Overriding HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH as a Windows 7 user

Question

My employer has an Active Directory group policy which sets my Windows 7 laptop HOMEDRIVE to "M:" (a mapped network drive) and my HOMEPATH to "\". Since I have read-only permissions for the root of that shared drive, I cannot create files or directories in my windows home directory. My attempts to work with the IT department have been unsuccessful.

Is there a way for me to globally change these envars at boot or login time? I need for all applications to use alternate values (such as "C:" and "\Users\myname"). I have some installed utilities (like gvim and others) that store preference files in the user's home directory.

IMPORTANT: Changing these envars under "System Properties > Environment Variables" does not work. I have tried setting these as both User and System Variables (including a reboot). TypingSET HOMEin a DOS window clearly shows that my settings are ignored. Also, using "Start in" in a Windows shortcut will also not solve this, as I need things like Explorer context menu items (like "Edit with Vim") to operate correctly.

I do have admin rights on this company laptop, but I am not a Win7 guru. Back in the day, a boot script would have solved this in a minute. Is it even possible today? Thanks.

Answer 1

Below are some hacks I've developed. They are not elegant, but may be functional in your corporate environment.

HOMEDRIVE Only

It seems that many applications only use HOMEDRIVE / HOMEPATH. In that case, you can create a startup script that remaps the base drive letter to your local user path via the UNC drive admin path:

set HOME
HOMEDRIVE=G:
HOMEPATH=\
HOMESHARE=\\Server\Users\username

net use g: /delete
net use g: \\localhost\C$\Users\username

HOMEDRIVE Local Default

If you do not need to access "Server" by name at all, you can cause the group policy setting to fail and fall back to your local machine. The easiest way to do this is to add an entry to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts like:

127.0.0.1   Server

After rebooting, you should see something like:

set HOME
HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH=\Users\username

HOMEDRIVE/SHARE with Hybrid Local/Remote UNC Paths

If you want access to "Server" by name for some UNC paths, but override others with local paths, I have developed the following abomination. Note: direct server connections to "Server" will still resolve to your local machine. I recommend this solution only if "Server" is only a file server:

1. Modify C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts to redirect "Server" to your local machine:

   127.0.0.1   Server
   

2. Add the following Multi-String registry value to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\MSV1_0 to allow credentials to be passed to the local UNC path:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\MSV1_0\
   BackConnectionHostNames = Server
   

3. Create a dummy directory that will serve as the root of Server:

   set DUMMY_LOC=C:\Server_Dummy
   
   mkdir %DUMMY_LOC%
   cd /D %DUMMY_LOC%
   

4. For each UNC path you want to direct to the real Server:

   rem Alternatively you can use an IP below, but it is more likely to break if DNS changes
   set SERVER_FQDN=Server.network.blah.com
   
   rem Take a look at what's available...
   net view \\%SERVER_FQDN%\
   
   mklink /D Remote_Example \\%SERVER_FQDN%\Remote_Example
   net share Remote_Example=%DUMMY_LOC%\Remote_Example /grant:everyone,FULL
   

5. For each UNC share you want to define locally (such as Users):

   rem The link isn't really necessary for the share, I just find it easier to manage when all of these hacks are in the same directory
   
   mklink /D Users C:\Users
   net share Users=%DUMMY_LOC%\Users /grant:everyone,FULL
   

6. Reboot

For the example, this would allow the following UNC paths to be resolved:

\\Server\Remote_Example => \\Server.network.blah.com\Remote_Example
\\Server\Users          => C:\Users

This path resolution should occur prior to drive mappings. As long as the UNC paths associated with the mappings are valid (be they local or remote), drive letters should behave as expected.

For example, in my setup the following variables are forced by the domain:

set HOME
HOMEDRIVE=G:
HOMEPATH=\
HOMESHARE=\\Server\Users\username

But due to my mappings, the result is:

G: => \\Server\Users\username => C:\Users\username

Answer 2

Best solution I found was to set variables during login and before userinit.exe.

This is what I did. First created a batch file at C:\Windows\System32\userinit.cmd containing

@ECHO OFF
SET HOMEDRIVE=C:
SET HOMEPATH=\Users\%USERNAME%
SET HOMESHARE=\\localhost\C$\Users\%USERNAME%
@START C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe

and then changed value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit to C:\Windows\System32\userinit.cmd in the registry.

More information at: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc939862.aspx

Answer 3

I used SETX in a startup script and that worked for me. See my answer.

Answer 4

I think these paths are automatically set to the place where your user profile is. The home drive you're referring to is the place where your ntuser.dat and application data and other user profile folders are, correct? Back with NT3.x, the "user profile" was just your user registry hive with settings and you could set a separate home path for each user. Those got unified together in NT4 as a user profile with a desktop, my documents, start menu, etc.

The locations of all the profiles are stored in registry keys under

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

You will find some values for the special profiles, and subkeys: one for each active profile on the system. They are set up by the SID of the user account they belong to. The easiest way to find yours would be to scroll through each one looking for the right path (under the ProfileImagePath value). You should be able to just change that value to whatever path you want; it'll take effect the next time you log on. Be sure to copy your files to the new path first.

If you have to move the profile from the account you are logged in as (i.e. logged in as MikeC and you are trying to copy the profile for MikeC) the ntuser.dat file (the registry hive containing HKEY_CURRENT_USER) will be locked by the kernel. You can still copy the hive: go into regedit, right click on HKEY_CURRENT_USER, select export, change the type to registry hive files, and save as ntuser.dat at your new location.

In my experience if winlogon has a problem loading a profile because something is set up wrong, it'll either create a new copy from the default profile or give you a temporary copy to use for that session and you'll still be able to log in. However, I would recommend you have a different admin login to use on the system in case something goes wrong.

Answer 5

I am posting this in case anyone else comes to this question via google. Instead of changing my home directory and getting the IS guys mad at me, I setup and ran my development on a virtual machine. Microsoft offers Widows XP in virtual mode. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

Answer 6

A somewhat easier alternative would be to run the script below (env-reset.vbs) as a scheduled task at logon, unlock and maybe every a few minutes too.

Set shell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")  
Set venv = shell.Environment("Volatile")  

scriptingHost = LCase(Right(Wscript.FullName,Len("cscript.exe")))
interactive = Wscript.Interactive And (scriptingHost = "cscript.exe")

If interactive Then 
  Wscript.Echo "WSCRIPT"
  Wscript.Echo "  ScriptingHost = " & scriptingHost
  Wscript.Echo "  FullName = " & Wscript.FullName
  Wscript.Echo "  ScriptFullName = " & Wscript.ScriptFullName
End If  

If interactive Then Call showVolatile()

homedrive = Left(venv("USERPROFILE"),2)
homepath = Mid(venv("USERPROFILE"),3)
If interactive Then 
  Wscript.Echo "COMPUTED"
  Wscript.Echo "  homedrive = " & homedrive
  Wscript.Echo "  homepath = " & homepath
End If  
venv("HOMEDRIVE") = homedrive
venv("HOMEPATH")  = homepath

If interactive Then Call showVolatile()

Wscript.Quit(0)

Sub showVolatile()
  Wscript.Echo "VOLATILE"
  Wscript.Echo "  USERPROFILE = " & venv("USERPROFILE")  
  Wscript.Echo "  HOMEDRIVE = " & venv("HOMEDRIVE")  
  Wscript.Echo "  HOMEPATH = " & venv("HOMEPATH")  
  Wscript.Echo "  HOMESHARE = " & venv("HOMESHARE")  
End Sub