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FileRisk: Caution

miglog.xml C:\Windows\Panther\miglog.xml

miglog.xml: user directory structure with SIDs, recorded by Windows Setup during an upgrade or migration; mostly a diagnostic aid.

Updated on By AltF4 Formation

What it’s for

Windows Setup writes here the structure of the user directories it migrated during an upgrade, along with security identifiers (SIDs). One copy exists per phase: in $WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther for the offline and rollback phases, and in C:\Windows\Panther for the online configuration and first boot (Windows Welcome).

What it contains

  • An XML document listing the profiles, their SIDs and the source and destination locations of the migrated data.
  • Nothing about applications or drivers: for those, read setupact.log and setuperr.log.

Risks and best practices

  • SIDs and profile names identify accounts, so review the file before sending it to a third party.
  • It matters mostly after an upgrade that leaves profiles pointing to the wrong folder or turns them into temporary profiles; compare with HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.

Useful commands

Fenêtre de terminal
# SID of every profile known to the machine
Get-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList' |
    Get-ItemProperty | Select-Object PSChildName, ProfileImagePath


# Lines of the file that mention a user
Select-String -Path "$env:windir\Panther\miglog.xml" -Pattern 'Users' | Select-Object -First 20

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