[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 interruption 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

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