XCLN: How to Set Up Windows 95 Roving Users with Profgen.exe (182035)

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PSS recommends that roving Exchange users be set up by using server-based Windows 95 user profiles. It is possible to set up Exchange roving users without using server-based Windows 95 profiles with the aid of the Exchange Resource Kit utility Profgen.exe. When you set up Exchange roving users using Profgen.exe, the roving user's mailbox name must match the roving user's Windows NT username, because Profgen.exe creates a temporary profile referencing a mailbox name that is drawn from the currently logged on user's Windows NT username. Perform the following steps to set up Exchange roving users with Profgen.exe:

1. Run the Exchange Setup Editor (Stfedtr.exe) against the client install point.
   
   The Exchange Setup Editor is in the <client_install_point>\Stfedtr subdirectory. The client install point is created by running the Setup.exe program from the appropriate language subdirectory (for example, \Eng) of the Exchange Client CD. After you bring up the Exchange Setup Editor, specify the following options:
   
   From the User Options dialog box:
   
   
   • Specify a "Home Server". This home server does not have to be the same server that all users have their mailbox on, but it does need to be a server in the same Exchange site that the roving users have their mailboxes in.
   From the Setup Program Options dialog box:
   
   
   • Specify to install only the Exchange Server Service on the Services tab.
   • Specify "C:\Exchange" as the "Directory for client software" on the General tab.
   After you run the setup editor against the appropriate client install point, the Default.prf file is created in the client install point and contains the Exchange profile settings that you just applied. Now, when the user installs Exchange from the client install point, the Newprof.exe and Default.prf files are copied down to the Exchange client directory during Setup. The client must be installed in the "Exchange" directory (the default) on all computers that will be used for roving users.
2. You must copy Profgen.exe to the user's Exchange directory on the client computer. Also, every computer that is to be used as a "roving" client must have a copy of the Profgen.ini file in its Windows directory with the following settings:
   

         [NEWPROF]
         PathToExeFile=c:\exchange\newprof.exe
         PathToPRFFile= C:\exchange\default.prf
         DisplayUI=0
         AutoExecute=0
   
         [PROFGEN]
         Logging=0
         UpdateMailboxName=0
         DoNotRenamePRF=1
         UseLoginIDAsProfileName=1
         ;must have this entry for multiple users at the same computer or
         ;any profiles after the 1st one will not be created
     
   						

3. Profgen.exe must be called with a login script or must be called with the Load=statement in the Win.ini file as follows:
   

         Load=c:\exchange\profgen.exe
    
   						

   
   When started, Profgen.exe will create the Profgen.tmp file in the root of the hard disk drive of the client computer. Profgen.tmp is a modified copy of the Default.prf file and is used by Newprof.exe to set up a profile with a mailbox based on the currently logged-on user's ID.
4. When the user logs on to the Exchange client, this newly created profile will be the default profile and will have the name of the user's mailbox. As long as the Windows NT user ID matches the mailbox name, the user can access messages.
   
   After you set up a Windows 95 computer for roving users this way, it is not necessary to restart a computer that another account is logged on to if you want to access your messages. If you select Start, Shut Down, and then "Close all programs and log on as a different user", Windows 95 will run Profgen.exe again and create a new profile. This assumes that this particular Windows 95 computer is set up for the option "Users can customize their preferences and desktop settings" (in Control Panel / Passwords / User Profiles).

It is important to use the latest version of Profgen.exe when setting this up. The correct version has a file size of 78 KB (80,752 bytes) and a date of 8/07/96. This is available on the Microsoft Web site at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/exchange/exchange-unsup-ed/

For more information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: