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A user profile can contain a user’s Desktop arrangement, program items, personal program groups, network and printer connections, screen colors, mouse settings, and other personal prefer

Chapter 8

Using User Profiles and Hardware Profiles

MICROSOFT EXAM OBJECTIVES COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER

User profiles store users’ Desktop configurations A user profile can contain a user’s Desktop arrangement, program items, personal program groups, network and printer connections, screen colors, mouse settings, and other personal preferences.

User profiles are stored locally by default, but they can be accessed through the network if you configure roaming profiles If you don’t want users to be able to change their user profiles, you can configure mandatory profiles

Hardware profiles store different hardware configurations for a puter Hardware profiles are useful when a single computer has multiple hardware configurations

com-This chapter covers how to create and manage user profiles and hardware profiles We will begin with an overview of the configuration information stored in user profiles

Reviewing User Profile Configuration

Options

User profiles store many of the personal configuration options for Windows 2000 Professional For example, say user Kevin has logged on and customized his Desktop by changing the wallpaper, adding shortcuts, adding items to the Startup folder, and changing the mouse pointer All of this infor-mation will be saved in Kevin’s user profile when he logs off The next time

he logs on, his Desktop customizations will be restored

Reviewing User Profile Configuration Options 347

If the configuration option is a personal preference, it is most likely a part

of the user profile Configuration options that relate to the computer are not

a part of the user profile For example, the mouse driver is not a part of a user profile However, the properties of the mouse configuration—such as the speed, pointer, and mouse button settings—reflect the user’s personal pref-erences and are a part of a user profile

Table 8.1 lists some of the settings that are saved by user profiles

T A B L E 8 1 User Preferences Saved in User Profiles

Settings From Items Stored in User Profile

drives, types of files that are displayed

mouse and keyboard preferences

properties

Calcula-tor, Command Prompt, and Notepad Online Help book-

348 Chapter 8  Using User Profiles and Hardware Profiles

Creating and Managing User Profiles

User profiles are particularly useful when multiple users share the same computer If each user has a profile, his or her Desktop preferences will

be maintained and loaded when that user logs on to the computer

User profiles can be used by a single user or by a group of users If you assign a user profile to a group of users, you can ensure that all users in the group maintain a consistent Desktop This makes it easier to train users and

to troubleshoot problems

By default, user profiles are created locally on the computer that the user account logs on to, but you can create roaming profiles that are available from the network Roaming profiles allow users to access their customized Desktop from any computer they log on to within the network

By default, users can change their own profiles, but Administrators can create and assign mandatory, or read-only, profiles Users cannot modify mandatory profiles

The following sections describe how to create local, roaming, and datory user profiles

man-Using Local User Profiles

Each time you log on to a Windows 2000 Professional computer, the tem checks to see if you have a local user profile in the Documents and Set-tings folder, which was created on the boot partition when you installed Windows 2000 Professional

sys-The first time users log on, they receive a default user profile A folder that matches the user’s logon name is created for the user in the Documents and Settings folder The user profile folder that is created holds a file called

NTUSER.DAT, as well as subfolders that contain directory links to the user’s Desktop items

Creating and Managing User Profiles 349

In Exercise 8.1, you will create new users and set up local user profiles

E X E R C I S E 8 1

Using Local Profiles

and Tracy (See Chapter 6, “Managing Users,” for details on creating user accounts.) Deselect the User Must Change Password at Next Logon option for each user.

Expand My Computer, then Local Disk (C:), then Documents and tings Notice that this folder does not contain user profile folders for the new users.

with Windows 2000 dialog box appears, deselect the Show This Screen at Startup option and then click the Exit button.

Display Properties dialog box, click the Appearance tab Select the color scheme Red, White, and Blue (VGA), click the Apply button, and then click the OK button.

name for the shortcut and click the Finish button.

Desktop configuration stored in the default user profile.

configuration you set up in steps 3, 4, and 5.

Disk (C:), then Documents and Settings Notice that this folder now contains user profile folders for Liz and Tracy

350 Chapter 8  Using User Profiles and Hardware Profiles

The drawback of local user profiles is that they are available only on the computer where they were created For example, suppose that all of your Windows 2000 Professional computers are a part of a domain and you use only local user profiles User Rick logs on at Computer A and creates a cus-tomized user profile When he logs on to Computer B for the first time, he will receive the default user profile, rather than the customized user profile

he created on Computer A For users to be able to access their user profile from any computer they log on to, you need to use roaming profiles, as described in the next section

Using Roaming Profiles

A roaming profile is stored on a network server and allows users to access their user profile, regardless of the client computer that they have logged on

to Roaming profiles provide users who move around with a consistent Desktop, no matter which computer they access If the server that stores the roaming profile is unavailable, the user can log on using a local profile

To create a roaming profile, take the following steps:

1. Create the profile that will be used as the roaming profile

2. Create a folder on a network server and share the folder (Creating shared folders is covered in Chapter 10, “Accessing Files and Folders.”)

3. Copy the profile to the network share To copy a profile, use the Copy To button in the User Profiles tab of the System Properties dialog box, shown

in Figure 8.1 To access this dialog box, select Control Panel  System and click the User Profiles tab (You can also access the System Properties dialog box by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Properties.) Click the Copy To button and specify the share folder and profile name

in the Copy To dialog box

When you go through the Copy To button in the User Profiles tab of the

all of the folders associated with the profile You should always use this method to copy a profile to a network share, rather than using other file-copy options.

4. Open the Local Users and Groups utility and access the properties of the user who will be assigned the roaming profile Click the Profile tab

in the user Properties dialog box In the Profile Path text box, specify

Creating and Managing User Profiles 351

the UNC (Universal Naming Convention) path for the roaming file, as shown in Figure 8.2

pro-F I G U R E 8 1 The User Profiles tab of the System Properties dialog box

F I G U R E 8 2 The Profile tab of the user Properties dialog box

352 Chapter 8  Using User Profiles and Hardware Profiles

If you need to reapply the default user profile for a user, you can delete the user’s profile through the System icon in Control Panel, User Profiles tab.

In Exercise 8.2, you will simulate the process of creating a roaming file This is just a simulation because, in order for roaming profiles to work

pro-on a Windows 2000 Professipro-onal computer, roaming profiles must be cpro-on-figured on a Windows 2000 Server computer

con-E X con-E R C I S con-E 8 2

Using Roaming Profiles

In this exercise, you will set up a roaming profile, which is a four-part process Then you will test the profile.

Creating a Profile

Tester Deselect the User Must Change Password at Next Logon option.

Accept EXPLORER as the name for the shortcut and click the Finish button.

Display Properties dialog box, click the Appearance tab Select the color scheme Maple, click the Apply button, and then click the OK button.

Creating a Network Share for User Profiles

Expand My Computer, then Local Disk (C:).

dia-log box, click the Share This Folder radio button and leave all of the other values at their default settings Click the OK button.

Creating and Managing User Profiles 353

Using Mandatory Profiles

A mandatory profile is a profile that can’t be modified by the user Only

members of the Administrators group can manage mandatory profiles You might consider creating mandatory profiles for users who should maintain consistent Desktops For example, suppose that you have a group of 20 salespeople, who know enough about system configuration to make changes, but not enough to fix any problems they create For ease of support, you could use mandatory profiles This way, all of the salespeople will always have the same profile and will not be able to change their profiles

You can create mandatory profiles for a single user or a group of users

A mandatory profile is stored in a file named NTUSER.MAN A user

with a mandatory profile can set different Desktop preferences while logged on, but those settings will not be saved when the user logs off

Copying the User Profile to the Network Share Folder

Profiles tab.

high-light the computername\Tester profile and click the Copy To button.

the OK button Click the OK button to close the System Properties dialog box.

Configuring the User Properties to Use a Roaming Profile

folder.

click the Profile tab

replacing computername with the unique name of your computer

Click the Apply button and then click the Close button.

Testing the Roaming Profile

profile that was created for Tester.

E X E R C I S E 8 2 ( c o n t i n u e d )

354 Chapter 8 Using User Profiles and Hardware Profiles

To create a mandatory profile, take the following steps:

1 Rename the user profile from NTUSER.DAT to NTUSER.MAN.

2. Copy the profile to a network share As with roaming profiles, you should use the Copy To button in the User Profiles tab of the System Properties dialog box to copy the appropriate files

3. In the Local Users and Groups utility, access the properties of the user who will be assigned the roaming profile and specify the location of the mandatory profile This path must be a UNC path for the manda-tory profile to work

Only roaming profiles can be used as mandatory profiles Mandatory profiles

do not work for local user profiles.

In Exercise 8.3, you will simulate the process of creating a mandatory file As with the sample roaming profile you created in Exercise 8.2, the man-datory profile will not actually work This is because you must first configure roaming profiles on a Windows 2000 Server computer

pro-E X pro-E R C I S pro-E 8 3

Using Mandatory Profiles

In this exercise, you will set up a mandatory profile, which is a four-part process Then you will test the profile.

Creating a Profile

User Deselect the User Must Change Password at Next Logon

option.

tab and select Conductor from the Scheme drop-down list Click the Apply button, then click the OK button.

Creating and Managing User Profiles 355

select Utopia from the Scheme drop-down list, then click the OK button.

Display Properties dialog box, click the Effects tab Under Visual Effects, select the Use Large Icons option Click the Apply button, then click the OK button.

Renaming the NTUSER.DAT File

View tab Click the Show Hidden Files and Folders radio button and uncheck the Hide File Extensions for Known File Types check box Click the Apply button, then click the OK button.

then Documents and Settings, then Sales User

Close Windows Explorer.

Copying the User Profile to the Network Share Folder

Profiles tab in the System Properties dialog box.

To button.

the OK button Click the OK button to close the System Properties dialog box.

Configuring the User Properties to Use a Mandatory Profile

folder.

E X E R C I S E 8 3 ( c o n t i n u e d )

356 Chapter 8 Using User Profiles and Hardware Profiles

If the client that is accessing the mandatory profile is a Windows NT 4 or dows 2000 computer, you do not need to include the user profile name in the Profile Path setting in the user Properties dialog box For example, you could

Win-specify \\Server1\Profiles\Tester However, if the client is a Windows NT 3.x

computer, you must include the user profile name in the Profile Path setting For example, you could specify \\Server\Profiles\Tester\NTUSER.MAN

Creating and Managing Hardware Profiles

Hardware profiles store hardware configurations for a computer

Using hardware profiles allows you to manage multiple hardware rations for a single computer For example, suppose that you have a laptop computer that can be used with a docking station that attaches to the net-work If the computer is configured for network connectivity and the com-puter is not docked, you will see error messages at startup To avoid this, you can create hardware profiles for this laptop computer: one hardware profile (with network settings) to load when the computer is docked and another

and click the Profile tab.

User, replacing computername with the unique name of your

com-puter Click the Apply button, then click the Close button.

Testing the Mandatory Profile

tab and choose Dinosaur from the Scheme drop-down list Click the Apply button, then click the OK button.

E X E R C I S E 8 3 ( c o n t i n u e d )

Creating and Managing Hardware Profiles 357

hardware profile (without network settings) to load when the computer is undocked

When you set up hardware profiles, you specify different hardware figurations that can be accessed when Windows 2000 Professional is started You manage hardware profiles through the Hardware Profiles dialog box, shown in Figure 8.3 To access this dialog box, select Start  Settings  Con-trol Panel  System (You can also access the System Properties dialog box

con-by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Properties.) In the System Properties dialog box, click the Hardware tab and then click the Hardware Profiles button The options in the Hardware Profiles dialog box are described in Table 8.2

F I G U R E 8 3 The Hardware Profiles dialog box

358 Chapter 8 Using User Profiles and Hardware Profiles

T A B L E 8 2 Hardware Profile Options

Option Description

Available Hardware Profiles

Lists all of the hardware profiles that have been created If only one profile is listed, you will not see hardware profile selection options when Windows 2000 is started If there is only one pro- file, it can’t be deleted You can change the order

of the profiles in the Available Hardware Profiles list by selecting a profile and clicking the up or down arrow button to the right of the list.

whether or not the computer is portable A ble computer usually has two profiles: one for when the computer is docked and another for when the computer is undocked You can also specify whether the profile will appear in the hardware profile selection options when Win- dows 2000 is started.

hardware profile You can then edit the copied profile.

dif-ferent name For example, you might rename Profile 1 to Docked Portable.

highlighted This option is not active if only one hardware profile is listed.

Hardware Profiles Selection

Specifies how the hardware profile selection tions should be configured for Windows 2000 startup You can specify that the computer boot process stop until a selection is made, or you can configure the computer to select the first profile that is listed (the list is in the order shown in the Available Hardware Profiles list box) if no choice

op-has been made within x number of seconds.