User Profiles - Relocate to another Partition or Disk

How to Relocate User Profiles to another Partition or Disk in Windows 8​

   Information

The method described in this tutorial allows relocating user profiles and folders already while installing Windows 8, before any user accounts are created, as well as after installation on an already installed system.

The advantage of this method is that it changes some internal Windows 8 environment variables, being a “Do it once and forget” procedure. Changing the variables takes care of all existing and future user profiles, locating them when created to selected drive or partition. The method is fail proof and reversible.

When Windows 8 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), exists 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 profiles. When a new user account is created and this new user logs in first time, Windows creates a set of user specific folders (Users\Username)

Microsoft does not recommend relocating, moving ProgramData, Program Files, Program Files (x86) and Windows folders. Too much is depending on information and data stored on these folders. However, there's simply nothing preventing us to move the Users folder. In this tutorial we show how to move (relocate) the Users folder by changing an internal Windows Environment Variable.

Moving Users folder 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.

Personally, when installing Windows 8 I always use Audit Mode to relocate Users folder, leaving system drive only for Windows and applications.

   Note

Screenshots from pre-release version Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Actual Windows 8 has different colors but the functions are the same, tutorial can be used as it is.

   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 or Seven to Eight you cannot sysprep and this tutorial cannot be used in your case. The same applies if you have upgraded Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8 to 8.1.

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.

When sysprepping an existing Windows setup, it only works if the Windows 8 was installed clean and has never been upgraded or repaired using repair install, or if it is the original pre-installed Windows 8

Although I have repeatedly told that relocating ProgramData will cause Windows Store and Apps as well as PC Settings not to function, people keep doing it using the method described in this tutorial.

DO NOT RELOCATE PROGRAMDATA! YOUR WINDOWS STORE AND APPS WILL NOT WORK IF PROGRAMDATA IS MOVED FROM ITS DEFAULT LOCATION.

1.Audit Mode

1.1. Boot to Audit Mode when installing Windows 8


(If you have already installed Windows 8, continue from step 1.2.)

Start Windows 8 installation normally.

When installation after a reboot or two is completed and Windows 8 comes to Personalize page (see screenshot below) press CTRL + SHIFT + F3 (press and hold down CTRL and SHIFT, press F3 still holding CTRL and SHIFT down, release all three keys).




DO NOT ENTER PC NAME HERE OR CLICK NEXT! Just press CTRL + SHIFT + F3.

Your computer reboots now. Don’t panic, it’s just doing what it really should do. Windows 8 starts now in so called Audit Mode, using built-in administrator account to let you to modify Windows before any user profiles and user specific folders are created.

Continue from step 2.


1.2. Boot to Audit Mode from existing Windows 8 installation

First you need to open Command Prompt using built-in administrative account: hover pointer over bottom left corner of the desktop, right click to open Start Menu , select Command Prompt (Admin):



Command Prompt window opens. Type this to command prompt:

[B]C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\Sysprep.exe /audit /reboot[/B]

Hit Enter.Windows reboots now to Audit Mode, "thinking" it's been started first time. Text Preparing can be seen on screen.

If you are interested to know more about Audit Mode, here are some links for you to read:

• TechNet: Understanding Audit Mode
• TechNet: Customize Windows in Audit Mode

2. Audit Mode

Windows has now booted in Audit Mode using built-in administrator account, and you should see Metro interface. Click Desktop to enter classic Windows desktop:



To start, click Cancel to close System Preparation Tool:



If you don’t have a second internal hard disk or you have not created and formatted an extra partition on your system disk, you need first to create one. Notice that the drive or partition don't have to be empty, but especially if relocating on an existing installation it must be big enough to allow Users folder to be moved there. When we sysprep with answer file on next step these two folders are physically moved to new location.

If you already have a formatted second HD or partition, you are ready to go.


2.1. Creating an answer file (script) for System Preparation Tool

Audit Mode lets us to start Windows without creating any user accounts. At the moment we are using the built-in administrator account. Your own accounts are created later.

We are going to use System Preparation Tool (sysprep) to run an XML-script (so called Answer file) which modifies the Windows registry and settings as we want to, relocating Users folder to another partition, E: in this example, by changing a so called Windows Environment Variable. You can of course use any internal drive you want to.

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine readable form.
To make changes to Windows registry, we will now create a script in XML and run it with sysprep.

Open Windows Notepad text editor (press Win + R, type Notepad, hit Enter). Type the following script, or copy it from here and paste to Notepad (please do not forget to read the notes below code lines 4, 6 and 11 regarding said lines):

1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   
2. <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
   
3. <settings pass="oobeSystem">
   
4. <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm=[noparse]"http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"[/noparse]>
   
      Note

   (If you are installing Windows x64 (64-bit), value prosessorArchitecture should be amd64​, also on Intel processors. For x86 (32-bit) it should be x86.)
   

5. <FolderLocations>
   
6. <ProfilesDirectory>e:\Users</ProfilesDirectory>
   
      Note

   In this example the new location of Users would be E:\Users. Change the drive letter according your needs.

7. </FolderLocations>
   
8. </component>
   
9. </settings>
   
10. [noparse]<cpifflineImage[/noparse] cpi:source="wim:F:/sources/install.wim#Windows 8" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
    
       Note

    (Change the drive letter in wim:F: to that of your CD/DVD drive, USB stick or virtual drive containing your Windows 8 installation media (DVD/ISO). Notice that installation media has to be available to system when running sysprep. Change Windows version accordingly, Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 Pro.
    

11. </unattend>
    

(Please leave the row numbers out when typing or copying the above code. Answer file generated with Windows System Image Manager).

If you are installing Windows 8 PRO x64 from CD/DVD/USB F: and relocating Users to E: you don’t have to change anything, you can use the script as it is.

Select Save As from Notepad’s File menu. Select Save as type: All Files. Name the file as you want, add .xml extension to the filename. Save the script to the root of any drive:



Alternatively you can download the answer file here: View attachment relocate.rar

2.2. Using System Preparation Tool

Open the Start Menu (Win + X), select Command Prompt (Admin).

First stop the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service (WMPNetworkSvc) by giving the following command:

net stop WMPNetworkSvc

When the service has stopped, type the following to the command prompt and press Enter to move to the right folder:

cd c:\Windows\System32\Sysprep

Now type the following and press Enter (notice the name and path of the script we created above, change it if needed. I saved answer file on E so the path is E:\relocate.xml):

Sysprep.exe /audit /reboot /unattend:E:\relocate.xml

You should now see System Preparation Tool dialog telling it is working on our script:



Let it run, don’t touch mouse or keyboard now. When System Preparation Tool is ready, Windows must and will reboot. It reboots back to Audit Mode.


2.3. Exiting Audit Mode

To continue Windows installation we have to exit Audit Mode and reboot. After reboot you’ll land back on Metro interface. Click Desktop to enter classic Windows desktop, click OK on System Preparation Tool dialog to boot normally in OOBE i.e. normal mode.

Before clicking OK, check that System Cleanup Action is set to OOBE, and Shutdown Options set to Reboot:





3. Finalizing installation

Finalize Windows installation.

If you did this from an existing Windows installation, you will notice that for your Windows this is as if it were the first time Windows was booted i.e you are back on OOBE boot, inserting product key and personalizing Windows. It also means that you have to enter so called initial user. In this case Windows does not accept any of the users created earlier, whether local or Microsoft accounts; instead you need to create a new user.

An example from this PC I am using now: I had already created two users and installed software when I decided to do sysprep to relocate Users. I had a local account for me and an Microsoft account using my email address. After finalizing sysprep, I needed to create a third user Test because system does not let me to use either Kari (local account) or Kari (Microsoft account) usernames because those accounts already existed on this PC.

So I created user Test (local), then from Welcome screen logged in as Kari (Microsoft account) and simply deleted the new Test account which I had just created. An extra step, small annoyance but there's nothing to do to avoid it.

When Windows finally boots first time to Start Screen you will see that Users folder is now located on the new drive or partition with all its subfolders.

When you check your system drive [noparse](C still [/noparse]contains Users folder. The old, original Users on C: can contain some Windows Store information that may not be moved, so let the old Users folder stay on C:. It will no longer grow, all new user data will be stored on a new location, but it is essential it remains on C:. You can hide it if you want, you are never again going to need it.

Notice that Users folder is not created on or moved to new location when you return to Audit Mode after running sysprep. Relocation will first happen when you exit Audit Mode and boot to OOBE (Welcome) mode to continue installation. If done on an existing system the first OOBE boot after sysprepping can take quite a long time, depending on how big those folders are that sysprep is physically moving to new location.

Remember also that when you create a new user profile the user folders are not created before the new user logs in first time.

That’s it, folks! Welcome to the Windows 8:






Now create a system image and you wont have to ever again remember jumplists and links everytime you restore the system to earlier point or system image. User account folders are now permanently moved to another drive, all new user profiles are automatically created on this new location and your system drive won’t be full so soon.

Thanks for reading.

Written and published on 02[SUP]nd[/SUP] of March 2012
Edited and updated on 6[SUP]th[/SUP] of February 2013
Edited, answer file's validity checked on 14[SUP]th[/SUP] of April 2013
Added instructions for Windows 8.1 Pro preview on 29th of June 2013

Kari

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Customize Default User Profile in Audit Mode
• How to Change the Default Location of User Folders in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Restore the Default Location of User Folders in Windows 7 and Windows 8

 

[Kari]

Hi Loremaster, welcome to the Eight Forums.

The thing with ProgramData is that it's where Windows Store App Repository is located. I have had so much issues when App repository is relocated that I have given up, all my systems have ProgramData on C: as by default and I will not even try to move it anymore, although the mklink method, creating a junction works quite well.

My recommendation is and will be only to relocate Users.

Kari

 

[Brad P]

Hi

I had a Windows 8 installation on a SSD and had a moved \users\xxxx\ folder to a secondary HDD. My Win8 installation now looking to be corrupt (long story, nothing to do with moving the User\xxx folder). I need to reinstall Windows 8. So I already have a secondary drive with a users folder and one user under that folder with all my data and settings. Can I point to that already existing folder or could I potentially loose that information?

Or should I rename that users folder before the reinstall process and just move files from the old location to the new one when needed?

 

[Kari]

It would be best if the drive had no previous user data on it, so the best option is to back up your users to an external drive and reformat the drive.

If this is not possible, rename the Users. Please notice you need to do this when not booted to your current installation. You can do this for instance by booting with install media to Recovery Console and using command prompt find the drive (drive letters used are different when in recovery console!) and rename it.

To get recovery command prompt when booting with install media, follow these steps after initial language and keyboard settings are asked:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2755-command-prompt-boot-startup-windows-8-a.html










Kari

 

[Brad P]

Thanks Kari, renaming sounds like a plan (plus backing up just in case).

 

[Brad P]

I did the rename and it all worked out perfect. As I reinstall programs, I can just move their associated files from appdata, etc to the new users folder location. This was a great tutorial. But it was this line "Let it run, don’t touch mouse or keyboard now. When System Preparation Tool is ready, Windows must and will reboot. It reboots back to Audit Mode." is where I had to assume I needed to remove my Win8 USB installation stick prior the reboot. It turned out my assumption was correct.

 

[Kari]

But it was this line "Let it run, don’t touch mouse or keyboard now. When System Preparation Tool is ready, Windows must and will reboot. It reboots back to Audit Mode." is where I had to assume I needed to remove my Win8 USB installation stick prior the reboot. It turned out my assumption was correct.

I do not understand what you mean?

The install media (where the install.wim is) must be connected and available throughout whole sysprep process, it should not be disconnected when sysprep reboots.

 

[Loremaster]

Thank you Kari for the welcome, it's an honor to be part of such a good group of helpful people. I finally got Windows 8 running with ONLY the users directory being move to another volume. I also moved my Virtual Drive as well. But I must say I am extremely appalled that not only does Windows have no AUTOMATIC way of doing this! With the way that Window's Bloats, and how easily it still gets taken down by Malware and Tojans, Windows should be totally Modular, user data should always be separate and protected...

 

[Loremaster]

My next project is to get my Iphone, Ipad to sync all data with Windows 8 without using Itunes... *sigh*

 

[Kari]

My next project is to get my Iphone, Ipad to sync all data with Windows 8 without using Itunes... *sigh*

That is a project that interests me and others, too, so by all means if you find a nice solution and get it working, start a thread and share your findings .

 

[steveb]

I sync all contacts and appointments via iCloud keeping my iPad, iPhone, my wife's iPad and iPhone and all our windows PCs in sync with Outlook (client only no exchange server). Photos sync via iCloud too. All my documents sync via a combination of Dropbox, SkyDrive, GoogleDrive and iCloud. Our mail server uses imap so my multiple mail accounts all sync across all devices. It's smooth and seamless and has no need of a so called single ecosystem. Windows 8 is irrelevant to the operation as long as all the services are supported it plays no part.

 

[steveb]

Oh and my iPad and iPhone backup wirelessly to iTunes when I put them on charge overnight. I almost never plug them into a USB port and sync with iTunes. And home sharing means everything installed on one device is shared across all of em including my iTunes running as a media server on my Server 2008r2 box up in the attic.

 

[Loremaster]

I sync all contacts and appointments via iCloud keeping my iPad, iPhone, my wife's iPad and iPhone and all our windows PCs in sync with Outlook (client only no exchange server). Photos sync via iCloud too. All my documents sync via a combination of Dropbox, SkyDrive, GoogleDrive and iCloud. Our mail server uses imap so my multiple mail accounts all sync across all devices. It's smooth and seamless and has no need of a so called single ecosystem. Windows 8 is irrelevant to the operation as long as all the services are supported it plays no part.

Steveb that's nice, but I don't want any of my stuff in the "Cloud" I am awaiting the day one of those servers get hacked, and tons of private data/pics/music is all across the net. Not to mention someone working with the sever Snooping your stuff....And most of the Cloud services have a disclaimer saying the "Company" is not responsible for your data. And lastly, esp with Icloud, i've seen several people make the mistake or accidentally deleting something from their phone, only to their Horror find out it has been deleted EVERYWHERE, as the Cloud auto Sync's...

 

[steveb]

Then you are in for lots of hard work! All my data is also backed up to a local server and removable drives daily. I'd be far more worried about trusting your bank and credit card companies with your data and their corrupt employees than syncing your files in the cloud.

 

[FredM]

Well, I tried all what Kari mentioned in his guide but I have quite problems with the Windows apps after I moved the user files to another disk. Apps not working, white screens or apps just crashed afer a second, no Downloads anymore from app store. Trying to fix the apps with the Microsoft rep tool did not work, refresh did not work (cause user files where moved...) Tons of probs.

Ok. What did I do? I only moved my user profiles and not the ProgramData (be aware that in German/ European Windows installs such folder would more likely be called "Program Files" and not ProgramData. The script Kari used will not move your Program folder from your drive C anyhow. Localisation prob only.

Just to clarify for everyone; you can have two kinds of user profiles:

A) A user profile registered with Microsoft where you sign on with your username (email) and password you registered with Microsoft.
- Even in the Initial Setup of Win8 it gives you the hint that you CAN use, download, purchase Windows Apps with such an account. Welcome transparent Microsoft customer!

B) A user profile NOT registered with your Microsoft account, aka as your LOCAL user account.
- As mentioned in the Initial Setup procedure while installing Windows 8 it will tell you that you CAN`T download or purchase Windows Apps with such a local account! So Windows 8 and a local user account & Microsoft Apps are just for the birds, or lets say "out of the window(s)"


Okay, what did I do now and how can I move my user files to another disk?

I just did a fresh Windows 8 Pro install and installed everything on my SSD drive.

As my System booted up for the first time I located my user Profile on my SSD (C:/Users), right click on Contacts, Desktop, Downloads, My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and so on, then select "Properties", then choose "Location" and just change the drive letter from C:\.... to your new drive letter (just drive letter, do not mess with the path name) where your files and folders should be moved (in my case E:\...).

Easy as that, no scripts, no reboots and your user files will move away from your SSD drive (or drive C) to another drive.

The best thing is my apps are still working.


Good luck

 

[Kari]

Fred, may I first correct the totally wrong statements in your post:

Ok. What did I do? I only moved my user profiles and not the ProgramData (be aware that in German/ European Windows installs such folder would more likely be called "Program Files" and not ProgramData. The script Kari used will not move your Program folder from your drive C anyhow. Localisation prob only.

1. ProgramData (a hidden system folder) is called ProgramData in all language versions of Windows, also in German Windows, as this screenshot from my German Windows 8 Pro shows:



2. ProgramData is never called Program Files, not in any language. Program Files is always the real name of Program Files in all language versions of Windows, it is never used as a name for ProgramData folder. Even in German Windows 8 where the Program Files folder is called Programme in Explorer, if you type C:\Program Files on Explorer addressbar and hit Enter, it opens that Programme folder because it is actually not even a real folder; instead it is only a link to the actual real Program Files folder on your C: drive , used so that the German users would not need to use an English name:




I repeat: System Folder names are the same in all language versions of Windows.

Check yourself, open Command Prompt on your German Windows 8, go to C: and take a directory listing. You'll find that there's no such folder there as Programme because it does not exist, being only a link and not a real folder. The real folder is called Program Files (in English) also in your German Windows:




This is because for the system to function properly and similarly in all languages all system folders have to use the same names, in every language. If you tried to move Program Files (= Programme) with sysprep as you hint in your post, it did of course not work for you cannot move Program Files folder with sysprep, it is not supported.

A user profile NOT registered with your Microsoft account, aka as your LOCAL user account.
- As mentioned in the Initial Setup procedure while installing Windows 8 it will tell you that you CAN`T download or purchase Windows Apps with such a local account! So Windows 8 and a local user account & Microsoft Apps are just for the birds, or lets say "out of the window(s)"

3. Of course you can install and use Windows Store Apps on a local account! Simply go to Store, select an app you want to install and at first time the store asks you to give a Microsoft email address and password (Hotmail, Live, MSN, Outlook) as here when I just now installed Google Search App from Store only to get a screenshot:



Later you will see the installed apps on Start Screen on your local account:



My account Kari (work German) is really a local account as you can see here:



Afterwards this email is connected to your local account and installing Store Apps does no longer ask your credentials.

I love critics, that makes life better. Constructive critics helps us to change the way we think and act. What I dislike is this what you are now doing: you present completely false and untrue statements as facts. Please next time check first your facts before posting and giving our members and readers so absolutely wrong information!

Of course everyone can do things in the way that suits them best. If you want to manually move every folder, do it. The method described in this tutorial makes it automatically and does not only move your docs, pics and so on but moves all users and all their folders at the same time, completely, with AppData and so on and also takes care that all future accounts are created on the new location, not on C:. Using your method you have to do that manually for each user account and each folder.

By the way, I hope you did not change the folder name Users in the answer file script to German Benutzer; The real name of that folder is Users, in German and Russian and Serbo-Croatian. Localized names as Benutzer, Programme and so on are only links in your language pointing to real English names of these system folders. Again something you can test: type C:\Users in Explorer addressbar in your German Windows and see what happens.

Well, I tried all what Kari mentioned in his guide but I have quite problems with the Windows apps after I moved the user files to another disk. Apps not working, white screens or apps just crashed afer a second, no Downloads anymore from app store. Trying to fix the apps with the Microsoft rep tool did not work, refresh did not work (cause user files where moved...) Tons of probs.

I think you did just that, you thought you were clever and changed the name Users in my script to German Benutzer. It is wrong and should not be done, it can cause your complete Windows stopping to function.

It's Users, ProgramData, Program files. Windows System Folders use and have English names in every language. The answer file script used in this tutorial must be used exactly as it is written, in English, in all language versions of Windows.

You are doomed to fail if you are foolish enough to change the folder names Users and ProgramData to your own language!

Kari

 

[FredM]

Fred, may I first correct the totally wrong statements in your post:

I mugged something up here. Yep, hidden folder ProgramData. You are right.

I was fiddeling with the user accounts in the first place.

Thanks alot for the enlightment Kari.

PS: No, I did not Change the "user" folder to German. Even I am German, I use the english language in Win 8

 

[Kari]

We need to think about future readers here; posting untrue statements can make things complicated for people, that's why it is important to correct things and present real facts.

Please, answer honestly. Did you translate the folder name Users in German Benutzer when you tried to sysprep as told in this tutorial? If so, it's no wonder you got problems.

Kari

EDIT: OK, saw your answer in your last post.

 

[Brad P]

But it was this line "Let it run, don’t touch mouse or keyboard now. When System Preparation Tool is ready, Windows must and will reboot. It reboots back to Audit Mode." is where I had to assume I needed to remove my Win8 USB installation stick prior the reboot. It turned out my assumption was correct.

I do not understand what you mean?

The install media (where the install.wim is) must be connected and available throughout whole sysprep process, it should not be disconnected when sysprep reboots.

I ran the script with the USB stick plugged in but when it went to reboot, I removed the stick. Either way, it worked because my user folder was moved to D:.

 

[stuart0001]

My current windows 7 and all user data is on a HDD and am looking to follow this guide to install Win8 OS & program data on a new SSD and User data on the existing HDD.

I've read that to ensure the MBR is written to the new SSD I should disconnect all other drives. Will it be ok to reconnect the HDD once the initial installation is done and before I enter audit mode to run the scripts etc?

Also, I assume my new User data can be stored in any folder name as long as I correct the script accordingly. eg I want to store all data in directory E:\Users(Win8)\ so that the Win 7 user folders/files are left alone and I can simply cut and paste them into the new Win8 user directory which should be very quick due to being on the same partition.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

 

[Kari]

Hi Stuart, welcome to the Eight Forums.

First the most important principle:

   Warning

You cannot sysprep an upgraded Windows. Even an earlier repair install changes your system status from clean to upgraded. Sysprepping Windows 8 can only be done if and when you have done a so called clean install of Windows 8, or if the Windows 8 was pre-installed by manufacturer / vendor and it has never been upgraded or repair installation has not been done.

A Windows 7 upgraded to Windows 8 cannot be sysprepped.

What does this mean:

• If you upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 8 starting the upgrade process from desktop of 7, or you select Upgrade install, your windows 8 can no longer be sysprepped. Installation must be started by booting to install media and selecting "Custom installation" (clean install)
• If you have done a clean install of Windows 8 or got a new PC with pre-installed Windows 8 but you have donne a so called repair install, your Windows 8 can no longer be sysprepped

If your intention is to upgrade to Windows 8, I would recommend you first sysprep the underlying old 7 and relocate the Users, as this can no longer be done after the upgrade. The tutorial for Windows 7 here: User Profiles - Create and Move During Windows 7 Installation - Windows 7 Support Forums

As for your question about the folder location, it can be anywhere. Remember that as usual in Windows if the path contains spaces it must be within quotation marks, so E:\Users(Windows 8) is wrong. Instead it should be "E:\Users(Windows 8)"​.

Kari