And a bit of weirdness...
Many users are not familiar with Junction Points and the confusion that can result in how they are traversed by various processes. If you are logged onto Windows as a regular user and open a Command Prompt, even with Administrator privileges you will not see the same folder structure as is seen when you are logged onto Windows as a member of the Administrators Group
If you boot into the Repair function of the DVD and open a Command Prompt, you will see yet another folder structure that is not presented from within Windows. These varying views can lead to a bit of confusion, as there are folders that may appear in one view but are absent from another.
You may begin to wonder just where your files and folders are, and how many you actually have, and whether you truly have five copies of a particular folder scattered across multiple partitions/drives.
For example, after moving the Winsxs folder to V:\Winsxs, the Properties sheet shows a size of 6.15KB occupying 8.0KB on disk containing 2 files and 0 folders when first opened. After a few seconds, those numbers spin up to a final total size of 6.11GB occupying 6.29GB on disk containing 95,635 files and 27,433 folders.
In C:\Windows\Winsxs Properties, I get the same behavior, the same sizes. Windows progresses across the Junction Point and looks into the folder at V:\Winsxs for properties. That's where the files actually reside. There are no files in the C:\Windows\Winsxs junction point. And, as I mentioned on page 5, using my method makes all Junction Points traversable.
Don't make any rash decisions. There's more (and less) here than meets the eye.
In addition, if the Winsxs folder has been moved the command "sfc /scannow" will run, but it will be unable to complete after about 65% on any of the partitions. This is due to the Winsxs folder being located on a partition other than the system partition. That is also the reason that some (but not all) Windows Updates will fail.
When a Windows Update fails, check the Knowledge Base article to see what specific vulnerability the update is for. As I noted previously, there are a number of updates that address vulnerabilities that require someone to have physical access to your computer, or require you to click on a "carefully crafted" file on some web page, or open a "carefully crafted" email attachment. These I consider less important, and their failure is OK for me.
Should you wish to re-enable Windows Update and sfc.exe to full functionality, use the steps we've already outlined to remove the Winsxs junction in the C:\Windows folder, copy the Winsxs folder back inside the C:\Windows folder, edit the registry accordingly, then run Windows Update and/or sfc /scannow.
Once you're fully updated again, you can then copy the Winsxs folder back to wherever you had it, edit the registry to reflect that path, reboot and delete the Winsxs folder inside the C:\Windows folder, then recreate the Winsxs junction to replace it. You can use this procedure any time a truly "critical" update needs to be installed, or you need to run "sfc /scannow" to completion.
And remember, I offer no quarantees. Use at your own risk.
These procedures work just fine for me on my systems, and I have tested them extensively, for two years now, but YMMV. Also bear in mind that I do not use any backup software of any kind, only drive images. I have no idea how any backup software would work under these system modifications.
