Comments on: How to move user data folder to non-system partition in windows 7/vista

By: Guy

Guy — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:16:30 +0000

I figured out how to solve the issue of re-installing and re-using a previous user’s folder
Peter (February 2, 2010) and moose (March 27, 2010) complaint about it and so do I.
I blogged the entire solution (including the steps to -re-use a previous user’s folder after re-installing the OS)
Here it is –
http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/guyronen/archive/2010/06/20/finally-how-to-set-the-user-s-data-folder-in-a-different-drive-in-vista-windows-7-and-re-use-it-after-re-installing-the-os.aspx

By: Teetime

Teetime — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:10:58 +0000

I have already relocated Documents to another partition. But if I do an image restore there is still a lot of data that remains on the system partition (Outlook email, NTUSER.DAT, etc.) So this technique looks like a good way to resolve that. But what issues would it present for System Restore Points if NTUSER.DAT is moved off the system partition? Couldn’t you easily get things out of sync if you restored to an earlier restore point but still had the latest NTUSER.DAT?

By: Guy

Guy — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:08:52 +0000

I have the same problem as Peter (February 2, 2010) and moose (March 27, 2010).
And I agree with moose.
Did any one have a solution for re-installing and re-usinga previous user’s folder?

By: moose

moose — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:23:08 +0000

hi i have the same problem as Peter when reinstalling windows 7, when i try to link to my old user profile (which is on another partition), after rebooting i cannot log in (win 7 keeps logging me out), or else can just get temp accoutn login.

Many people have shown the way to separate data from OS. but few have actually tested to make sure that its seamless when reinstalling OS to re-link to the old user profile!

By: Miguel

Miguel — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:38:55 +0000

When you are using “/J” make sure that you delete the original directory/Folder. The Junction will automatically create the new folder that will just act as the forward. This is why many people are getting the error “Cannot create a file when that file already exists.” Once it is delete the command should work with no issues.

HTH,

Miguel

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:18:10 +0000

Are you sure this works after reinstalling Windows? I’ve tried it, and after linking to the old account, I get either logged out when trying to log in, or I just get logged in with a temporary account.

By: Colin

Colin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:00:04 +0000

It works better to create a Junction rather than a symbolic link, e.g.:
mklink /J C:\Users\MyLogin D:\users\MyLogin

Also, make _SURE_ you copy any hidden and system files over as well!

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:41:12 +0000

It’s a shame that Microsoft makes us tanker around instead of providing a neat standardized solution to the very common wish to separate OS and user data…

By: robaal

robaal — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:05:47 +0000

To avoid the “Cannot create a file when that file already exists”, make sure to uncheck “Hide protected operating system files” and enable “Show hidden files(…)” in Windows Explorer folder options before moving the contents of the user folder.

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:24:15 +0000

When I try to move the Users folder to another partition, I get the error message: “Error 0×80070057. The parameter is incorrect”. Does anyone know how to fix this?
thanks