Windows XP Professional & Server 2003 Administration: Part 7

Table of Contents

1. Main Menu
2. Part 7: Manage User Profiles and Authentication
3. 7.1: Managing User Profiles
4. Video: Create and Manage User Profiles
5. 7.2: Securing Authentication in Active Directory
6. 7.2.2: Audit Policy
7. 7.2.3: The Event Viewer
8. Review Questions for Part 7

7.1: Managing User Profiles

A user profile is a collection of folders and data that contains the desktop settings including any shortcuts, start menu and quick launch options, documents, Internet explorer and display configuration

7.1.1: Local User Profiles

On a Windows XP Professional or 2003 server all user profiles are stored on the local computer in the %System-Drive% \ Documents and settings \ %Username% folder (%username% is a variable that represents the users name, for example Karen)

When a user logs onto a computer for the first time a profile is created as a copy of the Default user profile which is stored inside the folder with the users logon name, changes made by the user to their desktop are then saved to this location

The user environment is extended by the All Users profile which includes the desktop shortcuts and application data. Elements of both the default user and all users profile are combined to create the users environment

A local profile is saved into a file called NTUSER.DAT when the user logs off any settings are automatically retrieved when the user logs on again to the SAME computer. The major drawback of a local profile is that if the user logs on to a different computer they will receive a different profile

7.1.2: Roaming User Profiles

A roaming profile can be deployed in a domain and allows a user to work on more than one computer and maintain the same profile settings. To achieve this, the profile is stored in a central location, a share on a Windows 2003 server, users are configured to use this share by a domain administrator through the Profile tab of the user properties in the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.