Hi,
I would suggest you install ownCloud in a Linux VM since you already have a windows server, a visualizer and know how to mount shares. That was it is much easier to manage, if you are only interested in ownCloud.
The problem with the appliance is that it’s a fixed system, and everything is configured to work out of the box. That’s why, if you want to change one thing, you have to adjust many settings, and this could be a source of errors.
If you still want to change the data directory, here is our documentation on that topic: