Re: Roaming Profiles Issue - Windows Server 2003

On Jun 12, 11:41 am, "Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
<lanwe...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Aaron <bikefas...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello,

I am currently working on refining the process of how roaming profiles
are currently setup. I have noticed that there are some users that
have Desktops with many large files as well as My documents.

The answer to this is "folder redirection" via group policy....read on.

I wanted
to know if it is okay to use "Exclude directories in roaming profile"
in the group policy to remove the Desktop and My Documents from the
roaming profile.

I don't think so - but if you use properly configured folder redirection,
it's moot.

Instead, I would setup a home folder that maps a
network drive for each user and they would put there files there.

You could create home directories for your users (set in their ADUC profile
tab), and set up folder redirection for both My Documents and Desktop to
subfolders of \\server\home$\%username%. You can also redirect Application
Data and Start Menu, but I don't - those are usually small enough that they
don't cause problems, whereas I've heard of performance problems if you do
redirect tem.



Primarily this would be done so that users must copy their own
important/critical data to a new location that we can effectively
backup. Is this a good idea?

If you implemented folder redirection with its defaults, the data will be
moved automagically ....otherwise, I'd set up a robocopy batch file and I'd
take care of this myself, at each workstation. Users don't like lost data. I
ampresuming your network isn't that large...so this shouldn't be that big a
deal.



Also, as of now it seems that the Folder Redirection is enabled on the
server so that the My documents does not have to be syncronized each
time a users logs on or off.

Folder redirection <> offline files.
I strongly suggest that you disable offline files for your desktop users,
via group policy (and even for laptop users, I prefer other stuff to sync
data).

However, I have noticed that each user
has their My documents in their respective profile folder and the
files are not going into the location specified by folder redirection.

Can't say, as it isn't really clear where things are being redirected to.
Running rsop.msc as a user on their workstation may help as will looking at
event logs - and running GPMC on the server/s will help you manage your own
policies.

Roaming profiles work if they're tiny - not well if they're large. I suspect
that's the main cause of your problem. Also make sure all computers are
running the latest version of the User Profile Hive Cleanup service from MS.

What would cause this? Ultimately, it does not really matter since I
would like to get rid of this a just use the home folders.

There are a couple users that for some reason do not have profiles and
the folder redirection appears to be working properly.

Yep - they aren't related.

My next
question, if I disable the folder redirection, will they still be able
to access their files or will I have to copy them from the server back
to their deskop?

Do not disable folder redirection - fix it. It's mandatory, in my book, if
you're running roaming profiles - and is a really really good idea if you
aren't running roaming profiles.



Finally, once I go ahead a exclude the Desktop and My documents from
the Profiles,

...which you shouldn't, as per above :)

what will happen to the users? Does it still have a
local copy of their profile and all personal files on the desktop or
will it only remain on the server? It seems to me that once it is
disabled they will not be able to access the files, what would be the
best way for this to be implemented?

I appreciate any help regarding this issue.

Thank you,
Aaron

Hope the above helps....

Thank you for your quick response to my issues regarding the roaming
profiles. I understand that you like Folder Redirection and suggest
that is the way to go. I am however rather hesistant as I don't want
to have all that information on our servers. We only want company
information pertinent to work to be on the servers. As of now we have
about 70 users on the network. The amount of information that has been
copied over due to the roaming profiles ie. desktop and my documents
is rather large and overwhelming. You dismissed excluding folders in
the profile saying, "if you use properly configured folder
redirection, it's moot." How do I configure it properly? So that I
don't have all the needless data. Loss data certainly is not pretty,
but what is key is the company critical data. And by enforcing
employees to copy those critical files to their personal home folder I
feel that it has accomplished what we want.

Truthfully, if I had my way I would agree with you in an attempt to
save all the data. However, I am working with an "IT Dept" that is
set on only have the "critical data" (whatever that means) and nothing
more. I know that roaming profiles work well if they are small and
that is the goal of making these changes. You never mentioned what was
wrong with using "Exclude directories in roaming profile"? As of now,
there is no way that I'm going to keep people's desktops (not after
the 3.5 GB one I saw today). Is there are way to place a quota on just
the desktop? If so, then I would be willing to keep it and not
exclude. With regards to My Docs, I really don't care to keep people's
music and videos. I appreciate all of your help and advice about
getting this to work properly and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,
Aaron

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Roaming Profiles
    ... coorect (i call computers by thier username, ... it logs off to sync to the server. ... Although if you're using folder redirection, ... OK - and if you were using roaming profiles, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Roaming Profiles
    ... coorect (i call computers by thier username, ... it logs off to sync to the server. ... Although if you're using folder redirection, ... OK - and if you were using roaming profiles, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Roaming Profiles
    ... So what your saying, Folder Redirection is when your profile (desktop, ... So if the server is down you cant use your computer? ... If you're using offline files, you're accessing a local copy of the file. ... OK - and if you were using roaming profiles, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Roaming Profiles
    ... roaming profile gets updated on the server. ... So what your saying, Folder Redirection is when your profile (desktop, ... If you're using offline files, you're accessing a local copy of the ... OK - and if you were using roaming profiles, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs)
  • Re: Roaming Profiles Issue - Windows Server 2003
    ... The answer to this is "folder redirection" via group policy....read on. ... Roaming profiles work if they're tiny - not well if they're large. ... to access their files or will I have to copy them from the server back ... you're running roaming profiles - and is a really really good idea if you ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.general)