Windows – How to change target of symlink in windows

mkdir /path/where/newsymlink
ln -s /path/to/point/to /path/where/newsymlink/is
mv /path/where/newsymlink/is /path/where/symlink/
rmdir /path/where/newsymlink

However, the Java Preferences utility changes more than just a symbolic link; you should use that to ensure that the Java version is changed.

You can use the subst command to map a drive letter to your user directory. Drive letters created by subst are per-user, so you can create the same mapping as each user and then create a symlink to that drive letter. Or just point the program to the mapped drive via its settings.

An example:

subst v: %userprofile%
mklink /d c:\ProgramData\AppFolder v:\Documents\AppForder

A downside of this solution is that mapped drive letters are not persistent, so you have to recreate them every time a user logs in (for example, by putting a shortcut to the subst command into %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. Or you can make a batch file which will run subst and then your program.

An alternative solution is to run your program in a sandbox (e.g. Sandboxie).This won't work if the program tries to do something low-level (e.g. installing drivers or services). Also you'll have to restore files created by the program from sandbox after each run in you need to use them elsewhere.