Why is it recommended to move Users to a blank disk? Would Sysprep fail or does it format the drive? I need to move my Users folder to my 2 TB drive that has a TB of data written onto it and have nowhere to back them up. Is this possible?
Yes it is possible.
I have tried to make this tutorial "fail proof", one step in that is that I wanted to make it virtually impossible for newbies to try to relocate the Users folder on a drive which already contains system data. The target drive may not contain any system files or folders, not from your current Windows installation, not from any previous Windows installation, not from another machine. The simplest way to assure this will not happen was and is to tell users to use an empty drive.
However, I very strongly recommend you to create a separate partition on that 2 TB drive of yours to be used as target in relocating the Users folder.
Hi,
I have tried the process to move the system Users folder and AppData to a second HDD, when I try to run Sysprep I get an error. I have been through all the remedial steps as I see them and am at a bit of a loss. The system is a new install, which was upgraded over a clean Windows 7.
Hope you can help, as I really need to move the OneDrive and Office cache to the second drive and I see this as the only way.
Cheers
Welcome to the Ten Forums BionicKnee.
OK, niceties done and said, time to criticize: Once again I ask why do you geeks not read the tutorial fully through before you start? If you had read the tutorial, you would have learned what to do before sysprepping an upgraded Windows. Even if you had read a few last posts in this thread to see if someone has had a similar issue, you had found this which I posted 6 days ago, only 18 posts before yours:
Short answer: Read the tutorial!
Long Answer: Seriously, read the tutorial! Those geeks who subscribe to this thread or just come back to read the last posts have noticed how I have criticized some new members who join to post a question which has been answered multiple times, in some cases in just the last post before someone posts the same question again.
I know I should not do that, should not criticize, that I should just answer the same question again and again. That I have also done, my frustration is not and will not be prioritized higher than another member's need for assistance. I just complain because it really is frustrating.
But in this case now, I hope you don't mind me criticizing a bit and asking why did you not read the tutorial before proceeding? The last part of the tutorial with the title written in really big font is called Upgrade. It addresses this issue as detailed as possible, explaining step by step what to do and how to proceed.
When dealing with something you are not familiar with, it is never a good idea to read just a part of the tutorial, then decide "Oh I got it!" and stop reading.
An extract from the tutorial, part Upgrade at the end of it:
I repeat: Please read the tutorial.When running Sysprep on an upgraded Windows you will get an error message about Sysprep not being able to validate your Windows installation, Sysprep will simply not run. Checking the log file you will find out the reason in plain text:
Code:Sysprep will not run on an upgraded OS. You can only run Sysprep on a custom (clean) install version of Windows.
Kari
I've followed the instructions exactly and yet my Windows freezes when booting after moving the users folder. Inspecting the drive shows that the Users folder was, in fact, made on the D: drive, but it seems my PC cannot boot with it there. The spinning circle when Windows is booting freezes and it stays there. In Disk Manager it shows that the partition is not a system partition, but in Windows Installation it shows that it is. There are no system files in this partition, so that should not be a problem and I'm not sure why Windows Install detects it as such. Upon inspection of my Windows 10 Install Disk using DISM, the index name for my Windows 10 Home (the version I'm installing) shows as Windows 10 Technical Preview. Is this a problem? What version name should I use in my answer file, which I suspect is the problem? I can upload any necessary files when I get home today, if need be, but currently I'm away from my computer. Thanks!
Hello there, new to the forums and have been trying to qork with your example and have a bit of a hitch on running the image with the .wim instead of .esd
I have gone through the process of re-downloading the image as per the forum link, yet i still recieve the .esd instead of a .wim install file. With the code given above I tried changing it to .esd, sysprep finishes, but then turns into a startup loop to where I had to freshly install windows again.
What I am trying to accomplish is getting the Users folder off my m.2 drive along with any programs that auto-install to the predetermend drive in the registry.
Hard drive setup is a m.2 drive as C: (for running OS only) D: is a SSD, and E: is 2 500gb Raptors in rais 0
Given I have also tried moving the location of just Appdata's folders to another drive, local refused to move, local low and roaming were able to be moved, but upon reboot, windows slowly loads, start menu is inaccessable(along with several programs on the task bar i.e. microsoft edge)
Excuse me if I'm off base here, but this is what I've been doing on a fresh Win10 installation to change the users directory to another drive.
Startup Regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTAWRE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
Change the ProfilesDirectory from %SystemDrive%\Users to for example D:\Users
Logon as Administrator and create a user account with admin privileges
Logoff and logon using new account and let system create profile, which is now on your D: drive. This will be the default location for all your personal files.
You can also delete the default original administrator user account in drive C:
Thanks Kari for this tutorial, I wish I had found this sooner I am subscribed now for future use.
Quote
