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

 

[kiwig]

Kari
The tutorial is perfect :thumb:
.. so it was a breeze to set-up my new laptop with"user profiles-relocate".
First time for me so bit nervous at the beginning.
.

 

[Kari]

.. so it was a breeze to set-up my new laptop with"user profiles-relocate".
.

Good to know

As usual with Windows, even the new things work well when instructions are followed to the letter.

Kari

 

[Cheech]

Redo of a sysprep

@Kari

Hi Kari:

A couple of months ago you helped me do a Sysprep on my Windows 8.1 system which worked fine

I am having a problem with a specific application and the vendor has exhausted his resources attempting to solve it and is recommending a reinstall of the OS as he suspects a contamination of some Windows files. While I normally frown on these explanations I know the vendor fairly well and trust his development and tech support people. They have put significant effort into resolving the problem which according to them is only happening on my PC. I would not want to go back to a complete install and redo the sysprep.

So my main question is can I rerun the Syspre and accomplish the same thing?

Or might you have other suggestions? I and the vendor have done all of the obvious things (reinstall the app, repair .Net (3.5), scan the HD and SSD for errors and viruses, uninstall related 3rd party apps and probably some other things I have forgotten. There are no errors in his logs and non in the Windows Events either.

I am open to other suggestions you might have. I can give you a complete description of what is happening and will do so if asked as I am not certain of whether or not you would want to get involved as it goes beyond my sysprep question.

I am at a complete loss on this an would appreciate any assistance or advice you could render.


thanks

 

[Kari]

I am open to other suggestions you might have. I can give you a complete description of what is happening and will do so if asked as I am not certain of whether or not you would want to get involved as it goes beyond my sysprep question.

Sysprep does not work as a re-install replacement and in cases like yours does nothing useful. My advice: reinstall.

 

[Cheech]

@Kari

Thank you for your reply. I really didn't think the sysprep would do much but needed to check. Another question if you don't mind.

I've been working with MS on this with the hopes to avoid a reinstall. The first thing was to explore the possibility of refreshing .Net 3.5, like I was able to do in W7. Apparently that is out of the question now. That left the option of a reinstall, as you suggested. Initially the Level 2 tech thought there was a repair option. Using my 8.1 Pro DVD it appears that the only thing that can be done with that is a clean install requiring a backup of all apps/ data. etc and obviously restore.

Next he downloaded the 8.1 Pro ISO, and that too only supported a clean install. At that point he said a clean install was the only option, or upgrading to W10, which I am reluctant to do. Was he correct in that there is no way to do an 8.1 Pro install other that a clean on, ie. no "repair" type of install?

Thank you,

 

[Kari]

Was he correct in that there is no way to do an 8.1 Pro install other that a clean on, ie. no "repair" type of install?

In Windows 10 since version 1511 build 10586 (so called November Update) it is possible to upgrade Windows or perform a repair install even when the Users folder is relocated, not on C: drive. It is now also possible to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 with relocated Users folder when upgrade media is said version 1511 or later.

Unfortunately this does not mean that repair install is possible in Windows 8.1 with relocated Users folder. To do a repair install you would first need to sysprep Users folder back to C: drive, then run repair install, and finally relocate Users back to another drive. In your case now however I don't think it would work but you can of course try.

The process of moving Users folder back to C: is exactly the same than when relocated from C: to another drive, just change the value of ProfilesDirectory in answer file to C:\Users (line 6 in example answer file in tutorial step 2.1).

If upgrading to Windows 10 is out of the question then I really recommend a clean, fresh install.

Kari

 

[Cheech]

It is now also possible to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 with relocated Users folder when upgrade media is said version 1511 or later.

Kari

@Kari

Thank you for responding.

Part of the reason for my not wanting to do an upgrade is that I had an app that was not yet updated/tested on Win 10. That issue has been resolved. So at this time I am leaning towards doing the 8.1 to 10 upgrade. According to the above quote I can keep my Documents folder on my non-SSD? Does that require running a Sysprep or can that be done as part of the install? If it requires running the Sysprep can that be done not having the distribution DVD?

Thank you

 

[Kari]

Just download the latest Windows 10 install media and upgrade as usual. No sysprep. See these Ten Forums tutorials:

• Windows 10 - Upgrade Installation - Windows 10 Forums
• Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Forums

 

[Cheech]

Just download the latest Windows 10 install media and upgrade as usual. No sysprep. See these Ten Forums tutorials:

• Windows 10 - Upgrade Installation - Windows 10 Forums
• Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Forums

@Kari

Thank you.

I wish I saw your message a bit earlier. I spent hours online (multiple times) and on the phone attempting to get a straight answer whether or not is was necessary to do a sysprep as part of the W10 upgrade so that the Documents/User folders are recognized when they are on a non-SSD drive. Unbelievable that people here know a lot more about Windows then the MS tech people that are supposed to be able to help you. I even spent a half hour on the phone with a supervisor attempting to explain what it was I needed to find out and why.

It seems that if it is not a cookie cutter process they are completely lost.

Thanks again for your response.

 

[Cheech]

@Kari

A few other questions please.

It wasn't clear to me why the sysprep wasn't needed. Is it because the Win 10upgrade install will leave things as they are or is there an option to specify where the User/Documents folders are to be placed? If it is the former then if the upgrade doesn't correct the problem and I need to do a clean install then shall I presume that I would need to run the sysprep against the Win 10 system? However, I don't have the distribution media so can the ISO file be used (assuming I burn it to a DVD) in lieu of the real distribution DVD? That would mean going back to 8.1 or buying Win 10 so I have the media (or something unknown to me).

TU

 

[HC1Gunner]

Help, I messed up. I will try to keep this story short.

I my generous nature I gave my old PC to a friend's 14 year old son. I of course made a new Admin user account, then nuked my own account, removed the G: drive where my User profile and the new one was created. Of course after I had shipped it, the light bulb went off about what I had done, and what would happen when they booted it for the first time. I knew it was either not going to work, or have issues.

Once the booted to to Windows they were greeted to "The User Profile Service service failed to sign-in, User profile cannot be located".

I was wondering if there is any kind of quick fix for this?

1. Install Win 10 pro over Win 10 pro, would this created a new User profile (folder) on the C: drive?
2. Is there a command line that could be run from Win 10 repair command prompt option that would create a new Admin User folder (profile) on C: ?
3. Old PC Had Win 7 Pro and was upgrade to 10 Pro. I assuming that my Win 7 product key is associated with the Win 10 free upgrade.
If you format C: , and will it let you do a clean install of Win 10 even though its no longer able to download for free?

Problem Solved !

 

[Kari]

Hi Gunner.

I can see that you have edited your post above about six hours after it was originally posted, adding this:

Problem Solved !

Do I understand it correctly that you were able to resolve issue? If so, could you please tell how? My advice had been to simply download Windows 10 PRO ISO image, burn it to a DVD or USB, and do a clean install skipping the product key when asked. Windows should then activate automatically based on the machine's hardware signature.

By removing the drive where Users folder was relocated, you accidentally made Windows unstable, not finding user profiles. In these cases a clean install is usually the best way out.

Kari

 

[HC1Gunner]

Thanks Kari

That's what I had them do, was a clean install of 10

 

[Kari]

Good to know you got it resolved. Tell them about sister site TenForums.com, the best place to get help with Windows 10.

 

[mikel023]

Hi @Kari

Just wanna ask. I have a Windows 8.1 machine with relocated user's folder and I'm planning now to upgrade it to Windows 10. Do I need to relocate the user's folder back to it's default location to C: drive before proceeding to Windows upgrade? Thanks.

 

[Kari]

Do I need to relocate the user's folder back to it's default location to C: drive before proceeding to Windows upgrade?

No. You can upgrade keeping the Users folder where it is currently located.

Kari

 

[mikel023]

No. You can upgrade keeping the Users folder where it is currently located.

Kari

I am now running Windows 10. The upgrade process went without a hitch.

Thank you very much!

 

[j2f]

Dear Kari,

I am trying a fresh installation of Win10 Pro (ver. 1909, build 18363.592).
I want to relocate the user profiles and use the most minimal answer file (found below)

On the first try (multiple attempts) The file stored on the installation USB media as u:\folders.xml and running it with the command: c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /audit /reboot /unattend:u:\folders.xml

On the second attempt is was stared as c:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml thereafter I launch sysprep and check the "Generalize" box.

In both cases I get the same fetal error, see the log file c:\windows\system32\Sysprep\Panther\setuperr.log

I tried to attach the files and got a system rejection ("The uploaded file does not have an allowed extension.") and since they are short (I cleaned the log for almost identical previous attempts), I paste the in a box, my apology.

TIA, J


folders.xml

<xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"\> <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend"> <settings pass="oobeSystem"> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <FolderLocations> <ProfilesDirectory>D:\Users</ProfilesDirectory> </FolderLocations> </component> </settings> <cpifflineImage cpi:source="wim:X:\sources\install.wim#Windows 10 Pro" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" /> </unattend>

setuperr.log

2020-02-27 03:32:44, Error [sysprep.exe] UnattendFindAnswerFile: Unable to deserialize explicitly provided unattend file [u:\folders.xml]; status = 0x800705b9, hrResult = 0x0. 2020-02-27 03:32:44, Error [0x0f009e] SYSPRP SysprepSearchForUnattend: Failed while searching for unattend file; hr = 0x800705b9 2020-02-27 03:32:44, Error [0x0f00a5] SYSPRP WinMain:Encountered error while searching for unattend file; hr = 0x800705b9 2020-02-27 03:34:41, Error [sysprep.exe] UnattendSearchExplicitPath: Found unattend file at [c:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml] but unable to deserialize it; status = 0x800705b9, hrResult = 0x0. 2020-02-27 03:34:41, Error [0x0f009e] SYSPRP SysprepSearchForUnattend: Failed while searching for unattend file; hr = 0x800705b9 2020-02-27 03:34:41, Error [0x0f00a5] SYSPRP WinMain:Encountered error while searching for unattend file; hr = 0x800705b9

 

[Kari]

On the first try (multiple attempts) The file stored on the installation USB media as u:\folders.xml and running it with the command: c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /audit /reboot /unattend:u:\folders.xml

You should only use a relocation answer file when booting to OOBE, not when booting to Audit Mode. Correct command would be as shown below:

c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /oobe /reboot

Tutorial on Ten Forums, our sister site: Move Users Folder Location in Windows 10

Kari