Windows 7 / Getting Started

Configuring a User Account to Use a Roaming Profile

After you have created a PROFILES share and configured it with suitable permissions on a file server, you can configure new user accounts to use roaming user profiles. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Log on to a domain controller as a member of the Domain Admins group (or any administrator workstation running an earlier version of Windows on which adminpak.msi has been installed).
  2. Open Active Directory Users And Computers and select the OU containing the new user accounts for which you want to enable roaming.
  3. Select each user account in the OU that you want to configure. For each account, rightclick it and select Properties.
  4. Click the Profile tab, select the check box labeled Profile Path, type \\profile_server \Profiles\%username% in the Profile Path text box, and then click OK.

The selected new user accounts are now ready to use roaming profiles. To complete this procedure, have each user log on to a Windows Vista and later computer using her user credentials. When the user logs on to Windows Vista and later versions for the first time, the Default User.v2 profile is copied from NETLOGON to the user's local profile and then copied as user_name.v2 to the PROFILES share on the profile server. For example, a user named Jacky Chen (jchen@live.com) who logs on to a Windows Vista and later computer for the first time will receive the roaming user profile \\profile_server\Profiles\jchen.v2. The .v2 suffix identifies this profile as compatible only with Windows Vista or later versions.

[Previous] [Contents] [Next]

In this tutorial:

  1. Managing Users and User Data
  2. Understanding User Profiles in Windows 7
  3. Types of User Profiles
  4. User Profile Namespace
  5. User Profile Namespace in Windows XP
  6. User Profile Namespace in Windows Vista and Windows 7
  7. Application Compatibility Issue
  8. Disabling Known Folders
  9. Windows 7 Understanding Libraries
  10. Working with Libraries
  11. Including Indexed Folders in a Library
  12. Adding Nonindexed Remote Locations to a Library
  13. Creating Additional Libraries
  14. Managing Libraries
  15. Implementing Corporate Roaming
  16. Understanding Roaming User Profiles and Folder Redirection
  17. Understanding Roaming User Profiles in Earlier Versions of Windows
  18. Understanding Folder Redirection in Earlier Versions of Windows
  19. Enhancements to Roaming User Profiles and Folder Redirection Previously Introduced in Windows Vista
  20. Additional Enhancements to Roaming User Profiles and Folder Redirection Introduced in Windows 7
  21. Improved First Logon Performance With Folder Redirection
  22. Implementing Folder Redirection
  23. Configuring the Redirection Method
  24. Configuring Target Folder Location
  25. Configuring Redirection Options
  26. Configuring Policy Removal Options
  27. Folder Redirection and Sync Center
  28. Considerations for Mixed Environments
  29. Additional Group Policy Settings for Folder Redirection
  30. Troubleshooting Folder Redirection
  31. Implementing Roaming User Profiles
  32. Creating a Default Network Profile
  33. Configuring a User Account to Use a Roaming Profile
  34. Implementing Mandatory Profiles
  35. Implementing Super-Mandatory Profiles
  36. Managing User Profiles Using Group Policy
  37. Working with Offline Files
  38. Enhancements to Offline Files Introduced Previously in Windows Vista
  39. Additional Enhancements to Offline Files Introduced in Windows 7
  40. Understanding Offline File Sync
  41. Modes of Operation in Offline Files
  42. Managing Offline Files
  43. Managing Offline Files Using Windows Explorer
  44. Managing Offline Files Using the Offline Files Control Panel
  45. Managing Offline Files Using Sync Center
  46. Configuring Offline Files on the Server
  47. Managing Offline Files Using Group Policy
  48. Offline Files Policy Settings Introduced in Windows Vista
  49. Additional Offline Files Policy Settings for Windows 7