User Profile Data
A significant change to Windows 7 over Windows XP is the location of user profile data, the introduction of a brand new feature, Libraries, and a new method of handling a user's local and roaming settings. These are often the primary reason certain applications and software will not work with Windows 7 (especially if the location of these directories is hard coded in the application).
First, the location of the user profile data has been changed from where Windows XP stored user data, %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\ %UserName%. Windows 7 user data is now located in %SystemDrive%\Users\%UserName%.
Each user that logs into the Windows 7 system will have a unique personal folder. Generally, the name of this folder is the username used to log into the system or domain. This personal folder is the default location for storing the user's data and files. Subfolders in the %User- Name% folder include:
- AppData - user unique application data and settings (hidden folder), more on this ahead
- Contacts - user unique contacts and groups
- Desktop - user unique desktop shortcuts and files stored on the desktop
- Downloads - default folder for downloaded files from IE and soon most third-party browsers
- Favorites - user's favorites or bookmarks from IE
- Links - user's links or bookmarks from IE
- My Documents - main location for users; documents. Note that it is no longer called %UserName%'s Documents.
- My Music - default location to store user's music
- My Videos - default location to store user's videos
- Saved Games - user's default location of Microsoft and Windows saved games. Third-party games will likely adopt this folder as the default folder as well but it depends on the vendor.
- Searches - user's saved search queries
In addition to a new location for the user's data and settings, Microsoft has included a new feature called Libraries. Libraries will be introduced in the next section; however, there are some critical facts you need to know. Libraries are personal collections of user's files and folders grouped together and presented in a common folder. These Libraries are not actual folders but a reference to where the folders and files are actually stored. This can be a great and productive new feature for end users to access data quicker and in a simpler fashion, but education is critical once again.
The default Libraries for each user include:
- Documents - collection of the content in the user's My Documents folder and Public Documents folder.
- Music - collection of the content in the user's My Music folder and Public Music folder.
- Pictures - collection of the content in the user's My Pictures folder and Public Picture folder.
- Videos - collection of the content in the user's My Videos folder and Public Video folder.
The Public folder is found in %SystemDrive%\Users\Public\ and includes similar folders to the user's personal folder. A new Library may be created by clicking New Library from the Library window in Windows Explorer or by right-clicking the Windows Explorer window and selecting New Library. To edit a Library and edit the folders used for the collection, right-click on the Library and select Properties. The Properties window allows users to include other folders in the collection or remove a folder from being collected.
Lastly, one of the biggest changes in Windows 7 related to user data compared to Windows XP is the difference in application data folder structure. In Windows XP, the user's application data and settings were stored in %SystemDrive%\Documents, Settings\%UserName%\Application Data\, %SystemDrive%\Documents, and Settings\%UserName%\Local Settings\Application Data\.
Windows 7 now has move the data and settings in these critical folders to %SystemDrive%\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming and %System- Drive%\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Local.
This change is one of the main reasons why some Windows XP software and applications may not function properly, upgrade correctly, and/or be compatible with Windows 7. This should serve as a warning not to skip the planning and preparation phase of Windows 7 deployment as well as a hint to where some application compatibility issues may be.