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I am running Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit if it makes any difference),
and I would like to safely migrate C:\Users\paul to D:\Users\paul.
My (home) network is a mix of Windows, and *nix boxes, and I don't have a Windows domain of any vintage, or even a Samba server running.
I have searched the WWW for a solution - and encountered many dodgy registry hacks with "no warranty" disclaimers attached.
(The thing is, I am kinda of attached to that data and I don't want to loose it just yet. Yes, I have taken a backup.)
Rather than look on SuperUser.com, I checked out ServerFault.com. (Cos that is where the professional sys admins hang out right?)
From SF I learnt that Folder Redirection might offer a solution.
However, Microsoft TechNet suggests that I might need to use the Group Policy Management Console. (Now the article applies to Windows Server 2008 - so I guess this might be something to do with Windows domains right?)
Now, I really don't want to mess with Windows domains, or "anytime upgrades" to Win 7 Professional. So finally here is my question:
On Windows 7 Home Premium 64, without any Windows domains or Samba servers running, is there a safe way to migrate C:\Users\paul to D:\Users\paul?
(Logging off of the machine for a few hours is completely OK.)
Paul Delhanty
Posted 2011-04-26T23:58:07.910
Reputation: 160
... and if you had read the FAQ you would know that SF is the wrong site to post such questions. – John Gardeniers – 2011-04-27T00:37:47.937
Just out of curiosity, why would you want to put your users directory on a different drive? This is bound to cause you all kinds of problems down the road as most everything assumes that the users directory is on the same drive as the Windows installation. – None – 2011-04-27T00:48:44.767
@Reality - there's lots of reasons. A common one is that people are often installing Windows to SSD's with limited space, and want to move their 100Gb of movies to a normal HDD. I've been doing this for 10 years now and never had a problem, as apps use environment variables for locating your data. Otherwise, the move from
documents and settingstouserswould have killed every app on the planet. – Mark Henderson – 2011-04-27T01:01:06.880@Mark Henderson - I have just read the Super User question that you linked - several contradictory answers - broken registry hacks and similar. I was hoping to get a response from someone who knew how to do this properly ... – Paul Delhanty – 2011-04-27T01:59:37.313
@John Gardeniers - which is why I posted on SF. Is this site your personal property? – Paul Delhanty – 2011-04-27T02:00:11.197
@Reality - I try not to install those broken "most everything" programs that assume the existence of C:\Users, or C:\Program Files or ... – Paul Delhanty – 2011-04-27T02:02:25.210
@Paul - registry hacks are the only way to do this properly. I've been doing it for years and I'm yet to see another method that works well. The
mklinkmethod has its disadvantages. – Mark Henderson – 2011-04-27T02:25:15.330@Mark Henderson - OK thanks - that's kind of the problem that I have been having. There is a lot of contradictory information out there (on Google etc) about something that should be easy. – Paul Delhanty – 2011-04-27T02:38:38.537
@Mark Henderson - you write that the
mklinkmethod has it's disadvantages. What are the disadvantages of themklinkmethod? – Paul Delhanty – 2011-04-27T02:40:29.300@Reality - OK, sorry I take that back - I see what you mean from RegEdit - there is a variable %SYSTEMDRIVE% that is at the root of the path for ProfilesDirectory and ProgramData - which means that Windows 7 is still broken in this respect. – Paul Delhanty – 2011-04-27T02:51:37.640