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will the original user be affected when change registry ProfilesDirectory?

ligang liu 41 Reputation points
2025-03-13T02:43:36.82+00:00

we had set HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList ProfilesDirectory key to D:\Users in windows 10 and user's profile was in d:\users directory.

we are trying to upgrade windows 10 to windows 11 recently, i found that when the registry key ProfilesDirectory is D:\Users, the upgrade process will failed.

i wonder if we set ProfilesDirectory to C:\Users when upgrade windows 10 to windows 11 and keep the ProfilesDirectory to C:\Users in windows 11, does the user who's profile directory is d:\users will be affected after the upgrade process is finished? thanks

Windows 11
Windows 11
A Microsoft operating system designed for productivity, creativity, and ease of use.
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  1. Ian Xue-MSFT 40,591 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff
    2025-03-13T07:57:13.1166667+00:00

    Hi,

    Changing the ProfilesDirectory registry key from D:\Users to C:\Users during the upgrade process from Windows 10 to Windows 11 will affect users whose profiles are currently located in D:\Users. After the upgrade, the user profiles currently located in D:\Users will not be automatically moved to C:\Users, which can lead to issues with accessing their profiles. To avoid this, you should ensure that the user profiles are correctly migrated to the new location.

    Best Regards,

    Ian Xue

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