Change path for Documents and Settings & Program Files

najevi · #1 10-09-2002, 05:36 AM

I am new to this forum and new to WinXP Pro on my home PC having used WinXP Pro at work for just over 2 months now.

I just finished scouring a certain redirecting web site's Tweaks & Updates pages for WinXP. Great stuff, I only wish that the MS WinXP help search engine would tap into such moderated, quality, web sites.

I have the following disk partitioning plan in mind for a dual boot system. (Win98se + WinXPpro)

I've done something similar with just the Win98se Program Files and My Documents folders on a w98+w2k dual boot system but I have to believe that somebody has done a better job of configuring these special folders under WinXP. I especially enjoy many of the WinXP special folder behaviours and it would be a shame to lose that just to implement the following.

disk(0)part(1) PRI 6GB FAT32 win98 OS & utils
disk(0)part(2) EXT 6GB NTFS winXP OS & utils

disk(1)part(1) EXT 10GB FAT32 OS backups/restore points, disk images, ghost files, system states, temp/scratch area etc.
disk(1)part(2) EXT 10GB FAT32 win98 pagefile, data, games, user profiles/documents
disk(1)part(3) EXT 40GB NTFS winXP pagefile, data, games, user profiles/documents

Without going into all the reasons why, here are my WinXP Pro questions:
[list=1][*]How do I change the default location of the user profiles (i.e. the Documents and Settings folder) associated with each new user account and of course, the All Users profile?[*]corollary: once a user profile exists (e.g. the All Users or the first User account created during installation) can I safely relocate it and preserve the special folder behaviours associated with such folders as Favorites, My Pictures and so forth ?[*]Similarly I'd like to change the location for Program Files so that Admin installed game software as well as apps installed by (power) users (my kids) are contained in a folder tree well away from the OS files & utility apps that only the Admin would install.[*]Any other administration tips that might simplify/centralize the administration of a 4 machine peer-peer network for a home/office workgroup? e.g. it seems possible to define a Group that allows member-Users privileged access to only the bare minimum folders and files necessary to allow them to play such games as The Sims (or whatever) without their needing an Admin account. [*]Finally, :^) although I don't think I can make proper use of it without a domain server, WinXP Server OS, (and quite possibly a MSCE class), could somebody please point me to a helpful layman's language explanation of what Active Directory is and what the machine/OS/network requirements are for it? (centrally stored Outlook email folders, centrally administered Group Policies, Folder Redirection and stuff like that all sounds intriguingly useful and yet beyond my grasp.)[/list=1]

I wouldn't be going to this trouble if all our games were written to install on WinXP and run with only the privileges of a restricted user. Alas they don't and that is why I keep Win98se around.

Disk_Contented · #2 10-09-2002, 05:11 PM

Tweakui on Microsofts site springs to mind for changing the special folder locations, though possibly not powerfull enough for your needs.
For Active Directory, Help and Support Centre can help you there.

shaunak.it · #3 04-20-2008, 09:49 AM

have you tried:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/236621
This kb mnay be useful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by najevi

I am new to this forum and new to WinXP Pro on my home PC having used WinXP Pro at work for just over 2 months now.

I just finished scouring a certain redirecting web site's Tweaks & Updates pages for WinXP. Great stuff, I only wish that the MS WinXP help search engine would tap into such moderated, quality, web sites.

I have the following disk partitioning plan in mind for a dual boot system. (Win98se + WinXPpro)

I've done something similar with just the Win98se Program Files and My Documents folders on a w98+w2k dual boot system but I have to believe that somebody has done a better job of configuring these special folders under WinXP. I especially enjoy many of the WinXP special folder behaviours and it would be a shame to lose that just to implement the following.

disk(0)part(1) PRI 6GB FAT32 win98 OS & utils
disk(0)part(2) EXT 6GB NTFS winXP OS & utils

disk(1)part(1) EXT 10GB FAT32 OS backups/restore points, disk images, ghost files, system states, temp/scratch area etc.
disk(1)part(2) EXT 10GB FAT32 win98 pagefile, data, games, user profiles/documents
disk(1)part(3) EXT 40GB NTFS winXP pagefile, data, games, user profiles/documents

Without going into all the reasons why, here are my WinXP Pro questions:

How do I change the default location of the user profiles (i.e. the Documents and Settings folder) associated with each new user account and of course, the All Users profile?
corollary: once a user profile exists (e.g. the All Users or the first User account created during installation) can I safely relocate it and preserve the special folder behaviours associated with such folders as Favorites, My Pictures and so forth ?
Similarly I'd like to change the location for Program Files so that Admin installed game software as well as apps installed by (power) users (my kids) are contained in a folder tree well away from the OS files & utility apps that only the Admin would install.
Any other administration tips that might simplify/centralize the administration of a 4 machine peer-peer network for a home/office workgroup? e.g. it seems possible to define a Group that allows member-Users privileged access to only the bare minimum folders and files necessary to allow them to play such games as The Sims (or whatever) without their needing an Admin account.
Finally, :^) although I don't think I can make proper use of it without a domain server, WinXP Server OS, (and quite possibly a MSCE class), could somebody please point me to a helpful layman's language explanation of what Active Directory is and what the machine/OS/network requirements are for it? (centrally stored Outlook email folders, centrally administered Group Policies, Folder Redirection and stuff like that all sounds intriguingly useful and yet beyond my grasp.)

I wouldn't be going to this trouble if all our games were written to install on WinXP and run with only the privileges of a restricted user. Alas they don't and that is why I keep Win98se around.