That warning is more or less a "hand wash", Microsoft making it clear that OK this works and can be done, even telling how it's done, but if anything happens it's your own fault :).
Anyway, not a single Windows update, fix or service pack fail or is known to cause issues because of a relocated Users and ProgramData folders on Seven or relocated Users folder in Eight.
Kari,
... and following Britton30's comment
To get it clear in my mind, updates are not affected with user-directories in other drives.
But version upgrades are ? (ie, upgrades must be a clean install, or use SysPrep)
By upgrade eg, from Home Premium to Pro ?
SysPrep to "move" user-directories back to C:\ > upgrade Windows > sysprep to move user-directories back to alternative drive. ?
Upgrades:
I only upgrade by clean install, mostly because the HD died or pre-2000 OS were unstable.
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I don't have a spare PC to experiment with (they are all workhorses), but I do have an XP rig with a crashed HD (2011 vintage) With a new HD I could play with that. I cannot afford to expose income generating machines to experimentation.
I guess I would need a new Win-7 disc to play with. All I can find are OEMs -- I have already 3 other new OEMs ready for 2 XP rigs and one XP laptop. The laptop came with Vista downgraded to XP
I have assumed I "can" use OEMs to "upgrade" (clean install) to replace an older OS ? I intend replacing HDs ... and in the XP laptop replacing the 256 GB disc with a WD new SSD-spinner combos.
Hope I have not gone to far off topic
Just started re-reading this thread.
As I re-read earlier "stuff" it is becoming clearer (reptilian brain cells)
Your post #73 suggests limitations of OEMs, but not impossible ?
Have I shot my self in the foot by buying Win-7 OEMs. (32bit Home Premium) to "upgrade" (clean install)?
(Home Premium does everything I want, no servers here)
Thanks for your patience :)
The OEM I referred to in post #73 is that which is installed on a machine you would buy at a store, ex. Dell, eMachines, etc. I don't think it would apply to an OEM "System Builder". Kari will have to explain that a bit more. :)
As I have repeatedly told in various threads, these two "rules" apply with sysprep and upgrade:
- You cannot sysprep an in-place upgraded Windows, whether the sysprep was used to relocate Users and / or ProgramData folders or for any other customizations. This applies to following in-place upgrade scenarios:
- In-place upgrade to superior version of the same edition (example: 7 Home Premium to 7 Ultimate)
- Repair installed Windows (repair install = in-place upgrade to same edition and version)
- In-place upgrade to superior edition (example: windows 7 Professional to Windows 8 Pro)
- You cannot in-place upgrade a Windows setup where the Users and / or ProgramData folders are relocated on another drive than systemdrive, be the relocation done with sysprep or any other method
Both of these restrictions can be worked around but as it goes to totally unsupported territory, I will not explain it any further.
This really is no rocket science: If you decide to relocate some system folders with sysprep, and you later want to upgrade your OS to a superior version of the same edition or to a superior edition, back up your data on your user profile drive, format it and do a normal clean install with your upgraded OS. Sysprep it to relocate your Users and ProgramData if you want to, then restore your personal data from backup to respective folders.
That's it.
I cannot explain it in a clearer way I already did on that post #73. Image can be created without entering the product key as you enter Audit Mode from first OOBE boot before Windows asks the key.
When done, the post #73 tells the four different activation scenarios. The OEM activation scenarios apply to both manufacturer delivered and system builder OEM versions.
Kari
All I can say is WOW
I started to read the whole tutorial but it is 11.00pm here in Australia and I am afraid that I am not getting out of it what I need to see, old eyes and tired
Thanks to all those that had a hand in this project and massive Kudos to you Kari
You are welcome Pendaws :). The procedure is in fact a lot simpler than it feels after first read.
Hi,
Very well done tutorial.
I have a question based on the referenced tutorial, How to Create a Virtual Machine in Windows Virtual PC, link below. The referenced tutorial explains how to install a 32-bit guest operating system on a 32-bit or 64-bit Win 7 as host. I want to use this tutorial as a guide to Create, Customize, and Maintain a 64-bit Win 7 Image in Audit Mode with Sysprep Tool on my 64-bit Win 7 as host.
Is it possible to use this tutorial to create a 64-bit Win 7 Image?
From my skimming the referenced tutorial, I got the impression that you can only load a Virtual Machine with a 32-bit guest OS.
Thanks for the assistance.
Regards
Windows Virtual PC - Create Virtual Machine
An important point which I have covered badly in the tutorial. I will edit the tutorial to cover this.
You are of course right, you can only install 32 guests to Windows Virtual PC, regardless if the host is 32 or 64 bit. In order to create a 64 bit Windows guest vm on Windows 7 host you need to use third party virtualization programs. Two most common and well known free alternatives are VMWare Player and Oracle VirtualBox, both free to download and use.
This tutorial was made using a Windows 8.1 Pro host which allows 64 bit guests using its native built-in Windows Hyper-V virtualization. Hyper-V is available in Windows 8 / 8.1 Pro and Enterprise editions.
Kari
EDIT:
I have now edited the tutorial as shown in the quote below. Added info highlighted:
TipYou can do everything told in this tutorial on a virtual machine, in fact I recommend it. It has many advantages. You might for instance have a fully working Windows 7 setup, no need for reinstall at the moment, but creating a customized image for future reinstallation on a virtual machine is fast and makes reinstall when needed a piece of cake. Restoring a system image with your software already preinstalled is usually faster than doing a clean install with no additional software, making your Windows personal and customized from the first boot to desktop.
In Part 11. we will generalize the image (see Part 11. for further explanation), removing all hardware related information and drivers from the image so that it can be used later on any hardware capable of running Windows 7, not only on your own machine. This, of course, requires a valid product key for Windows and each program on image for each computer you use the image to install Windows.
You can use any virtualization platform (Virtual PC, VirtualBox, VMware, Parallels) on any operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac) for following this tutorial to create a customized Windows 7 System Image. See for instance this tutorial for installing Windows 7 on Virtual PC: Windows Virtual PC - Create Virtual Machine. Create the image on a Windows 7 virtual machine running on a Linux Mint machine on a VirtualBox virtual machine, save the image on a stick and take it with you when visiting that Apple fan boy cousin of yours and install Windows 7 from your image to a Parallels virtual machine running on his Mac.
Notice that you can only install 32 guests on Windows Virtual PC, regardless if the host system is 32 or 64 bit. In order to create a 64 bit Windows guest vm on Windows 7 host you need to use third party virtualization programs. Two most common and well known free alternatives are VMWare Player and Oracle VirtualBox, both free to download and use.
This tutorial, the process itself, screenshots and videos were made on a Hyper-V Windows 7 virtual machine running on a Windows 8.1 Pro HP Envy 17 laptop. The vm was given 2GB of RAM, two virtual hard disks (100GB and 500GB) and two virtual CD/DVD drives.
Quote
