Change My Documents Path

To specify a different folder for the Documents and Settings folder during installation, follow these steps: 1. Run Winnt.exe or Winnt32.exe by using the /unattend option, and then insert the following entry into the Unattend.txt file, where z:\foldername is the path and folder name you want: [GuiUNattended]
ProfilesDir = z:\foldername 2. Install Windows. The path that you included in the Unattend.txt file is used instead of the default Documents and Settings folder.NOTE: This method does not relocate any key Windows components. Use this method if you require only user-specific data to be moved.

After you install Windows XP, to specify a folder other than the Documents and Settings folder for a particular user's data, follow these steps: 1. Identify the user's profile path. You can identify the profile path either by user security ID (SID) or by user path settings. The user SID method is preferred. To identify the user's profile path by the user SID loadTOCNode(3, 'moreinformation'); a. Use the Getsid tool from the Windows Server Resource Kit to obtain the SID. At a command prompt, use the following syntax: getsid \\ComputerName UserName \\ComputerName UserNameFor example: getsid \\windowsxp joedoe \\windowsxp joedoeThe results look something like this: = The SID for account WINDOWSXP\joedoe is S-1-5-21-1708537768-1993962763-1957994488-1003 b. After you obtain the user SID, start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe or Regedt32.exe), and then select the user SID under the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList To identify the profile path by the user's path settings loadTOCNode(3, 'moreinformation'); a. Log on to the computer as the user, and then type set at a command prompt. Note the setting for UserProfile, and then quit the command prompt. b. Log on to the computer as an administrator. c. Use Registry Editor to add the UserProfile setting to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList d. Click the registry key, and then click Find on the Edit menu. e. In the Find box, type the value of the UserProfile setting, and then click Find Next. 2. In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList registry key, change the ProfileImagePath value to reflect the new path that you want to use, and then quit Registry Editor. 3. Log on to the computer as the user, type set at a command prompt, and then verify that the path has changed.
Moving the entire folder loadTOCNode(2, 'moreinformation'); NOTE: This method does relocate key Windows components. Use this method only if you require the Documents and Settings folder to be moved or renamed and you cannot use the Unattend.txt file to change the name during installation.

To specify a different folder for the entire Documents and Settings folder, including key system components, follow these steps: 1. Log on to the computer as an administrator, and then create a new folder. 2. In the current Documents and Settings folder, on the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab. 3. Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide extensions for known file types and Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check boxes. 4. Click OK. 5. Click and drag all the folders in the Documents and Settings folder to copy them to the new folder, except for the folder for the currently logged-on administrator. 6. Log off and then log back on, using a different administrator account from the one that you just logged off from. 7. Open the Documents and Settings folder again, and then copy the profile of the administrator that you just logged off from to the new folder. This extra step is needed because you cannot copy the profile of the account that is currently logged on. 8. Log off the computer, and then again log on to the computer as an administrator. 9. Start Registry Editor, and then click Find on the Edit menu. 10. Type documents and settings, and then click Find Next. 11. For every registry key or value that contains the original path, replace the value data or rename the value or registry key to the new path.IMPORTANT: You must complete this change in the registry for every instance of the original path, or your computer may not start. It is imperative that you update all registry keys and values with the new path.

12. Restart the computer. You can now safely remove the original Documents and Settings folder.

To rename (or move) the User Profile folder, you may use the following method. This method has been adopted from KB314843, but this page explains in detail how to rename an User account home directory.
Though you can move or rename the user profile folder, there may be some side-effects after using this method. This is because of the reason that there may be some absolute path (to the old user profile folder) references in the registry, made by third-party software. Therefore, there may be a loss of functionality in some third-party software which stores the file locations as absolute paths, in the registry.
Before modifying the registry, you need to take a full backup, in case you want to Undo the changes or to recover from disasters caused by incorrect registry modifications if any. You may use ERUNT for a full registry backup. Use Registry Editor at your own risk
Rename the User Profile folder using Windows Explorer

• Logon to an admin account that is not the account being renamed.
• Open the Documents and Settings folder, by typing this in Start, Run dialog:

%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings

• The list of folders will be displayed. Select the corresponding folder of the user account that you want to rename.

Example %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\OldUsername
becomes
%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\NewUsername

Next step is to notify the registry that the folder has been renamed (or the Profile Path has been changed)


Changing the ProfileImagePath value in the registry

ProfileList key, SIDs and the ProfileImagePath value The ProfileList registry key contains some sub-keys, which are nothing but the list of User Account Security Identifiers (SID). Each of the SID represents an Account. The key is located here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ ProfileList
Identify the SID for your User account, and change the Profile path

• To know the SID for your user account, you may use the script sidlist.vbs
• Download the script and run it. (The User Account names and SIDs will be listed in a log file, and opened automatically.)
• Note down the SID for your account.
• Then, in the Registry Editor, select the correct SID that belongs to your user account.
• In the right-pane, double-click the ProfileImagePath value and set the correct path and folder name. ( The ProfileImagePath stores the full path of the User account home folder. )

Example %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\OldUsername
becomes the following:
%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\NewUsername


You're done now. Close Registry Editor, and restart Windows. See if you're able to logon to that user profile successfully. Additionally, to verify if the path has been changed successfully, type SET in the Command Prompt. If you find any abnormal behavior while running an application (in case), you may Undo the above procedure. Then you may use the Copy To Profile method instead to accomplish your task.