[OPLINTECH] Windows User Profiles

[Chad Neeper]

To all: Please respond on list. This topic is no doubt useful to many!

To Greg:
Years ago we used to allow roaming profiles so staff users could take =
their familiar desktops with them if they needed to. Like you, however, we =
found that they weren't just taking their desktops with them, but their =
problems too. And worse, the problems were staying with the workstation, =
even as the user moved on. End result: big spreading headaches!

When we stepped back to evaluate, we found that most of our staff users =
tended to use the same machine or two, which fairly negated the need for =
roaming policies. So easy solution: we stopped using roaming profiles. =
Since then, we've assigned a specific area on the server for each user's =
data files and encourage them to use this space for their files rather =
than using "My Documents" or the like on the workstation's hard drive. =
This way, if they need to, they are fully capable of moving to a different =
workstation and accessing their own files. There is little to no interrupti=
on in the user's workflow because the software applications are either =
network-centric or installed on each workstation.

With 800+ profiles to deal with, you probably don't have the liberty to do =
away with profiles entirely, but depending on your users' needs, you might =
be able to restrict what travels with the profiles a bit. By restricting =
what travels with the profile, you could reduce the size of each profile =
(and the time it takes to download it to the workstation). It might also =
help to reduce some of the problems that currently travel with the =
profiles.

Just a thought.

My best advice: Take a vacation! No doubt it's well deserved/needed!


Chad





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Chad Neeper
Senior Systems Engineer
Network Response Group
614-481-9400

--  Full LAN/WAN consulting services specialized in libraries and schools  =
--