Need to undo my User Directory shortcut to a Second Drive

A shortcut symbol would indicate you have symlinked the C:\Users folder to the second disk. To undo this, delete the symlink and move the Users folder back from D:\ or wherever it is.

It may seem scary but you do really just need to right click on the Users folder shortcut icon and click Delete. You may wish to test it by deleting to the recycle bin first to reassure yourself the actual contents of the folder are not being deleted when you delete the link.

[Edit]

Given the OP's additional requirements due to not being able to copy the Users folder back onto C:\, I'd recommend the following two course of action:

Move all the Users folder data back to C: but leave any large shell folders (Desktop, My Documents, My Music, Pictures, etc.) on the second drive. Then, repoint those specific shell folders only to their existing locations using the built-in Windows shell folder relocation functionality - NOT using symlinks:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/redirect-folder-new-location#1TC=windows-7

I'd recommend doing this, but it does become impractical if a large number of user accounts are involved.

qasdfdsaq

Posted 2015-06-02T22:45:23.063

Reputation: 5 762

That makes sense. Thanks for the tip. This place is great :-) – Chris – 2015-06-11T04:23:53.150

Of course, I dont have room for my USER folder in the C Drive.... :-( – Chris – 2015-06-11T04:24:34.300

Am i crazy, but will this work? 1) delete the link, leaving nothing in the USER folder, 2) reboot, 3) upgrade to W8.1, 4) then redirect the User folder to the one on the D Drive? The key would be to not have to access the USER folder.... Perhaps do this while signed in under a different profile???? – Chris – 2015-06-11T04:29:56.190

If you delete the users link and do not copy the folder back, Windows will re-create a blank folder for any user that logs in past that point. Because user folders are UID'd it may not be able to "reconnect" to the old user folder after the upgrade, so I would recommend using a new/disposable account during the process. – qasdfdsaq – 2015-06-11T13:23:13.727

qasdfdsaq - Thanks for the time to help me through this. So how about this: 1) I backup the entire user folder, 2) delete the linked USER Folder on the C Drive, 3) I reboot signing in as a new user without signing out, 4) upgrade to Windows 8.1, 5) sign in creating a new user with the same name as before, 6) I redirect the user folder to the D drive (not sure how to do this, but can find it on the internet), 7) copy all the files back into the new USER folder. If while doing this I start NONE of the programs I usually use will my programs point to the right place? – Chris – 2015-06-12T03:31:23.577

Answer edited with more info. On thinking twice about the throwaway account option I've realised Windows' file locking will likely result in you needing to boot off removable media to rename folders and move stuff between drives at which point things get real confusing real fast. – qasdfdsaq – 2015-06-15T10:24:51.193

Do you have just the data on one drive and Windows installation on the other? More information about what you did previously would help. Shortcut symbol on the "USER" directory? You mean C:\Users\UserName\ directory? Can you give use a snap shot of your disk layout? ie: Disk Management – BiTinerary – 2015-06-03T00:16:17.427

"So I found a way to do this on the internet" - Link to what you read and followed. – Karan – 2015-06-03T01:22:45.427

Yes, the USER folder in the root directory of the C Drive has a shortcut symbol on it. Clicking on this folder displays the D Drive contents. I tried to include a snapshot of this, but this website requires I have more posts before including an attachment. Unfortunately, i no longer have a link to what specifically I did to accomplish this. I was hoping someone may have experience with this since this was a real issue for all back when Windows 8 came out... – Chris – 2015-06-07T14:30:32.713

Need to undo my User Directory shortcut to a Second Drive

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