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I was trying to move the AppData folder (or at least Roaming) off of my SSD so I could make a symbolic link, but I couldn't move everything due to some of the files being in use. After a restart, I have missing icons, missing desktop background, and missing settings in some programs (e.g. saved passwords in Chrome). I keep trying to move everything back, but when I restart, those moved files have been deleted.

I tried a system restore point from before the experiment, but it did not help.

I also tried changing the location of AppData/Roaming in it's Properties dialog, but the location was changed back to C drive and the Location tab was removed from its Properties even before I restarted...

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  • A total fix will require a new profile
    – Ramhound
    Commented Aug 29, 2014 at 21:21
  • try to login with another account, and move the files in that session.
    – ths
    Commented Aug 29, 2014 at 23:49

2 Answers 2

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It would probably be safer and reliable if you booted that device into ubuntu from a live cd or usbmemory stick and move the appdata folder back while the operating system is not hooked into that folder.

Just make sure you have a backup of that data and the file system has been checked for errors first otherwise you could run into a problem trying to mount the file system in ubuntu and incur file corruption.

P.S I dont know how well a symbolic link will work with an appdata folder its dependent on a direct file structure

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I was able to kind of "lock the files in place" once I moved them back by creating a new System Restore Point before restarting.

(I also found the main source of disk space usage in AppData for me: Adobe's Media Cache. I could have sworn I set it up to put those somewhere else, but at least now I can fix it without messing with /AppData or any other Windows file structure...)

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