[XP Pro] Changing profile location in registry

  • Thread starter Thread starter Soapm
  • Start date Start date
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Soapm

I store all my stuff on my D:\ drive so that if my system crashes I am
likely to keep my important stuff. I do this by searching the registry with
my username (Chuck) and change all settings from C:\Docum... to D:\Chuck. I
do the same with all users and default user.

Problem: when I reboot and log in it finds my previous registry(s) from all
my previous installs (since NT4) and now my registry is huge and extremely
cluttered.

How can I move the newly installed registry settings from C:\Docum... and
replace all the ones old ones on my D:\ drive? Which ones would I have to
move?

If I can't do that and before I install any applications I would like to run
a good registry cleaner that will see what entries are no longer valid and
give me the option before removing them. Anyone know of one?
 
Hi,

What you've made is a mess.

The Documents and Settings folder is a system default and should not be
tampered with. You are lucky the system has been able to recover at all. The
only time another location can be indicated for the user profiles is when it
is done during the initial installation using an unattend.txt file - it is
not user configurable otherwise.

Map your "My Documents" folder to the D:\ drive to store your data.
Right-click the folder and choose properties, the option to move it is on
the general tab. You can also export your favorites & cookies to the other
drive as a backup as well, just click file/import & export from an Internet
Explorer window.

When installing software, use custom install and redirect it to D:\. This
will work for most, though there are still a few that will default to C:\
irregardless of what you do (including editing the default program
installation location in the registry). Doing this is kind of pointless as
far as backing up goes, as if you do a clean installation of the operating
system, you will need to reinstall the programs anyways. It's only
worthwhile if your space on C:\ is limited.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Actually, it is neither impossible or hard. Since Win3.1 I have stored my
documents and personal stuff on a different drive from the OS and
applications. Makes good since to me. Even when I change puters I just move
that drive to the new puter or copy it to a new drive when I have upgraded
the drive. Besides, if you look in system properties ==> userprofiles there
is even a button to copy a profile to any directory you want. The problem
with that is it overwrites whatever is there with the new stuff. I learned
that the hard way with NT4.

Anyway, I have the profile moved but my user registry is over 5 megs. It
still has entries going back to applications I havn't used in years. That is
why I want a fresh go at the registry. It won't let me copy the the new
registry over the old registry file because it is either in use or it says I
don't have the access.

I found a registry cleaner that I will give a try. I just want to get rid of
my old, outdated entries before I load any applications on this fresh
install.

Thanks for the advice!
 
Hi,

You are mixing Win9x ideas and techniques with NT, and rarely is that a good
mix. They are very different in structure even though the GUI is similar.
Anyhow, a 5MB registry in an XP system is nothing, and you cannot apply
Win9x concerns to it. Registry "bloat", as it were, is not the concern in an
NT system that it is in a 9x system. Many references are there for backwards
compatibility. My suggestion is to not run a registry cleaner in a WinXP
system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
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