Windows 10: Problem With Moving User Folder During Clean Install Win 10

Asus M5A7-R2.0
AMD 4300 Processor
16 gig RAM
1 SSD Win 10 OS C:
1 HD Basic Data D:
1 HD Dynamic Data I

Built this PC for my wife several years ago. Originally had the Win 7 OS on the SSD and the user folder on the HD D: created with a fresh install of Win 7 using sysprep and an answer file.

Recently I made the mistake of creating a Win 7 Software RAID 1 mirror which failed.

To fix the problem, I just did a clean install of Windows 10 again using sysprep and an answer file. Specifically, prior to running sysprep while still in audit mode, I installed most of the programs that both of us use so I could create a "golden" image. After software was installed, I ran sysprep with the generalize, OOBE, and shutdown switches.

Everything worked out for the most part. However, as can be seen from the image below, I wound up with my wife's old user folder, "Sarah." However, there are also 2 other folders, default and 12404. The default folder is the bigger one having over 7 gig of data. The 12404 folder has about 5. I am suspecting that the 12404 is now the active folder. However, I have no idea how these numbers were assigned rather than my wife's first name. What I want to know is whether or not I can somehow change the folder name and move all of the information from the old profile into it. I want to know if I can rename the active folder Sarah and put all the old information.....the folders like documents, etc. from the old Sarah folder to the new one.....and how to do it.




:)

 

Win 10 clean install question

So I spend the day yesterday installing the computer, using a prepared usb key with windows 10 on it.

I got it all sorted in the end but I'll share my fails anyways so others might learn:

Do not try to do a clean install win with win 10 home N, when you come from a machine with just win 10 home. It won't activate *Wink After reinstalling with the right copy, it was already activated right away after the first boot, didn't even have to initialise it.

There hasn't changed a whole lot in making clean install compared to older versions of windows, it's slightly better streamlined, though being asked at 3 different stages to enter a product key when it's not needed during install seems a bit annoying.

Further more it would be lovely if Microsoft finally learned to ask ALL questions regarding preferences updates and whatnot in one go, so you can then go away from your computer and come back to a fully installed/updated system including reboots.. Not impossible I would say.


There's still some little bugs, like when I installed realtek audio drivers, they'd go into an infinite loop asking for reboot and install the driver. And as a PDF reader isn't in the list of standard programs to select, foxitreader keeps saying it is not the default reader for pdf's even though I had said yes to the question 3x. If this fails to get file associations for PDF's I do hope Microsoft will fix this asap.


Thanks for the fast answers earlier guys, it gave me the confidence that all would be well, even when I cocked up the first install with the N version.

 

Move Users Folder Location in Windows 10  

If not the best way to do that but at least the way I recommend:

• "Empty" your user profile folders as much as you can, copying documents, pics, videos, music and all other personal data from all user profiles to external HDD. As following steps require you to relocate Users folder two times, the less data is left in user profile folders, the faster the relocation process. Important: Leave system folder AppData for each profile intact, do not empty / move its content!
• Reverse the relocating, doing exactly as told in tutorial Method Two but this time relocating Users folder back to C: drive
• Shut down the PC, replace the disk where you had Users relocated
• Mount the new disk, boot to Windows, assign new disk the same drive ID letter than the old one had
• Again, do as told in Method Two, now relocating Users to new disk
• Restore the backed up personal user data from external drive to respective folders under each user profile

 

Move Users Folder Location in Windows 10  

I've never seen or heard about doing this in the way you describe, not even thought about it. Now reading your chronological workflow I still do not understand why you are doing it in such a complicated way.

The verdict, my personal opinion:

• Pros: None.
• Cons: Everything.

Method 1 as told in tutorial will work for you if you do it exactly as told: clean install Windows 10, boot to Audit Mode from OOBE region selection prompt, run Sysprep. That's it. Notice please that with clean install I mean booting from Windows 10 install media and installing Windows normally, not restoring a system image!