We actually go one step further and make the profiles mandatory which
makes it so any changes a student makes will be lost on shutdown. This
includes browser settings, backgrounds, etc (some of these we do
restrict within group policies, but some industrious students inevitably
find another way around).  Mandatory helps keep the profile lean.  

After copying the profile to the sever, just navigate to the profile on
the server and change the ntuser.dat extension to ntuser.man.

I was incorrect, this does create a new profile for each user, but the
log in usually goes quite quick.

Sylvia Gagne
Franklin Northwest SU
District Technology/Data Coordinator
100 Robin Hood Drive
Swanton, VT 05488
802.868.4967 x20
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Clark [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 9:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: User Profiles

I have used this technique successfully in our library ...I create an
account called Wilma, customize shortcuts, taskbar, desktop etc., then
copy
to default user.

 I have found that I could only get it to work after I completely shut
down
the computer, then logged on as the local administrator. Otherwise,
wilma's
profile could not be copied.

I am curious if quotas are possible for the local profiles .. One
machine
has over 35 GB in the Documents and settings folder...perhaps there is
some
"trimming" software ...

Bill Clark 
Austine School

-----Original Message-----
From: School Information Technology Discussion
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael Finn
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 09:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: User Profiles

We create new default profiles:
- log in as a new user and start all the applications that need to
create
personalized settings.  You can also change other appropriate settings
(autosave times, default home pages, etc.) You can also do things like
remove unneeded folders from the default user profile to make it
smaller.
Clear out the local settings/temp folder and clear the cache on web
browsers.
- restart (otherwise you'll have trouble copying the profile since
windows
will say it's "in use") and log in as administrator and then open system
properties: control panel | system
- on the advanced tab, click the Settings button under User profiles. 
select the profile you created earlier and then click "Copy To".  
- Enter "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User" in the field (or browse
to
it) and click OK.  You'll get a warning that it will delete the existing
files.

On next reboot, all new profiles will be a copy of the one you just set
up.
It's still slower than using an existing profile, but each user will get
his/her own to customize as they see fit.

Michael Finn
Network Administrator
Essex Town School District
58 Founders Road
Essex, VT 05452

(802) 857-1574
[log in to unmask] 


>>> Bob Wickberg <[log in to unmask]> 04/04/2007 09:39 >>>
Are you saying if you do this, there's only one profile on the machine,
that
all users share, or just that all the profiles are the same, and the
profile
for a given user is the same on every machine they go to?

One thing that annoys folks around here is that, every time a person
sits
down at a machine they haven't used before, it has to create a profile
when
they log in, a process that can take a couple of minutes.  The machine
sits
there with that small window in the upper left, saying "creating
personalized settings for" for a list of programs that seems to grow
longer
and longer every time m$ releases another patch.  Then, when the user
first
launches an office 2003 app, it says, installing office 2003, and sits
there
again for a while.  Very annoying to a student who just popped into the
lab
to print a paper they wrote at home and saved on a flash drive.  I'd
love to
have a way around this, though I'd have to consider the tradeoffs, if
any.



School Information Technology Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
>In a Windows environment, you can use roaming profiles, then the 
>students can all use just one profile.  Basically, they all log in as 
>themselves, but the system "sees" them as one profile.  We have some
of
>our schools use the same profiles for all students and one of our 
>schools has a different profile for the older students.  By making
the
>profiles mandatory, they don't take on any of the changes students
might
>make, such as backgrounds and screen savers.
>
>The only thing with using a mandatory roaming profile is that it is 
>imperative for students to save in their own network folder.
Anything
>saved in the My Documents folder is lost at log off.
>
>Sylvia Gagne
>Franklin Northwest SU
>District Technology/Data Coordinator
>100 Robin Hood Drive
>Swanton, VT 05488
>802.868.4967 x20
> 
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Eric Hall [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 12:03 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: User Profiles
>
>> What I've done is tried to set up machines initially so the default
>user
>> profile is as small as possible,
>
>Agreed. A significant amount of our image-building time is spent on 
>creating a "streamlined" Default user profile - application preferences

>set, first-run messages eliminated, mapped drives set, etc. etc. I find
that
>this
>step makes user experience as consistent and trouble-free as possible 
>even when using different models and OS versions. As we compile lists 
>for image updates (a process which usually starts within a week or two 
>of deploying new images) I find that there are more user-specific 
>changes than system-wide changes on the list!
>
>
>Eric Hall
>Technology Coordinator
>Waterbury/Duxbury Schools
>Washington West Supervisory Union
>Waterbury, VT
>(802) 244-6100