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anyone here know how i can safely change the SystemRoot value so i can move some excluively locked files?

The scoop is this:

I have XP on my desknote which has a 40 gig drive with one partition. I want to install Linux on it, but here's the problem. I've weened the used space down to 6 GB, but there are some straggling files at the end of my drive.

This presents a problem because the Linux partition utility will only allow me to repartition the space beyond the last file, which forces me to have a 32 GB Windows partition. I want a little more than 6 GB for Linux. (yes, 32+6 = 40 when you mix the computer world with the sales world!)

I used O&O Defrag to move the stragglers, but it can't move exclusively locked files. It looks like all of these files are located in the Windows folder, so if i can copy them to a new location, and change the systemroot variable to that new name, then my problem would be solved, right? Then i could defrag and move the c:\windows folder after i restarted because those files wouldn't be locked, right? (BTW, O&O Defrag does have a way to defrag locked files on reboot, before they get locked, but it doesn't have the same optimization options available under the windows portion of it - meaning it can and did defrag those files, but didn't move them.)

So how do i change the SystemRoot variable? I can't just do it in autoexec.bat, right? (ala Set SystemRoot=c:\WinNT or whatever name i choose.)

Anybody got any ideas?