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

---

• 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

 

[Britton30]

Ahh, OK, thanks Kari. Never thought of that.
Since I install from a thumb drive it can also be named as I wish to find the wim file?

 

[Kari]

Yes.

My procedure, not saying it is the only correct way but works for me:

• Entering Audit Mode, I disconnect all external drives
• Now using Disk Management I create partitions on internal disks and change their drive letters according to my own system as told here in Part 1
• One by one I connect all external drives checking that they get the drive letter I want to and changing it if needed, even inserting a memory card to every card slot to do the same

 

[Britton30]

Yup, I have a card reader too and it was fouling things up, so sometimes when the flash drive was inserted it was G other times F. This should help in the future.
Your methods may not be "correct" but do work well and reliably.

 

[nonosto]

Dear

I success to install users in D partition. I would like know the procedure to format and re install in C Windows, and save all my users folder with all link and date (spreadsheet, movie, picture ...).

Thank you

PS: Some of software like antivir, shortcut desktop and programmes doesnot exist.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Dear

I success to install users in D partition. I would like know the procedure to format and re install in C Windows, and save all my users folder with all link and date (spreadsheet, movie, picture ...).

Thank you

PS: Some of software like antivir, shortcut desktop and programmes doesnot exist.

If you read the tutorial nonosto it will tell you there are several sub tutorilas at the bottom for transferring the stuff you want to.

As for reinstalling the OS after you have saved the stuff you want and disconnected the other drive use this http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html you can see you can do it with a DVD as well.

 

[7squid]

Hey Kari/guys,

New user but have been following this forum for quite some time and have found it very useful, so good work and thanks to all. I'm assuming this is the correct place to post as it relates to an error I've received whilst using the relocation script.

I'm in the process of setting up a new 64-bit Win 7 Pro install onto an older, newly formatted SATA HDD as a backup machine and am moving the users, program files (incl. x86) and programdata folders to the D: partition of the drive. System spec is a Celeron D, 2GB DDR2 (for now), Seagate SATA I (?) HDD, Radeon 800GT, Asus P5B.

I'm at the stage of the install where Windows is asking for country/region the second time around, after I've run the script to move the users and programdata folders in audit mode. The script has worked fine in the past for my Home Premium retail CD when installing that version but this time I've removed the ei file from the files on the CD and used wintoflash to copy across to a bootable SD card, so I can install Pro with the relevant key (can't find the disc).

Anyway, the process is going fine as before, until the point where I open a cmd line and try to robocopy the programdata folder over to check it's moved correctly, whereupon the command prompt copies some files that evidently either didn't get moved or were just created, then gives the message "The requested operation cannot be performed on a file with a user-mapped section open". I have no idea why this is occurring, but it seems to be related to files in the Microsoft/Search/Caches folder with long alphanumeric strings for names.

I have disconnected the data drive, the license key IS valid but hasn't been needed at this stage of the install yet, so that's not an issue and I've pulled out all hubs, multi-card readers etc. so only the C:, D: and F: (USB) drives are seen by the PC. As I say, I've not had this issue before and the only difference this time is that I'm installing from USB.

I also thought of this question - if I'm moving all the relevant folders to D: and need to one day reinstall over C:, will the programs need to be reinstalled regardless, as it will be a new registry on C:? And if so, is it possible to either backup and restore the registry post-fresh reinstall over C:, or even to do the same but with individual reg keys to get the programs to work again without reloading them?

Sorry for such a long post - grateful if anyone can help with this.

 

[Kari]

Hi 7squid, welcome to the Seven Forums.

I do not understand that with RoboCopy? Please keep in your mind that after the relocation, the C: still have the original Programdata and Users folders. Although they remain almost empty, the folders should not be emptied and deleted manually as some programs and applications are not coded correctly, using absolute folder locations as C:\Programdata and C:\Users instead of environment variables. Read more here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ing-windows-7-installation-4.html#post1161672

After reinstall you need of course do relocating again. If and when doing this, remember that the target drive cannot have any system folders from previous Windows installs, so if using the same drive as target as with previous Windows install you need to backup your personal files folders and wipe & format the drive before running the sysprep to relocate folders.

Kari

 

[7squid]

Hi Kari,

Thanks very much for coming back to me - the more I get into this, the more I find out.

Referring to your comment about poorly-coded apps using the absolute location, won't the existence of junction points (mklink /j "c:\programdata" "d:\programdata") actually redirect those apps? That's the way it seems to be working.

Interesting what you say about the D: drive needing to be clear prior to a rescue reinstall though. In this case, would it be better (although possibly longer-winded) to just delete the newly-reinstalled programdata and users folders from C: and just add the junction points redirecting to the older folders on the D: drive? How would this affect the registry and could you just restore a reg backup?

 

[Kari]

You asked about reinstalling, not repair (rescue) installing:

I also thought of this question - if I'm moving all the relevant folders to D: and need to one day reinstall over C:, will the programs need to be reinstalled regardless, as it will be a new registry on C:? And if so, is it possible to either backup and restore the registry post-fresh reinstall over C:, or even to do the same but with individual reg keys to get the programs to work again without reloading them?

Reinstall is a new installation; when relocating system folders by sysprepping, the target drive must not contain any system folders from any current or previous installations or the sysprep fails.

Repair installation (= in-place upgrade installation to the same version and edition) should work without any issues also when Programdata and Users are relocated on a non-default location.

I do not recommend, nor do I see any benefit using links and junctions together with sysprepped / relocated system folders.

Kari

 

[7squid]

Ah, sorry - my bad. Was talking generally and forgot there are two ways to reinstall. I did mean the completely new reinstall (but in my head I was repairing/rescuing an existing one by wiping the slate clean and starting again). Thanks for replying with both in mind though.

Interesting what you say about the D: drive needing to be clear prior to a rescue reinstall though. In this case, would it be better (although possibly longer-winded) to just delete the newly-reinstalled programdata and users folders from C: and just add the junction points redirecting to the older folders on the D: drive? How would this affect the registry and could you just restore a reg backup?

What were your views on this, though? I was coming at it from the angle of having sysprepped an installation, needing to reinstall but for whatever reason having no means of clearing the D: drive, so instead reinstalling normally but then replacing a sysprep & clean D: with the junctions & existing D:. Still a no?

 

[Kari]

I would never delete the original ProgramData and Users from C:, nor would I redirect them using links or junctions. My take on this matter is described in post #30 in this thread.

 

[Arbaraith]

Hello
I read through the tutorial and i think i got it all but i wanted to make sure. I just got a 120GB SDD and a fresh installation of W7 is my plan.
Can i do this tutorial with a selfmodified installmedium of Windows 7? i integrated the SP1 and updatepacks and made a USBinstallmedium. Or do i need an original W7DVD?
If i dunderstand it right i can install W7 with only the SSD connected. Then i connect my 2nd HDD, and folow your steps to enter Audit mode to move my userprofile. Is there a good point when i should do this, like after the first complete boot of W7 or after i installed MBdrivers and all that?

 

[Kari]

Your plan sounds good, install Windows only SSD connected, after first normal boot shutdown the PC, connect the HDD, boot to desktop and reboot to Audit Mode.

As long as your own install media is done using a valid Windows ISO file, it's OK to use it.

Kari

 

[RaviAsks]

Exceptional knowledge. U answered a lot of my questions. Thanks a ton.
Please keep up the wonderful work u r already doing....

 

[RaviAsks]

I do have a question. Not sure if this is the right forum to put it.

In my client estate, we have XP now. Users have their profiles in D Drive. We are in the plan of migrating from XP to Win 7. And need to migrate user profiles/data from D:\ in XP to Win 7 C:\ OR D:\(Not decided yet). Will be using USMT.

My question is: Do we need to modify the USMT scripts\command lines for scanstate and loadstate? OR will it by default pick up profiles/data from D in XP and put it in the same place in Win 7?

 

[Kari]

Hi RaviAsks, welcome to the Seven Forums.

USMT (User State Migration Tool) moves the XP user files to Windows 7 user folders, default location at C:\Users\Username. If you want to use the method in this tutorial to relocate the 7 main Users folder, as far as I know you can prepare your Windows 7 first as described in tutorial; the USMT then picks the new location and moves the user files to correct place. This is because using sysprep to relocate Users folder it is kind of "hard coded" in the system, sysprep changes internal Windows environment variables causing the system to see the new location as default.

Kari

 

[Chrisb647100]

GREAT WORK! This has worked flawlessly for almost a year now. I did follow another forum's posted suggestion of creating a virtual link via the command prompt. The poster stated that some (albeit very, very few) programmers, are still using a coding technique that can sometimes disassociate the program data files from the program. I do not know about that, but I created the virtual links anyway. With that said, I used your system on an earlier installation for a short while before, again with perfect results.

The question I have to post though today is whether or not a Windows 8 upgrade will keep the user folders moved in the new installation and also whether the virtual library links I created will stay linked with a Windows 8 upgrade. Thanks so much for your original post, it was exactly what I needed and I already have found a post on how to do it the same way with Windows 8 if I have to do a clean install.

Thanks so much!

Chris B.

 

[Kari]

First I have to tell you I have been a real in-place upgrade advocate, trying to correct some wrong thoughts and ideas surrounding an upgrade install. I have posted some general in-place upgrade tips and even a tutorial on how to in-place upgrade from XP to Seven keeping the installed software and user files intact.

That being said, my opinion and approach has changed a bit now with Windows 8. I have myself two in-place upgraded Eight rigs (in-place from Seven), working flawlessly, both kept everything from the underlying installation. With both of them I had to first reverse the relocation of Users and ProgramData, move them back to their original location due Windows 8 setup telling me I could keep nothing if upgraded when the folders were relocated.

This reverse procedure is very simple, just change the values (folder locations) between the FolderLocations tags in your answer file to original and run sysprep again:

<FolderLocations>
    <ProfilesDirectory>c:\Users</ProfilesDirectory>
    <ProgramData>c:\ProgramData</ProgramData>
</FolderLocations>

Please remember that every time you run sysprep with an answer file you need to reactivate Windows, so keep product key ready.

However, I am wholeheartedly recommending a clean install with Windows 8. In-place upgrade works but as Eight installed from a USB stick takes less than 15 minutes, the time needed to reinstall your programs and applications is in most cases not reason enough to keep every small issue the underlying Seven had.

When relocating folders with sysprep on Windows 8, notice that moving the ProgramData is not recommended. Doing it can seriously screw the Eight! Read more on our sister forums at www.eightforums.com:

• User Profiles - Relocate to another Partition or Disk

Additional reading:

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/286053-system-preparation-tool-use-customize-windows.html
• http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...pproach-installing-setting-up-windows-pc.html

Kari

 

[Chrisb647100]

Thanks Kari, more great info! I have a flawlessly working Windows 7 machine with a RAID 0 set of SSDs for OS and program files and a RAID 0 set of platters for documents and other storage. This should be fun, since I moved the user folders and created virtual library links to those same user files. With literally a ton of programs of which I use most of the time, I am reluctant to clean install. I know that there are a lot of issues with an upgrade, or that there can be, but in this one case I will probably upgrade and take my chances. I will post back with any issues I run into and solutions. Thanks again.

 

[Kari]

In that case, be sure to do it as "by the book" as possible:

• Boot to Audit Mode
• Stop the WMP Network Sharing service (see the bottom of the last page of this PDF tutorial, it's important!)
• Edit the answer file to move Users and ProgramData back to original locations as told in my previous post
• Run the modified answer file with sysprep, changing the /AUDIT switch to /OOBE:
  

  %windir%\sysprep.exe [B][COLOR="DarkRed"]/OOBE[/COLOR][/B] /REBOOT /UNATTEND:X:\Name.xml

  (X:\Name.xml is the name and location of your XML answer file)
• After OOBE (Welcome) boot, in other words when first time on Seven desktop after sysprep, close both firewall and AV programs
• Run the 8 upgrade install

Should work although RAID is RAID, you can never tell.

Please keep us posted, I am very interested to know how it went.

Kari