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

 

[XP1]

In a command prompt, if the relocated drive letter is U, type:

C:
mklink /j C:\Users U:\Users
mklink /j C:\ProgramData U:\ProgramData

Once you have created the directory junctions, you can create a user profile and use the Metro apps.

Are you able to explain this in further detail XP1? Treat me like a nub i won't mind

I have a 128gb SSD (c where win 8 pro is currently installed. I have a second HDD (500gb) whereby i wanted Users & Program Data to exist. I don't want to revert back, that doesn't help me. I just need metro to start working again

Right click on the Start corner > Command Prompt (Admin) > Yes > Type:

C:
mklink /j C:\Users U:\Users
mklink /j C:\ProgramData U:\ProgramData

Replace the "U:\" text with your own drive letter. Each line has a separate command that you press enter to execute.

When you open Explorer to the C drive, you should see the "Users" and "ProgramData" junctions that look like folders.

I forgot to mention that when you create a new user account, the Metro apps should work.

 

[XP1]

Does this technique cause the creation of symlinks or junction points? I ask because I am want to be sure how this approach interacts with drive image backups and I some backup programs say they do not support symlinks.

I don't think that the sysprep process creates junctions. You have to create junctions manually. However, without junctions, you will have a problem because the registry still points to folders that don't exist on the C drive. Alternatively, you would have to search the registry and update any values that are incorrectly pointing to the C drive.

If you read my previous post, sysprep forgets to modify some parts of the registry:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...other-partition-disk.html?p=108981#post108981

 

[XP1]

I get a message that sysprep cannot run on a computer that has been upgraded to a new version of Windows.

Any suggestions?

Looks like sysprep won't let you run on upgraded Windows. It is always best to clean install Windows.

 

[patrickd314]

Here's my experience leading to a successful clean install, using Kari's technique.
1. I wanted to keep Metro, so I omitted the "program data" line (#15) in the script, per Kari's note.
2. I had my prior Windows 7 user files saved to a folder called "Archive Files" on my data drive. [NOTE: On the first try, I called this temporary folder "users_old," but that didn't fool the installer, which renamed it "Users," and set up account folders with names I didn't like, since folders with the names I did want were already there. Anyway, burying it in "Archive Files" worked fine.]
3. I copied Kari's scripts to a zip drive.
4. At the first reboot, Windows asked me to eject my Install Media, which I did, but after rebooting into Audit Mode I reinserted it, since I knew the script would call for it.
5. (I think this is most important!) After first booting into Audit Mode, I took a few minutes to look around with File Explorer to check on the drive letters Windows had assigned my drives. I then used this information to edit the scripts on the zip drive to point to the right drives and files.
6. After completion, I set up the user accounts I wanted, and then opened two instances of File Explorer to move (not copy) the contents of each respective folder (My Documents, My Music, etc) from the "Archive Files/users" folder to the new "Users" folders. Because they were located on the same physical disk, the moves were almost instantaneous.
8. Viola! OS (Including Program Data) on SSD C: , Users folder on 1TB HD D: , and Metro works!
9. Now to figure out what Metro is good for!!??

 

[tctuggle]

Is there a way to move the Users folder to another partition without using sysprep and doing a full OS install?

 

[Eikka]

hi,
if I also want to relocate Program Files , Program Files (x86) and perflogs direrctiories, what are the xml-tag names for those?
And is it enouf to add them to relocate.xml or does it need some other changes too?
If I name the file "AutoUnattend.xml" and include it to the root of windows 8 installation disk, does those changes works those Program File-folders too?
Anyone tested?

 

[tctuggle]

Asked another way, with Windows 8 already installed, how does one move the Users folder?

 

[patrickd314]

Well, you can move (at least) your Documents, Music, Videos and Pictures folders, which generally consume most of your storage space, by individually going to each folder, right-clicking, selecting "properties," then the tab "Location." From there you can change the location of the folder.

The only way that I am aware of to move the whole Users folder, other than the one we are discussing in this thread, involves the use of "symlinks." I've never tried it, but have found the "sysprep" method described in this thread to be quite easy, and have used it successfully in several Windows 7 installs, and now in Windows 8 also.

I've only used the new install method, but step 1.2 of Kari's method seems to imply that you can do it from an existing installation.

 

[BruceBanner]

I really need some advice that is directly related to the Kari method here. But to fully understand my problems it is perhaps best to give u background of what i have done to get to the mess i have now.

1) was running win xp, had a straight backup (no acronis .tib file or anything) of my documents (My Documents, My Music and My Pictures etc, ie the IMPORTANT stuff). This content was on a separate hdd to C: (xp)

2) I got a brand new 128gbSSD and installed win 8 pro onto it. I then followed Kari's method (migrating User and Program Data) from C: to E:

3) at this point I can't recall exactly what I did but suffice to say I somehow have all the data from 'My Documents' from winxp organised correctly in the new Library.
E: drive has User and Program Data as the two main root folders with all the stuff i had from win xp residing in a logical location (My Pictures in Pictures, My Music in Music etc). I must have done some direct copying but i can't recall lol.
But then disaster strikes and I discover metro doesn't work. I read that other ppl have the same issue and I am not alone.

3) So I decide to stuff it and just to a fresh reinstall of win 8 again (on the SSD of course) and forget about the whole migration thing, and instead just leave win 8 as it was intended and simply do things manually for redirections etc. I figure that things could get buggy or worse further down the line and cbf resolving, i'll let win 8 win for now. Fresh reinstall it is.

4) Now that i am in this new win 8 installation, and default User is still on C:, the Previous E: drive data (that has User left over from PREVIOUS Kari method) is behaving oddly. Just to be absolutely clear, i left E:User and Erogram Data alone from previous win 8 kari method installation, i just reinstalled win 8 on C: (128gb ssd).

Now being new to win 8 (and bearing in mind i am coming from Xp environment ie I have no experience of win 7) I am not sure what behavior is normal and which is odd. Here's an example of summin weird. I navigate to 'E:\Users\Eddy\Documents\Random Notepads' and when trying to edit a previous notepad (.txt file) I get the following steps;

a) right click a notepad>Edit.
b) i'm in a notepad, i add extra text, i then click 'save' (not save as).
c) 'Save As' box pops up, but i didnt click save as :S
d) I select same file ie overwrite.
e) 'xxx.txt' already exists. Do you want to replace it?
f) Yes
g) Access is denied.
h) ok.

Now at no point am i given option/prompt for administrative rights etc.

Also what is interesting is when in this location E:\Users\Eddy\Documents\Random Notepads and i right click empty space and go 'New' i get nothing, only '(Empty)' in grey. If i am in just 'Libraries\Documents' (E:\Users\Eddy) and also right click anywhere and go 'New' I get only 'Folder' as an option.

Perhaps some of this I am encountering is Win 7/8 stuff, perhaps some of it is a cock up with keeping the previous E:User from a previous Win 8 installation that involved Kari's method.
As this is important documents I don't want to kill old XP 'My Documents' backup located on a seperate hdd yet, but i really need to at some point as its hogging space.
If this is the behavior i'm getting from trying to edit a simple notepad i'm worried about trying to access photos/editing/mp3 file tags etc etc

I'm wondering what my next step is, if I just need to take full ownership back of E: for this Win8 installation (security/permission/object stuff that i know little about) or indeed kill it all and copy Xp My Documents back over again and create new 'Libraries' 'include folders' etc.
I prefer not to copy xp my documents back over again as i have since actually added new important files that will be harder to locate as the directories have all changed (i can't simply use a tool like Create Synchronicity and match the two volumes easily i.e E:User > My Documents).
What would be ideal is that I do some step that makes E: fully mine and in future when right clicking a notepad (or whatever) and click 'Save' it just saves and does none of this Save As Access Denied crap that i'm getting.

Please advise.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[Hoopie]

Gutes Tutorial, Kari


Win7 installierte ich immer nach Deinem Tutorial und hatte nie Probleme, aber ...


"Windows 8" zickt etwas rum:


Anfangs - nach dem Hochfahren - funktioniert der Datei-Explorer einwandfrei. Später sucht er unendlich und im Navigationsbereich sind nur die Bibliotheken und die Heimnetzgruppe mit animierten Such-Symbolen zu sehen (Computer fehlt); der Inhaltsbereich ist leer. Wenn ich dann die Systemsteuerung öffne, sehe ich auch nur ein weißes Fenster. Nach einem Neustart ist alles wieder OK.


BS:
Microsoft Windows 8, 64bit (Unbeaufsichtigte Installation: Benutzer auf D:\)




Installierte Programme:


Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student (32 Bit)


Acronis True Image 2013, inkl. PLUS PACK 2013 (Build-Nr.5551, German)




Vielleicht weißt Du, was da falsch läuft?




Hi Kari I see you are "a Finnish immigrant in Leipzig, Germany". Therefore I try it in English (I speak little or nothing):




Good work, Kari!


I didn't have any problems with Win7, but ...


Win8, just being bitchy:


At first the "File-Explorer" works faultlessly after boot up. Later on it searches infinitely and only the Libraries and the Homegroup can be seen with encouraged searching symbols in the "Navigation pane"; the "File list window" is empty. If I then open the "Control Panel", I also see only a white window. After restarting everything is OK again.


OS:
Microsoft Windows 8, 64 bits, Unattended installation (User on D:\)


Installed programes:
Microsoft Office 2010 Home und student (32 bits.)
Acronis True image 2013, incl. PLUS PACK 2013, (build Nr.5551, German.)


Perhaps you know what wrongly runs there?

 

[BruceBanner]

Well i have just followed this step (http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...le-folder-drive-registry-key-windows-8-a.html) to no avail, i still can't change or edit files. I tried changing id3 tag details in a song, same deal denied.
I noticed that if I un-tick 'Read Only' it comes back, even tho I am Administrators Group.

It gets worse, my old 'My Documents' from win xp (on a seperate drive) only has My Pictures and My Music, I must have deleted 'My Documents and other files (like excel etc) along the way. SO although I can replace my music and pictures and gain full access control to these files again, it seems i have lost any editing rights to everything else in documents

I really need a comprehensive full proof way to gain access back to these files. Can anyone help? The lack of response makes me think I should create a new thread elsewhere to try and get some assistance?

 

[XP1]

Well i have just followed this step (http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...le-folder-drive-registry-key-windows-8-a.html) to no avail, i still can't change or edit files. I tried changing id3 tag details in a song, same deal denied.
I noticed that if I un-tick 'Read Only' it comes back, even tho I am Administrators Group.

It gets worse, my old 'My Documents' from win xp (on a seperate drive) only has My Pictures and My Music, I must have deleted 'My Documents and other files (like excel etc) along the way. SO although I can replace my music and pictures and gain full access control to these files again, it seems i have lost any editing rights to everything else in documents

I really need a comprehensive full proof way to gain access back to these files. Can anyone help? The lack of response makes me think I should create a new thread elsewhere to try and get some assistance?

What user was granted ownership? Try granting ownership to the "Everyone" user group.

Why does your files reset to read only? That's weird. Do you have any software that could be doing that? Try disabling read only in safe mode, and see if it resets back to read only while in safe mode.

 

[BruceBanner]

What user was granted ownership? Try granting ownership to the "Everyone" user group.

Why does your files reset to read only? That's weird. Do you have any software that could be doing that? Try disabling read only in safe mode, and see if it resets back to read only while in safe mode.

I tired all that. My solution was this: I found i could copy the files to another HDD and edit them there, so i copied all the files/folders that i needed to another hdd. Then when i was sure i had everything i formatted hdd that had the files that were access denied and then copied them back to the newly formatted hdd. A bit of work but prolly best.

 

[PC Pilot]

Customized User Profile Issue - Metro Apps not working

Following customization of User Profile cannot get Modern Apps (Metro) to work or MS Account Sign In to function.

Full details as posted to Installation and Set up Forum here

http://www.eightforums.com/installa...ser-profile-issue-metro-apps-not-working.html

Would really appreciate some advice....

Many thanks in advance,

PC Pilot

 

[patrickd314]

PC Pilot -- Did you follow Kari's advice to omit from your script the line which refers to "program data"? It appears that if you move both "program data" and "users" (which worked fine with Windows 7), that Metro apps won't work. So from your "relocate.xml" script, delete the line (currently line 7): <ProgramData>e:\ProgramData</ProgramData> . This has worked fine for me; "program data" lives on the C: drive, "users" on D: and Metro apps work fine (though I haven't yet found any that I like!)

 

[XP1]

PC Pilot -- Did you follow Kari's advice to omit from your script the line which refers to "program data"? It appears that if you move both "program data" and "users" (which worked fine with Windows 7), that Metro apps won't work. So from your "relocate.xml" script, delete the line (currently line 7): <ProgramData>e:\ProgramData</ProgramData> . This has worked fine for me; "program data" lives on the C: drive, "users" on D: and Metro apps work fine (though I haven't yet found any that I like!)

Instead of re-sysprepping, you could also do this:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...her-partition-disk-2.html?p=130111#post130111

Afterwards, you can just create a new user account.

 

[denwise]

Kari,

I followed the tutorial, with the following changes: 1.) My DVD drive is D: 2.) I omitted Row 7 (did not relocate ProgramData) 3.) I changed line 11. to <cpifflineImage cpi:source="wim:/sources/install.wim#Windows 8 PRO" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />.

After running the script, the system rebooted and required me to reenter the product key. I did and the program said it was invalid, although it was valid for the original install. (My original install was a clean install with disk format over an XP SP3 installation with a Win8 Pro x64 upgrade CD.) I chose "Skip" and created a local profile "Test," which I deleted after entering my own "Dennis" profile.

My "Dennis" profile has changed as follows: My account picture is gone. IE will not launch from either Metro or Desktop. IE and library icons are missing from the taskbar in Desktop view. PowerDVD 10 will not launch.

Any help you can offer in repairing these problems will be appreciated.

 

[XP1]

My "Dennis" profile has changed as follows: My account picture is gone. IE will not launch from either Metro or Desktop. IE and library icons are missing from the taskbar in Desktop view. PowerDVD 10 will not launch.

Any help you can offer in repairing these problems will be appreciated.

Did you try this?:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...her-partition-disk-2.html?p=130111#post130111

Afterwards, you can just create a new user account.

 

[denwise]

My "Dennis" profile has changed as follows: My account picture is gone. IE will not launch from either Metro or Desktop. IE and library icons are missing from the taskbar in Desktop view. PowerDVD 10 will not launch.

Any help you can offer in repairing these problems will be appreciated.

Did you try this?:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...her-partition-disk-2.html?p=130111#post130111

Afterwards, you can just create a new user account.

Yes, thank you. I don't remember the precise wording of the error that resulted. It was something like "Cannot create a file where a file of the same name already exists."

I then created a new primary user file and deleted my original primary user file. This corrected just about everything, except WMC no longer accesses my HDHR Prime TV tuners. Guide info is there. I'm trying to sort this out and will post any resolution that I come up with. I will also appreciate any sueggestions. Thanks again.

 

[PC Pilot]

Hi Everyone, and thank you all for responding

Originally Posted by patrickd314 PC Pilot -- Did you follow Kari's advice to omit from your script the line which refers to "program data"? It appears that if you move both "program data" and "users" (which worked fine with Windows 7), that Metro apps won't work. So from your "relocate.xml" script, delete the line (currently line 7): <ProgramData>e:\ProgramData</ProgramData> . This has worked fine for me; "program data" lives on the C: drive, "users" on D: and Metro apps work fine (though I haven't yet found any that I like!)

Yes, in line with Kari's suggestion I omitted the line referring to ProgramData thus it resides in its default location of C:\ProgramData

Instead of re-sysprepping, you could also do this:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...her-partition-disk-2.html?p=130111#post130111

Afterwards, you can just create a new user account.

Have created directory junctions as you suggest....see below...

To summarise the issue/actions/current position.....

Windows 8 Pro (X64) was installed by way of a clean install utilising audit mode to configure the User Profile folder location to a new partition on a secondary drive (D:\Users). The 'main' user profile (the one with the issue) was then further configured using the profile list keys within registry to place User 'Neil' at the root of D: (e.g. "D:\Neil") a location used since the release of Windows XP! Individual folders within this profile have been further customized using the 'location' tab (e.g. "D:\Neil\Neil's Filing Cabinet\Neil's Documents" etc.) though this is probably not relevant!

Additionally, directory junctions have been created (mklink /j) and verified in respect of D:\Neil with D:\Users........and although probably not necessary D:\Neil with C:\Users

The situation is now as follows:

1. All user accounts are assigned 'administrator' privileges
2. User profiles created under the D:\ partition (e.g. "D:\Users\Emma" etc.) function normally with Store sign in and working Modern (Metro) Apps
3. The "D:\Neil" profile functions correctly except for Store sign in and functioning Modern (Metro) Apps.
4. Attempts to sign in to the store using an MS account fails with a self retuning sign in loop.
5. Attempts to bypass and download (even free) Apps continually fail with the message "Something Happened and this app couldn't be installed".
6. Attempts to use any metro app results in a return loop back to the tile icon from full screen icon version without
opening the app.

Am I overlooking something obvious?? Could it be a permissions issue, if so where??

Awaiting any further thoughts with much anticipation:thumb:

PC Pilot

EDIT.....I have done a little more experimenting and created a new profile 'Test' in the default location of D:\Users\Test

The Following Applies:

1. All aspects function as expected

2. Signed out and signed into administrator account.

3. Following

User Profile - Change Default Location - Windows 7 Forums

4. Now Copied "Test" folder and contents from D:\Users\Test to "D:\Test"

5. Using the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList - ProfileImagePath" registry key modified the Path for the "Test" profile from "D:\Users\Test" to "D:\Test"

6. Signed back into Test Profile and verified the location of the "Shell Folders" was "D:\Test\Documents" etc.

7. Tried the Metro Apps same symptoms as I am experiencing and unable to download or install any apps or sign in to the store.

Hope this narrows things down to just the path change behind the issue

PC Pilot