have a legal, valid product key to re-activate.

 

[Threepwood]

Kari, I'm following your instructional to the T. I've tried it 3 times and each time, after I run the script and try to exit Audit mode I get the following Error Message as my machine tries to boot into Windows:

Install Windows

Windows could not parse or process unattend answer file [C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml] for pass [oobeSystem]. The settings specified in the answer file cannot be applied. The error was detected while processing setting for component [Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup].

Once I get that error, there's no way for me to boot into windows, and I'm forced to reinstall again.

Is there a fix for this? Or is it something I'm doing wrong? Please help!

It seems it's my first post here so hello to everyone I've had the same problem as mentioned above. I think the problem was with drive's letters. I did install Win7 with C and D partitions, my CD/DVD drive was on E but the Win7 install disk was on F and after last reboot my system probably switched my USB stick drive letter to E so, after a couple of installs, before booting to OOBE I just made a directory "win7" on D drive, copied all files and folders from usb stick to it, changed the path in XML script and... voila, everything went ok!

 

[Kari]

Hi Threepwood, welcome to the Seven Forums.

Yes, that error message normally means exactly that: absolute paths to either new folder locations or to install.wim are not correct.

Your workaround is elegant! I have done it by going to Disk Maintenance in Audit Mode and changing CD/DVD and / or USB drive letters there; when done, Windows remembers these drive letters also after reboot.

Kari

 

[Camera]

Kari - excellent guide
Just one question from a newbie. The line which reads "processorArchitecture ="amd64"
Is that the same regardless of whether the actual processor is amd or intel?

Thanks
Dave

 

[Kari]

Hi Camera, welcome to the Seven Forums.

Yes, it's the same:

• Installing Windows x64 on any 64 bit PC > processorArchitecture = amd64
• Installing Windows x86 on any 32 or 64 bit PC > processorArchitecture = x86
• Installing Windows x86 on any Itanium PC > processorArchitecture = ia64
  • (Itanium no longer supported on Windows 8)

Kari

 

[Camera]

Brilliant thanks - just completing an install on a new build. Thanks for the very quick response - I should get set up on two partitions from the outset

 

[Kari]

Here something to read before install: http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...pproach-installing-setting-up-windows-pc.html

 

[Camera]

Thanks
I think I got most of the steps in that guide. Your profiles script worked brilliantly (once I corrected my typos)

 

[Parman]

Kari
Currently I'm using 2 128gb ssds with this. Do you think I will see huge performance decrease if I change the ssd to hhd? I think I might put that sad in another system.

 

[Kari]

Do you think I will see huge performance decrease if I change the ssd to hhd? I think I might put that sad in another system.

In my opinion no. The most time consuming tasks alongside with Windows boot is the application startups, it won't take so long then to get documents open from secondary disk.

This of course only my personal opinion.

Kari