HOW TO: Configure Client User Profile Information for a Roaming User on Windows 2000 (307964)

SUMMARY

Roaming users move between different computers on a network. This article describes the procedures that you have to use to enable and configure profile information for each of the roaming users in your organization. This article assumes the operating system on your primary domain controller (PDC) is Windows 2000.

Set Up Roaming Users

Microsoft recommends that users roam only between computers that run the same version of Microsoft Outlook. If you have roaming users on an earlier version of Outlook, make sure that you upgrade all the users and the computers in a single area (such as a domain) at the same time. New features in Outlook 2002 are not available to users who have Outlook 2000 profiles. This may create confusion for users who roam in an environment that has a mix of Outlook versions. This also applies to any programs that the roaming users are using.

To set up roaming for users in Outlook 2002, follow these steps:

1. Decide how to manage users' data so that the information they require is available to them as they roam. When you configure the user profiles for roaming, use the network PDC computer.
2. Before you create and configure roaming profiles, you must first create a Home folder for each user. A main folder can contain each of these Home folders, for example, D:\Roaming\Users. Microsoft recommends that you create this folder on an NTFS volume.
3. After you create each user's Home folder, assign the appropriate NTFS permissions.
4. Share each Home folder and assign the appropriate share level permissions. If you store the user Home folders in a main roaming folder, you only have to share that main folder.

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Enable Roaming Users

When you enable roaming and specify a network share for roaming files, some files and folders automatically roam with the users. This makes available the user files for the roaming users, regardless of which client computer the user uses to log on to the domain. All files and folders in the following locations (on the local computer) roam with the user:

• On Windows 2000: Documents and Settings\Username
• On Microsoft Windows NT 4.0: Winnt\Profiles\Username
• On Microsoft Windows 98: Windows\Profiles\Username
• On Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition: Windows\Profiles\Username
• On Windows 2000 after upgrading from Windows NT 4.0: Winnt\Profiles\Username
  
  

whereUsername is the user's logon name on the computer.Back to the top

Configure Profile Information for Each Roaming User

1. On a Windows 2000 PDC server, click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. In the console tree, expand Domain, and then click the folder where users are located (typically the Users folder).
3. In the list of user names, click a user name.
4. Right-click the user name, and then click Properties.
5. Use one of the following methods:
   • On the Profile tab, in the Profile Path box under User Profile, type the full path to the Profiles folder that you created (for a Windows NT client or a Windows 2000 client). For example: \\server\share\Profiles.
     
     - or -
   • On the Profile tab, under Home Folder, in the Connect area, in the To box, type the full path to the user folder in the Profiles folder that you created (for a Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition client). For example: \\server\share\Profiles\Username.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each user whom you are configuring for roaming. When you have finished, these users can use their existing Outlook profile on other computers to gain access to Outlook.

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