Move Users Folder Location in Windows 10

Paul Black · 22 Mar 2022

Hello @Brink,

Just a small observation.

The link and title for Option 1 is missing from the Tutorial. I know that Option 1 immediately follows the Options, but I just thought that I would point this out.

Brink · 22 Mar 2022

Paul Black said:

Hello @Brink,

Just a small observation.

The link and title for Option 1 is missing from the Tutorial. I know that Option 1 immediately follows the Options, but I just thought that I would point this out.

Fixed.

shanez1215 · 22 Mar 2022

Good evening, just to make sure, this does NOT work for using a USB drive for the user profiles right? I got the "Windows could not parse or process the unattend answer file" error when using a flash drive on a laptop (Acer didn't solder in a SATA port inside).

Alternatively, could a USB hard drive work?

Kari · 22 Mar 2022

shanez1215 said:

Alternatively, could a USB hard drive work?

No. All system folders, including Usewrs folder, must be located on an internal HDD or SSD.

Kari

cereberus · 22 Mar 2022

Kari said:

No. All system folders, including Usewrs folder, must be located on an internal HDD or SSD.

Kari

Just a thought. What if OP created a virtual hard drive on usb and mounted that as a drive upon boot up, would Windows see that as an internal drive?

cereberus · 22 Mar 2022

Kari said:

No. All system folders, including Usewrs folder, must be located on an internal HDD or SSD.

Kari

Another thought. Could you have a folder in users directory symlinks to a real folder in usb drive, so files are actually on usb drive but look like they are in user drive?

cereberus · 22 Mar 2022

cereberus said:

Another thought. Could you have a folder in users directory symlinks to a real folder in usb drive, so files are actually on usb drive but look like they are in user drive?

@Kari, @shanez1215

Just tested it:

1) I created a file on usb drive "f:\myusb"

2) made symlink

Code:

mklink /j "c:\users\m\pictures\myusb" "f:\myusb"

I put iso in usb folder and mounted it from c folder, copied it in C folder to a different name in same folder and the file was written actually to usb folder.

I then removed usb, and folder test was no longer visible in pictures folder

I then reinserted usb drive and folder was visible again.

So it is possible to sort of emulate folder relocation inasmuch as data can be on usb drive, not taking space on C drive.

robotman · 24 May 2022

Hello, I am hoping to get some help regarding a problem with installing a Windows update (1 in particular so far) that after doing some research, appears to be caused from having my users folder in a different directory other than default (users folder was moved to another drive via following this guide). I am on Windows 11 fyi, but am posting here because this guide ofc is on the Win10 forums.

So for at least a couple weeks I have noticed an update that fails to install which has been low on my priority list but in searching why the Root of my D:\ drive (where my users folder is located) keeps on being populated with files that begin with "$$PendingFiles" and end with: ".desktop.ini", for example, $$PendingFiles439e2da7536ed801ac120000f040fc34.desktop.ini, I discovered that those files are created every time a Windows update fails, which I confirmed is what is instigating the files being created. Then, as I said, further research into Install error - 0x800701a1, I found a post that someone shared that points to having the Users folder at a different directory being the cause.

The Windows update that is currently failing to install is: 2022-05 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 for x64-based Systems (KB5013943)
Every time I've retried to install the update, the update is redownloaded. I ran the windows update troubleshooter, which it found a problem and it did something (idk what), but it didn't fix the problem, although it took MUCH longer for the install to error out. I get to 69% then after about 10 minutes, I get Install error - 0x800701a1.

Anyone experience this or have any insight in what could be done to attempt to resolve? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

trebleta · 24 May 2022

First off is your motherboard at stock or overclockers, I had a update fail due to bad ram timings or incorrect voltage to the CPU.
Other wise can you not revert the users back to C:\ then update, then move the users back to D:\ even if you only copy some basic files.
Also if you made a new account, is that being created still on D:\

sanarguz · 24 May 2022

I'm searching for official documentation from Microsoft that tells this process is not recommended. Does anyone have a link for that?