Bit By Bit: Microsoft Destroys Decades-Old Hierarchical Scoped Settings

  Microsoft Destroys Decades-Old Hierarchical Scoped Settings For over four decades, Microsoft built its empire on a foundation of consistency, reliability, end-user trust. There is an established hierarchical configuration model that has been in place for years and adopted by the entire software industry. The scenario is simple, a machine level (top) layer of settings meant to be applied consistently to all. This developer works with several clients, each with different requirements in their application, so without disturbing the configuration of any other project, he makes the adjustments to the solution layer. Now to add complexity but certainly a common situation, one project manager in this solution has his own requirements. The developer creates another configuration file with the new requirements. This is a perfect example of a typical large-scale project, not an edge case exception. If there is a setting in the lower level (project) that exists in a higher (machine) level...
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Can Microsoft Windows User Interface Be Trusted? Their AI suggests that we may not.

          Performing a simple task in Windows GUI should be a straight forward task. However, lately simple and Windows are drifting farther apart than most users are aware of. So being a cautious and detail oriented Admin, I enlisted Copilot as a precaution. 

            My AI coding pal and I have crossed this path before during development of an application and I had some issues attempting this before. A common practice is to move users home and/or profile folders off the boot drive to keep it clean and lean. I expected some secondary steps, but I was not expecting the answer I got from Copilot.

Important note on AI: I have been working with AI on a forensics grade Windows Configuration application so the level of detail it provides me is not necessarily what a normal user should expect. I possess no special access, think of it as a friend that knows my capabilities and usual focus.


Prompt:  Best approved way to change default profile location

 ✅ The only Microsoft-approved method to change the default user profile location is during Windows setup using the FolderLocations setting in an unattended answer file (unattend.xml). Post-install registry edits are unsupported and risky.

🔧 Microsoft-Supported Method: Use unattend.xml During Setup

To relocate the default profile path (e.g., from C:\Users to D:\Users), you must:

  1. Create an unattend.xml file with the following setting:

    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64"
 publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" 
xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" 
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<FolderLocations>
<ProfilesDirectory>D:\Users</ProfilesDirectory>
</FolderLocations></component>
  2. Apply this file during Windows Setup, typically via:
    USB install media with autounattend.xml at the root
    sysprep with /unattend switch on a generalized image

  3. Install Windows cleanly. This setting must be applied before any user accounts are created, including built-in ones.

📎 Microsoft Docs – FolderLocations

⚠️ Unsupported: Registry Hacks After Setup

Some guides suggest modifying:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

…but this is explicitly unsupported by Microsoft and can break:

So changing the location of a users profile in the GUI will break various systems?

Yes—changing a user's profile location via the GUI (like editing the profile path in Computer Management → Local Users and Groups) can absolutely break various systems if not done with surgical precision. Here's why:

⚠️ Why GUI-Based Profile Path Changes Are Risky

  • No automatic migration: Changing the path doesn't move existing profile data. You must manually copy files and fix permissions.
  • SID mismatch: Windows associates profiles with SIDs. If the new path isn't properly linked, you get a temporary profile or login errors.
  • Registry drift: The ProfileList registry key (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList) must match the new path. GUI changes don’t update this reliably.
  • App breakage: Many apps (especially UWP and Store apps) hardcode paths or rely on %USERPROFILE%. If the new location isn't properly registered, apps may fail to launch or store data.
  • Group Policy and roaming profiles: These expect consistency. Manual changes can cause sync failures or policy misapplication.
  • Security ACLs: If you move the folder manually, inherited permissions may be wrong, leading to access denied errors or privilege gaps.

✅ Forensic-Grade Alternatives

If you're enforcing audit-grade discipline, here’s what works:

  • Use unattend.xml during setup to change the default profile location for all users (e.g., D:\Users). This is the only Microsoft-supported method.
  • Use sysprep with CopyProfile=true if you're customizing a default profile.
  • Use PowerShell with New-LocalUser and set -HomeDirectory explicitly, but only for new users—not for migrating existing ones.

Conclusion:

            I expected some additional steps to verify correctness, but I didn't expect an admission that Windows may be less reliable than we have come to expect. Here are some additional head scratching revelations. The options to customize the profile and home folders at the user level has existed in almost every edition of Windows. So why has the inconsistency never been addressed? 

            The answer is a complex one that only an insider could shed light on. In my opinion it has to do with backwards compatibility and the introduction of breaking changes. It also is just one of many small indicators that Microsoft is feeling the departure of Mr. Gates and the discipline instilled by him is slowly eroding away. There is a direct correlation with the timeline of Mr. Gates exit strategy and key shifts in the reliability and consistency of Microsoft products.

            Some are seemingly very small, inconsistent naming conventions, Pascal case not enforced , properties defined in all lower or all upper case and some are very large and glaring. Overly complex compatibility matrix between core OS, Runtime assemblies and API's causing a very brittle and tedious relationship between components. Anyone who has tried to create an WinUI 3 app is painfully aware of this. With the growing cross-platform development these "small" deviations will snowball into complete collapse. Linux, &Android is strict case-sensitive, Mac and Windows are not.. you can imagine the problem when boot, Boot, boOt etc. are all different objects.

            After using Microsoft products religiously for 40 years and being a part of its evolution, you really feel this erosion and it is sad. The visions that created the empire and made it so reliable and predictable are quickly being replaced with monetary gain, team symetry and cohesion are being replace by quick get it out the door we'll fix it later mentality. Reliable predictable builds are being replaced by half built stubs and automatic blind updates. One controllable service has now exploded into a tangled mess of at least 5 processes/services/drivers and scheduled task to undo your changes. Here is another head scratcher, Windows Defender will report a threat if you disable it via group policy. Try it, it will flag it and attempt to "fix" it if you dont have remediation disabled.

            I have never had the honor to meet Mr. Gates, but I miss him as I would miss a family member or a limb.  - Kyle

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