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

 

[bubblebobble]

ok thanks.

so there is no way to choose another folder for users profiles different from X\Users...?
(eg X:\MyPc2012\Users)

Neither with the manual method of this tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/87555-user-profile-change-default-location.html
?

 

[Kari]

The manual method maybe, I have to be honest and tell I have never tried. With sysprep I have never succeeded.

 

[SHPWin7]

No, no need to create folders. Sysprep takes care of that. Folder names must be Users and ProgramData.

Kari

FWIW: I followed Kari's advice and did not try to have Sysprep move my Users/ProgramData folders during the Windows 7 installation to the same partition that holds my Vista Users folders.

Instead, I used a disk utility and cleaned up the drive that holds Vista (it has the OS on one partition ("c:") and my Users folders on another ("d:")). I created two additional partitions: a primary partition named "Windows 7" for the OS (with no drive letter assigned) and a logical (extended) partition named "Seven Data" which I assigned letter "e:".

I then followed Kari's standard tutorial and installed Windows 7 to the new primary partition. Obviously, when I got to the Sysprep stage, I edited the "relocate.xml" script to place the Users/ProgramData folders on partition "e:". Everything went very smoothly and I now have a dual boot system with Vista 32 bit and W7 64 bit.

As others have noted elsewhere, when you're booted into W7, W7 automatically assigns the W7 OS partition letter c and assigns Vista OS partition a different letter. Similarly, when you're booted into Vista, the Vista OS is "c:". (In my case, when I'm in Vista, it does not list the Windows 7 OS because I did not give it a letter.)

I do not know whether there is some way to put both the Vista folders and the W7 folders on the same partition. OTOH, I don't know why you'd need to. Insofar as you can put the folders on a logical partition (and there's no limit to how many of those you can have) it probably makes sense to keep everything separate.

Good luck.

 

[Kari]

Good to know it worked for you, SHPWin7. Thanks for reporting back.

Kari

 

[VistaKing]

You could also do this inside the Autounattend.xml file

-<FolderLocations> <ProfilesDirectory>D:\Users</ProfilesDirectory>
<ProgramData>D:\ProgramData</ProgramData>
</FolderLocations>

but you would need to download Windows AIK for windows 7 here Download: Windows® AIK for Windows® 7 - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

 

[Melting Point]

Hi, I've been thinking about setting up my new system using this install method, but I have 1 small question before I do. Suppose I follow all the instructions, and successfully get windows running on my SSD, with the user profiles folders on my Raided 1.5TB Caviar Blacks. What would happen if the raided drives fail? I'm setting them up as RAID 0, so if either drive fails, everything on them will be absent when I boot the OS. Will the machine still boot? If I replaced the failed raid drives, will I be able to easily restore them from an offline backup, set Windows to use them for the user profile folders, and get the system back to the state it was in before the failure?

 

[SHPWin7]

Hi, I've been thinking about setting up my new system using this install method, but I have 1 small question before I do. Suppose I follow all the instructions, and successfully get windows running on my SSD, with the user profiles folders on my Raided 1.5TB Caviar Blacks. What would happen if the raided drives fail? I'm setting them up as RAID 0, so if either drive fails, everything on them will be absent when I boot the OS. Will the machine still boot? If I replaced the failed raid drives, will I be able to easily restore them from an offline backup, set Windows to use them for the user profile folders, and get the system back to the state it was in before the failure?

I would think so. I've never run RAID 0, but assume you can do an image type backup. If so, then when your "D" array fails, you should be able to install new drives, restore the image and pick right back up. Obviously, I'd recommend you test it as soon as you've done the initial install.

 

[Britton30]

Welcome to Seven Forums Melting Point.
Yes you could still boot since the OS will be on the SSD. I'm not too familiar with RAIDs, but I understand the Mirroring one not only will provide protection if one drive fails, it is still faster than a single HDD becuase it will read from ech drive in the array.

That said, I would think there is no real-world benefit having an array with a SSD, benchmarks may get better numbers tho.

 

[Melting Point]

Thanx Guys. I think I'll do what SHPWin7 suggested, and make an image backup of the RAID drive after install. At least that way, I should be guaranteed that it will at least boot.

Britton30, I was wondering if the OS would still boot, if the drive that contains the user profile is not longer there, and if it did, would it permanently reset the location of the user profile. Also, the RAID is for storage. 3TB of storages cost me less that a 256GB SSD. It doesn't need to be that fast.

 

[SHPWin7]

Couple of things. First, Britton, RAID 0 is actually a bit of a misnomer. There is no "redundancy" (ie no mirroring). So, you get speed but you actually increase your data loss risk (because if one of drives go, you're screwed). That's why I've never used it. I want speed for my OS and programs and will use a smaller, faster (pricier) drive for that. For my data I'm all about protection over speed.
Melting, again, I think you'll be fine. I've restored images of my OS to a new drive and it still booted and found the D partition on another drive. I've also restored both images to a new drive and also cloned a drive split into 2 partitions per Kari and it worked.
Good luck.

 

[Melting Point]

Couple of things. First, Britton, RAID 0 is actually a bit of a misnomer. There is no "redundancy" (ie no mirroring). So, you get speed but you actually increase your data loss risk (because if one of drives go, you're screwed). That's why I've never used it. I want speed for my OS and programs and will use a smaller, faster (pricier) drive for that. For my data I'm all about protection over speed.
Melting, again, I think you'll be fine. I've restored images of my OS to a new drive and it still booted and found the D partition on another drive. I've also restored both images to a new drive and also cloned a drive split into 2 partitions per Kari and it worked.
Good luck.

Yeah, I realise there lack of redundancy with RAID 0, I just didn't want to loose the extra 1.5TB. I have offline backups for my data already, so that seemed like a waste of a drive.

I've just found a new issue with this. With My C: drive on the SSD, and the D: drive (with user profiles) on the RAID0, I tried to do an image of the D: drive by itself with Windows backup, and was unable to. It will only let me image both the C: drive and the D: drive together. So I did that, then booted from the repair disk, to see if the restore would let me select individual drives to restore. That was a little ambiguous. There was a checkbox that allowed me to re-partition the disks as per the backup, and that opened up an interface which allowed me to select the disks to be re-partitioned. But it wasn't clear as to whether that would prevent those drives from being restored.

Is there a better way to take an images of the raided disk only, without needing to image the disk that the C: drive is on? Perhaps a third party application? I should point out that the RAID disk is GPT, not MBR.

 

[SHPWin7]

As far as backups are concerned, I believe it is a known issue that you cannot use the Windows backup utility. I would recommend that you take a look at either Acronis or Paragon. I've used Acronis for years. While it doesn't do everything it's supposed to, it does do reliable image backups.

On my latest computer, I've got an SSD dual booting Mac OS Lion and Windows 7. My data files are on a regular HDD. Acronis can't deal with Apple (although it will recognize and backup from a GPT drive). I discovered Paragon Backup & Restore 11. It does images of the entire drive and has already saved my bacon a couple of times. I'm very impressed with the software. I'm pretty sure you can find a free verson as well. Look for Paragon Backup & Restore 11 Compact.

Obviously, I recommend that you find one and TEST IT right away.


Good luck.

 

[mangamaster99]

sup. i don't if this has been asked before but uh i am getting this error for the first and seems to happen every time now for the past three days "windows could not parse or process unattend answer file [c:\windows\panther\unattend.xml] for pass [oobesystem]"

i've done this install before and worked for a entire year but now i get a error i have tried almost every version of windows cough not starter or basic cough. i even did this in sp1 dvd and worked on the laptop twice but i can't get it to do it again on the desktop.

many thanks in advance

 

[Amicus]

Hi Kari and Britton30,

Further to my posts #243 and #246.............done some follow-up tests which I would like to share with you FYI and comments.

Test 1
Used the ISO (W7 Home Premium x64 bit) previously mentioned in my earlier posts to do a completely clean install and activate the OS by using the OEM product key supplied with the laptop.................once again followed the tut to the letter and bingo, as expected all was well and the new location of "Users" and / or "ProgramData" was exactly as per the tut.

Test 2
Used exactly the same laptop, wiped the HD, used the rescue disks previously created by me at Day 1 from the original OEM install, re-installed the OS from the rescue disks, and at the appropriate stage followed the tut instructions once again, and boom, as expected no error messages, but nothing was moved whatsoever.

Test 3
Repeated Test 2 but at the appropriate stage, this time inserted the ISO mentioned in Test 1, and then followed the tut instructions once again, and boom, as expected again no error messages and again nothing was moved whatsoever.

Conclusion
So, all tests carried out on a clean HD, and the only test that resulted in success was where there was no OEM input. I think Test 3 is enlightening...........even if in Test 2 "install.wim" was not present (which in truth it must have been) and that was the cause of the failure of Test 2, "install.wim" was certainly present in Test 3 via the ISO, and the failure still occurred nevertheless.

On the face of it, we would appear to be no further forward in solving my particular problem, except we do know for sure now that:

• failure is not due simply to the OS being W7 Home Premium x64 bit on a laptop.
• failure does have something to do with the OEM install setup.
• your theory of a service (or process) being the culprit is still on the table, but if correct, it seems that any such service (or process) must be as a result of the OEM install setup procedure itself.

I wish I had the answer!! :mad2:

Request for Information
I would be most grateful if there is anyone at all out there who has successfully achieved this tut via an OEM install / re-install OS W7 Home Premium x64 bit on a laptop, then please post the exact circumstances of how you managed to achieve it.

Thanks.

Amicus.

 

[Kari]

Amicus, thanks for your response. I will continue to check this when I just can find some time.

Repped you for your test work. Well done.

Kari

 

[Amicus]

No worries Kari....

Cheers,

A

 

[rtmeek]

As far as backups are concerned, I believe it is a known issue that you cannot use the Windows backup utility. I would recommend that you take a look at either Acronis or Paragon. I've used Acronis for years. While it doesn't do everything it's supposed to, it does do reliable image backups.

On my latest computer, I've got an SSD dual booting Mac OS Lion and Windows 7. My data files are on a regular HDD. Acronis can't deal with Apple (although it will recognize and backup from a GPT drive). I discovered Paragon Backup & Restore 11. It does images of the entire drive and has already saved my bacon a couple of times. I'm very impressed with the software. I'm pretty sure you can find a free verson as well. Look for Paragon Backup & Restore 11 Compact.

Obviously, I recommend that you find one and TEST IT right away.


Good luck.

When you say it is a 'known issue' that you cannot use the Windows backup, What do you mean? That you cannot use it when user files are located on another drive? If so, I was not aware of that prior to me going through all of this.

I have successfully used the TUT on a clean install of Win7 to a new SSD and to relocate the user files to a seperate HDD D but now when I try to make an image of C Windows backup is forcing me to include the D drive. Why? I want to image only C with my known good OS and programs in case of a reinstall.

 

[Kari]

I have successfully used the TUT on a clean install of Win7 to a new SSD and to relocate the user files to a seperate HDD D but now when I try to make an image of C Windows backup is forcing me to include the D drive. Why? I want to image only C with my known good OS and programs in case of a reinstall.

In case of a reinstall, backed up programs can not be restored, at least not so that they are fully functional. You need to reinstall your programs, too.

On the other hand, if you want your image to work, the system to be fully functional after image recovery, it has to include all system files and folders. Because ProgramData and Users folders are essential to a functional system, you need to include them in your image. This automatically means you need to include the drive where any system folders are located to your image, in your case D:.

Kari

 

[rtmeek]

I have successfully used the TUT on a clean install of Win7 to a new SSD and to relocate the user files to a seperate HDD D but now when I try to make an image of C Windows backup is forcing me to include the D drive. Why? I want to image only C with my known good OS and programs in case of a reinstall.

In case of a reinstall, backed up programs can not be restored, at least not so that they are fully functional. You need to reinstall your programs, too.

On the other hand, if you want your image to work, the system to be fully functional after image recovery, it has to include all system files and folders. Because ProgramData and Users folders are essential to a functional system, you need to include them in your image. This automatically means you need to include the drive where any system folders are located to your image, in your case D:.

Kari

This confuses me a bit as I am in no way an expert on how Windows 'works'. But I would have thought that if I had a good image of C (with only OS and Programs) and needed to install the image back to C -due to something being corrupt in windows- that I could simply install the image to C to fix the OS problems and that windows would still know that the user files and ProgramData was still located on D and all would be well. But you're saying that's not the way it works?

Ted

 

[Kari]

Theoretically you are right. It might (should?) work.

To be totally honest, I have never even tried to restore an image which does not include all Windows system elements, all drives where some of system folders are located. When you run a program, it modifies some of its files located in AppData which is a subfolder of your user folder and some programs also files located in ProgramData.

All this with the fact that I need to be careful here to avoid "Why did you say it will work? My system crashed!" situations , I can only repeat what I said earlier: When imaging, all drives including system files and folders should be included.

Kari