I created a folder on my new Disk3 W: drive named "User Files from C" then selected the C:\ drive's USER folder then issued the Copy command then selected the User Files from C folder on W: and issued a Paste command. In the process, I received 3 messages saying that the NTUSER.DAT.LOGn files were in use and could not be copied. These files appear only in the Default profile folder and not in the Public profile not in my profile.
As I understand it these are files that contain user preferences for my profile account. I read that they are text files and that they are protected, hidden, system files. I seem to be unable to copy the 3 files to back them up. All other files in the C:\Users\ folder copied to the new drive folder.
I believe these are registry files. Does that mean that I can safely ignore the backup of these files if I do not delete the Default user profile from C:\ before shrinking that partition prior to cloning it to the SSD?
TIA
Bob's yer Uncle
(1/2)(1+√5)
Dell Intel Core i5 Laptop, 3570K,1.60 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Windows 11 64-bit, LibreOffice,and other bits and bobs
Bob,
I guess I don't really know why you want to do this, however, here is a partial copy from the MS Community forum, regarding NTUSER.DAT files. Don't know if this helps but the underlines are mine.
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Every user profile created on a Windows operating system has an Ntuser.dat file. A user profile contains personal files and preference settings that are specific to each user. For example, each user profile contains a unique Documents folder, custom settings, desktop properties and browsing history
The Ntuser.dat file is a registry file. Each user's Ntuser.dat file contains the registry settings for their individual account. The Windows registry, as described by Microsoft, is a "central hierarchical database" that contains information about the software, hardware and user profiles contained on a computer. Windows is constantly referencing its registry files throughout the course of its operation. The configuration of the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" branch of the registry is supported by the current user's Ntuser.dat file.
Location
The Ntuser.dat file is in your user folder. In Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista, user folders are at C:\Users\USER_NAME.
My overall goal is to install my SSD. To do so, I must shrink the current C: partition as it uses very nearly all of the 250GB available to the SSD. From what I've read on several web pages, shrinking the C: partition is most easily done by placing the USER files normally resident in the C: partition and function shifting (an old mainframe CICS term) access to those files and folders to another partition.
The first step in doing this was to install a new 1TB external HDD. The second step is to back up the C: partition. The third step is to copy all the user files to their new location on a different disk in different partition. This is where I ran into the NTUSER file issues.
Bob's yer Uncle
(1/2)(1+√5)
Dell Intel Core i5 Laptop, 3570K,1.60 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Windows 11 64-bit, LibreOffice,and other bits and bobs
BobH wrote:My overall goal is to install my SSD. To do so, I must shrink the current C: partition as it uses very nearly all of the 250GB available to the SSD. From what I've read on several web pages, shrinking the C: partition is most easily done by placing the USER files normally resident in the C: partition and function shifting (an old mainframe CICS term) access to those files and folders to another partition.
The first step in doing this was to install a new 1TB external HDD. The second step is to back up the C: partition. The third step is to copy all the user files to their new location on a different disk in different partition. This is where I ran into the NTUSER file issues.
These observations may help:
You can make room to shrink the current C: partition by putting all the normal data folders (Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos) on another partition and then deleting the contents of the original folders. You shouldn't try to move most of the contents of the hidden AppData folder and its subfolders. It's also good to leave the empty (or nearly empty) folders on C:, just in case some program decides that it knows better than you.
To back up the NTUSER files, you need to use a bootable CD containing your backup software (most backup programs can make such a CD) to make an image backup. When you do that, the "real" Windows registry is not in use, so those files aren't locked.
I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit from a 250 GB SSD, and that drive still has 137 GB free.
I finally dug out the copy of Acronis TI 2014 that came with the SSD. I used it to back up the C partition (and the system reserved space) to the 1TB external USB drive that I named W. That was before I did anything to pare down the C partition. Because I also have an E partition defined on that same disk0, I did a ATI backup of that partition as well. If I understand correctly, those 2 backups can be used to reestablish those partitions if anything goes wrong.
I've been reading about symbolic links - of the hard kind - and will probably set them up for the MY folders (documents, music, pictures and videos). Does that sound reasonable?
Bob's yer Uncle
(1/2)(1+√5)
Dell Intel Core i5 Laptop, 3570K,1.60 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Windows 11 64-bit, LibreOffice,and other bits and bobs
I finally dug out the copy of Acronis TI 2014 that came with the SSD. I used it to back up the C partition (and the system reserved space) to the 1TB external USB drive that I named W. That was before I did anything to pare down the C partition. Because I also have an E partition defined on that same disk0, I did a ATI backup of that partition as well. If I understand correctly, those 2 backups can be used to reestablish those partitions if anything goes wrong.
I've been reading about symbolic links - of the hard kind - and will probably set them up for the MY folders (documents, music, pictures and videos). Does that sound reasonable?
The IMAGE backups on the separate drive should keep you safe to reestablish them if necessary.
