How do i move the user folder in windows 7 ?

[William Gaatjes]

I want to move my user folder in windows 7. I have been using google but do not really see a proper solution. Is it even possible ?

 

[JackMDS]

Look here - http://docs-windows.readthedocs.org/en/latest/move-users-to-another-drive.html

Scroll down to Copy Users folder to D : \Users

Then, Create the symbolic link

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That said, explaining a little bit more what exactly you want to do so we can help better will be nice in the Holiday Spirit.

 

[corkyg]

That is how you can do it, hoqwvwe, Microsoft warns against doing it. You Windows updates will no longer install properly.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2414226

And, ... http://www.zdnet.com/article/dont-move-your-windows-user-profiles-folder-to-another-drive/

 

[Ketchup]

That is how you can do it, hoqwvwe, Microsoft warns against doing it. You Windows updates will no longer install properly.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2414226

And, ... http://www.zdnet.com/article/dont-move-your-windows-user-profiles-folder-to-another-drive/

I think this still works for Windows 7, which is what the OP is asking about. The zdnet article only refers to 8.1.

 

[William Gaatjes]

AH, i read the article and i see microsoft is against it since it will break updates.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949977/en-us

By changing the default location of the user profile directories or program data folders to a volume other than the system volume, you cannot service your Windows installation. Any updates, fixes, or service packs cannot be applied to the installation. We recommend that you do not change the location of the user profile directories or program data folders.

The reason i ask, is because i just bought an SSD and i already have 97GB of total host writes (crystal disk info) in just 10 hours. 39GB of that is installed programs and W7-64. I did do some testing with crystal disk mark.

I noticed with process explorer that my browser write a lot to the disk. Which i do not get because i have 8GB of memory installed.
I also noticed that 1GB of data was written within 20 minutes.
I also see constantly my HDD led flashing. Even when i have nothing open.

Should i be worried ?
Is it really an issue ?

 

[Ketchup]

Disable Superfetch, Windows Search (if you don't want it) and System Restore in Services. Uncheck indexing in C Drive's Properties page. That should cut down on the writes a decent amount.

 

[John Connor]

Disable Superfetch, Windows Search (if you don't want it) and System Restore in Services. Uncheck indexing in C Drive's Properties page. That should cut down on the writes a decent amount.

What does that have to do with moving the user profile?

 

[William Gaatjes]

The idea was that i wanted to move my user profile since the idea behind windows user policy is that all programs store their appdata including temporary files in the user folder.
For example C: \Users\Joe\AppData\Local

Since browsers have to store their temporary data as well, i figured moving my user folder to another disk to see if that reduces the many writes to my ssd that i had been seeing. But it seems microsoft in their update policy enforces the users folder on the c drive or their updates will not work. According to their own knowledge article. Thus i did not move my user folder.

 

[Ketchup]

What does that have to do with moving the user profile?

Sorry, I forgot that you don't like to read entire threads. The OP posted this:

The reason i ask, is because i just bought an SSD and i already have 97GB of total host writes (crystal disk info) in just 10 hours. 39GB of that is installed programs and W7-64. I did do some testing with crystal disk mark.

 

[denis280]

It works.but its better if you do it the first time on a fresh install.and also as mention by Ketchup disable superfetch and restore (or minimize the sise)to gain gb

 

[William Gaatjes]

I have done so. I have disabled superfetch and prefetch and did not notice a drop in speed. I also have indexing and windows search disabled. I have not seen any issue. Thanks.

 

[John Connor]

Sorry, I forgot that you don't like to read entire threads. The OP posted this:

Oh... I didn't see that in the OP.

 

[Ketchup]

Oh... I didn't see that in the OP.

Um, ok. I am going to assume misunderstanding on your part here. The OP is a person, not a post:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=op

 

[John Connor]

Original Post.

 

[corkyg]

And, it also is Original Poster. Which one would be by context.