User Profiles - Create and Move During Windows 7 Installation

This tutorial worked great for me. My SSD boot drive was getting full (it was only 60gb). So, I used this to move the user folders to the second HDD. One problem though when I enter all Programs the folders and links are missing. I have tried manually moving them to the 2nd hard drive without any resolution to the problem. I also tried creating about 5 folders and consolidating the folders so it didn't exceed the folder limit (70? i think was the magic number). Any way to fix it that you can think of?

That is an awesome tip Kari, appreciate the help!

As a noob I have a quick question, I'm planning a HTPC build (just a glorified media player) running Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit and panning to use an SSD as a boot drive - if I do relocate the User Profile folders using your code to my 3TB HDD on the system - what size (min) boot drive would I need for my system.

Only planning to install the OS and a few other media applications on it - XBMC, a few players like DAPlayer, VLC etc?

I have 8 GB of RAM on it as well (i know this is overkill) but I'm using 2 sticks out of my 16GB kit on my desktop which I had bought on sale not long back for $70 from Amazon - so my question was regarding the page file size - would you recommend disabling the page file for a snappier response time, if not then what page file size should I be estimating?

Thanks for all the help in advance!

Hi Milkman, welcome to the Seven Forums.

The path to your Start Menu > All Programs folder should be <USERPROFILES_DRIVE>:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu for your individual Start Menu, and <PROGRAMDATA_DRIVE>:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu for All Users Start Menu.

If you moved only the user profiles, please check and tell me which folder is opened when you right click Start Menu > All Programs and select Open. If everything went smoothly this folder should be on the drive where you moved user profiles. If it is still pointing to old folder, this opens the folder on C: drive.

If you also moved the ProgramData folder, right click Start Menu > All Programs and select All Users. Please tell if this opens All Users folder on C: drive, or on the drive where you moved ProgramData.

Kari

Thanks for the welcom Kari
When I right click Start Menu > All Programs and select Open I do get <USERPROFILES_DRIVE>:\Users\Brian\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

How do I right click Start Menu > All Programs and select All Users? The only two options are open and properties. When I browse <PROGRAMDATA_DRIVE>:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu I see the programs listed that I had prior to the move. Should I move that info to the Userprofiles drive? Oddly I notice that my username is Power User under the start menu and the control panel> Manage accounts but the directory for the programs has my username as Brian.

Kari,
Reporting back as promised. All went well having all I needed on USB stick.
I believe I have achieved moving the ‘Users and ProgramData’ Folders using your tutorial.
However, when I go to the ‘D’ partition, I see the following:
· Folder:- A6407215600548CDD3CD03EB6781C2
· Folder:- EO9021F611C2597339
· Folder:- FCC25DB0F436AFFD5A32325F7A
· ProgramData: - which expands to: Adobe,ATI, AVG2012, MFAData, Microsoft
· Users:-
· Relocate

Now when I go to the ‘C’ partition, I see the following:

· Folder:- 10DC591160A95820ED (This is empty)
· PerfLogs
· Program Files
· Program Files (x86) – I have Win 7 64 bit
· ProgramData – I am surprised to see it here:- which expands to: Common Files, MFAData, Microsoft
· Windows
Is this what you would expect to see in the ‘C’ & ‘D’ partitions?
Currently I am updating Windows, loading software, connecting hardware, locating drivers and getting the whole system set up so I can capture a virgin image for later use.
Your comments on the above would be much appreciated and I thank you again for your patience and understanding in getting me to this point of utilising your tutorial, hopefully correctly (it was third time lucky).
JaysJimlad

Hey Kari, thanks for this guide. It's clear, easy to read and very accessible - great job!

I just had a question on a scenario I read somewhere, I can't remember if it was here. Some programs apparently point very specifically to the C:\ location for some of their files - Skype was one of the ones named, where it would create a C:\ProgramData\Skype folder even if the ProgramData folder had been moved. I was wondering if you'd advise using junctions in conjunction with this guide? Assuming that my main partition is C:\ and my new User partition is U:\, would this be acceptable:

- cmd: mklink /J "C:\Users\" "U:\Users"
- cmd: mklink /J "C:\ProgramData\" "U:\ProgramData"

I also had a question on imaging after this process, but I think it suits the Backup and Restore section more. Hopefully you can aid with this junctions question!

HELP!
Kari, great guide. However, everything was going great until it came time to run the script to start sysprep/OOBE.
When I type in the command sysprep.exe/audit/reboot/unattend/:u:\relocate.xml I get the following in an info box:

Usage: sysprep.exe[/quiet][/generalize][/audit oobe][/reboot /shutdown /quit][/unattend:<filename>]
"If no command-line arguments are provided, a graphical user interface is used to select the desired mode of sysprep operation."

What do I do now?!? It won't execute the command, and just returns me to a new command prompt line.

boger1 said:

HELP!
Kari, great guide. However, everything was going great until it came time to run the script to start sysprep/OOBE.
When I type in the command sysprep.exe/audit/reboot/unattend/:u:\relocate.xml I get the following in an info box:

Usage: sysprep.exe[/quiet][/generalize][/audit oobe][/reboot /shutdown /quit][/unattend:<filename>]
"If no command-line arguments are provided, a graphical user interface is used to select the desired mode of sysprep operation."

What do I do now?!? It won't execute the command, and just returns me to a new command prompt line.

I think you've forgotten to put spaces. Try:

sysprep.exe /audit /reboot /unattend:U:\relocate.xml