Login    
   Windows Server to Workstation
   Convert Windows Server 2008/2008 R2/2012 to a Workstation!
    Register FAQ  •  Search    
It is currently Mon May 20, 2013 10:06 am

All times are UTC [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

Useful?
Yes 40%  40%  [ 2 ]
No 20%  20%  [ 1 ]
Beer 40%  40%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 5
Author Message
 Post subject: Easy reinstallation with Symlink to partition trick
PostPosted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:34 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:43 am
Posts: 5
Someone posted a comment on the Activation Rearming guide asking how to do this, it's fairly simple but here ya go.

Assumptions:
I'm assuming you're on Server 2008 R1, you're using the default (Administrator) user and you've installed on an NTFS partition.
This can however be done on any Windows OS (from Windows XP to Server08 R2) and with any user with admin privileges as long as you adjust accordingly.

First, you must have a second partition other than C:\ - if you don't have one, you can either use a (a) make one when you're first installing Server08, (b) use a Linux LiveCD to create one, or (c) try using Server08's partition manager - I've tried (c) and failed with this so I'd recommend Linux assuming you've already installed Server08. You can get a really good LiveCD here and it's only a 94mb download (yes it's a fully functional and very decent OS) - pop that on a CD, boot it up and mess around with your hard-drive all you like.

Once you've got two separate partitions - C:\ and lets call the other one G:\
  • Create a new temporary "dummy" user with administrative privileges, we'll call this new admin Bob.
  • Log out of Administrator (you must log out completely, not "switch user") and log into Bob.
  • Open C:\ in explorer and Shift-Right-click on the Users folder. Select "Open Command Window Here".
  • Into this, type
    Code:
    ren Administrator Administrator.old
    and then
    Code:
    mklink /j Administrator G:\Profile
  • Copy the contents of C:\Users\Administrator.old into G:\Profile and voila! you're done.
  • You can now log back into Administrator and delete Bob.

Now every time you reinstall, you just leave G:\ and everything on it intact and install on to C:\ - repeat steps 1-4 and you're sorted.

_________________
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise x64 on Intel Core2 Duo, 2046MB RAM, 1280x800 nVidia Quadro FX 360M (1008MB)


 Profile  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

All times are UTC [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
phpBB skin developed by: John Olson
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
[ Time : 0.054s | 14 Queries | GZIP : Off ]