WINDOWS 2000 PROFESSIONAL

CONTROL ROAMING PROFILE BEHAVIOR

User profiles define a user's work environment in Windows, including the user portion of the registry that defines operating parameters, such as desktop settings, color scheme, etc. A roaming profile allows a user to access the same work environment, regardless of logon location.

By default, Windows copies the user's roaming profile across the network during logon, which can present potential problems if the user's document folders contain a lot of files.

You can alter users' roaming profiles to prevent Windows from copying certain folders with the profile, minimize network traffic, and conserve space on target systems. In addition, you can ensure that the users' Temporary Internet Files cache doesn't roam.

To control roaming behavior, follow these steps:

1. Open the Active Directory Users And Computers console on a domain controller.

2. Open the properties for the OU in which the users reside, and click the Group Policy tab.

3. Create or edit a group policy object (GPO), and navigate to the User Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon/Logoff branch.

4. Double-click the Exclude Directories In A Roaming Profile policy.

5. On the Policy tab, select Enabled.

6. In the text box, add the directories that you don't want to roam.

7. Specify the directory name relative to the root of the user's profile folder.

8. Click OK to close the dialog box, and then close the GPO.

These changes take effect the next time the user logs on.