Share via


ProfilesDirectory (Standard 7 Package Reference)

7/8/2014

The ProfilesDirectory setting specifies the path to the user profile folder.

Note

This setting should be used only in a test environment.

If you change the default location of the user-profile directories or program-data folders to a volume other than the system volume, you cannot service your image. Any updates, fixes, or service packs will not be applied to the installation.

For a list of known issues with this setting, see this Microsoft Web site.

Using this setting to redirect folders to a drive other than the system volume blocks upgrades. Using ProfilesDirectory to point to a directory that is not the system volume will block SKU edition upgrades and upgrades to future versions of Windows. The servicing stack does not handle cross-volume transactions, and it blocks upgrades.

Use this setting to move the user-profile folder (typically %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Users) to another location during Setup or when Sysprep is running. The destination path can be on a volume other than the system drive, as long as it meets the following requirements:

  • It must be on an NTFS volume.
  • It must not be the path of another operating system user-profile folder.
  • It must not contain any serviceable components.

This setting can be used to keep system data separate from user data. If Windows is re-installed on the system volume, a user with administrative rights can manually recover data from this location.

Values

Path_to_profiles_directory

Specifies the path to the user profile folder. Path_to_profiles_directory is a string with a maximum length of 256 characters.

This string type does not support empty elements. Do not create an empty value for this setting.

Valid Passes

oobeSystem

See Also

Concepts

FolderLocations