User Profiles in Windows XP

Show the Administrator login (logon). If you have set up another user account in Windows XP, the Administrator account will be hidden. You can modify the Windows’s registry so that the Administrator account will be shown at Windows XP’s Welcome screen for you to select.

1. In regedit goto

 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

2. Double-click the Administrator key or right-click on the tree and create a New DWORD Value, name it Administrator and press .

3. Type 1 in the “Value data” box

(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=305709)

1. Log on to the computer as the administrator, and then create a local user account.

2. Log off as the administrator, and then log on to the computer through the local user account that you just created.

  Note that permissions issues will result if the custom user profile is created when you log on as an administrator.

3. Customize the profile appropriately. For example, install printers and map necessary drives.

4. Log off as the local user, and then log back on as the administrator.

5. Because several of the files in the profile are hidden and must be copied into the new custom default user profile, turn on the Show hidden files and folders option:

a. Double-click My Computer, click Tools, and then click Folder Options.

b. On the View tab, under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files and folders, and then click OK.

6. Replace the current default user profile with the customized default user profile:

a. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

b. Double-click System.

c. On the User Profiles tab, click the user profile that you just created, and then click Copy To.

d. In the Copy To dialog box, under Copy profile to, click Browse, click the \Documents and Settings\Default User folder, and then click OK.

e. Under Permitted to use, click Change, click Everyone, and then click OK.

(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151)

Create a New User Profile in Windows XP Professional

1. Log on as the Administrator or as a user with administrator credentials.

2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

3. Click User Accounts.

4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Advanced.

5. In the left pane, click the Users folder.

6. On the Action menu, click New User.

7. Enter the appropriate user information, and then click Create.

Create a New User Profile in Windows XP Home Edition

1. Log on as the Administrator or as a user with administrator credentials.

2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

3. Click User Accounts.

4. Under Pick a task, click Create a new account.

5. Type a name for the user information, and then click Next.

6. Click an account type, and then click Create Account.

Copy Files to the New User Profile

1. Log on as a user other than the user whose profile you are copying files to or from.

2. In Windows Explorer, click Tools, click Folder Options, click the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders, click to clear the Hide protected operating system files check box, and then click OK.

3. Locate the C:\Documents and Settings\Old_Username folder, where C is the drive on which Windows XP is installed, and Old_Username is the name of the profile you want to copy user data from.

4. Press and hold down the CTRL key while you click each file and subfolder in this folder, except the following files:

• Ntuser.dat
• Ntuser.dat.log
• Ntuser.ini

5. On the Edit menu, click Copy.

6. Locate the C:\Documents and Settings\New_Username folder, where C is the drive on which Windows XP is installed, and New_Username is the name of the user profile that you created in the "Create a New User Profile" section.

7. On the Edit menu, click Paste.

8. Log off the computer, and then log on as the new user.

(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307800)

Open and Configure the User Profile Name Form

To complete these procedures successfuly, log on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group. If your computer is connected to a network, you may be unable to complete this procedure due to network policy settings.

1. Click Start menu, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Administrative Tools.

2. Double-click Computer Management.

3. In the console tree, double-click Computer Management, double-click System Tools, double-click Local Users and Groups, and then double-click Users.

4. Right-click the user account that you want to modify, and then click Properties.

5. On the Profile tab, in the profile path, type the location of the profile that you want to assign in the following format

        \\ServerName\ProfilesShareName\UserProfileName
     where:
         ServerName is the name of the computer where the profiles are stored.
         ProfilesShareName is the share name where the profiles are stored.
         UserProfileName is the specific folder for this users profile.

Configure the Network Folder

Properly configure the network folder that you specified in step 5 in the "Open and Configure the User Profile Name Form" section, in which you opened the user profile from:

1. Double-click the Computer Management on the computer that will contain the user profile folder.

2. Select Shared Folders to create a shared folder on the appropriate server

3. Grant full control to the Everyone group

Assign a Mandatory User Profile

To assign a mandatory user profile, you must also copy a preconfigured user profile to the location that you specified in the last step opening the user profile form.

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.

2. On the Advanced tab, under User Profiles, click Settings.

3. Click the profile that you want to copy, and then click Copy To.

4. In the Copy profile to box, type or browse to the path of the folder that you specified in step 5 in the "Open and Configure the User Profile Name Form" section, and then click OK.

5. Confirm that the user that is specified under Permitted to use is the user who will be accessing this profile. If more than one user will be using the copied user profile, you need to select a group that contains all of these users, such as the Everyone group.

6. Click OK.

7. Rename Ntuser.dat to Ntuser.man.

(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314478)

Create a Roaming Profile

To create a roaming profile, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu that appears.

2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under User Profiles.

3. In the Profiles stored on this computer list, click the profile that you want.

4. To change the type of profile, click Change Type, click Roaming profile, and then click OK.

Copy a User Profile

 To copy an existing user profile to another user's account, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu that appears.

2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under User Profiles.

3. In the Profiles stored on this computer list, click the profile that you want to copy.

4. Click Copy To.

5. In the Copy To dialog box, do one of the following:

• In the Copy profile to box, type the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to the target user's profile folder. For example type the following:

            \\ServerName\ShareName\UsersProfileDirectory

-or-

• Click Browse, and then navigate to the user profile folder that you want to copy the profile to. Click OK.

6. Under Permitted to use, click Change. Type the name of the user that will be permitted to use this profile, and then click OK.

NOTE: Verify that you are not choosing users or groups from a Microsoft Windows NT-based domain, because Windows XP is designed to use Active Directory to select domains.

7. In the Copy To dialog box, click OK. If you receive a "Confirm Copy" message, click Yes.

8. Click OK twice.

Update the User Profile Path

 Update the user profile path to point to the new profile. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On a domain controller, start the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in. Expand the domain, and then expand the organizational unit that contains the user account that you want.

2. Right-click the user account that you want, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu that appears.

3. Click the Profile tab, and then type the UNC path to the new profile folder in the Profile path box.

4. Click Apply, and then click OK.

(http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308577)

Hardware profiles are especially useful if you have a portable computer. Most portable computers are used in a variety of locations, and hardware profiles let you change which devices your computer uses when you move it from location to location. For example, you may have one profile named Docking Station Configuration for using your portable computer at a docking station with hardware components such as a CD-ROM drive and a network adapter. You may have a second profile named Undocked Configuration for using your portable computer in a hotel or on an airplane, when you are not using a network adapter or a CD-ROM, but you are using a modem.

If there is more than one hardware profile on your computer, you can designate a default profile that is used every time you start your computer. You can also have Windows prompt you for which profile to use when you start your computer. After you create a hardware profile, you can use Device Manager to disable and enable devices that are in the profile. When you disable a device in a hardware profile, the device drivers for the device are not loaded when you start your computer with that profile.

How to Set Up Hardware Profiles for Laptop Computers

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to complete this procedure.

If the computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.

To set up hardware profiles:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.

2. On the Hardware tab, click Hardware Profiles.

3. In the Available hardware profiles box, click Docked Profile or Undocked Profile, and then click Copy.

4. Type a name for the new hardware profile, and then click OK.

5. Click the new profile, click Properties, select the This is a portable computer check box, and then select the best description for the profile (the docking state for the profile).

6. Click Always include this profile when Windows starts.

How to Use Hardware Profiles for Laptop Computers

Restart the computer and choose the new profile during the startup process. This makes the new profile (which is a duplicate of the original profile) the current profile; you can customize the profile by enabling or disabling devices. Use Device Manager to specify the devices that should be disabled or enabled for this profile.

To start Device Manager:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.

2. On the Hardware tab, click Device Manager.

For example, if you want to use the new profile for standalone use, you might want to disable the network adapter. Expand the Network Adapters category, right-click the adapter, and then click Properties. In Device Usage, select Do not use this device in the current hardware profile (disable).

To specify the default hardware profile to use when you start your computer:

1. In the Available hardware profiles box, use the arrow buttons to move the hardware profile that you want to use as the default profile to the top position in the list.

2. Under Hardware profiles selection, click one of the options that specifies how long Windows waits before automatically loading the default hardware profile.

3. If you want the default hardware profile to load automatically without displaying a list during the startup process, click 0 in the Select the first profile listed if I don't select a profile in n seconds box. (If you need to select a different hardware profile, press SPACEBAR during the startup process and choose a profile from the list.)

(ref: http://www.petri.co.il/copy_user_profiles_in_windows_xp.htm)

To copy a user profile in XP do the following:

1. Open System applet in Control Panel (or right-click My Computer and choose Properties). Click the Advanced tab.

2. In the User Profiles section click Settings.

3. Highlight the user profile you want to copy. Press Copy To.

• • • You can't copy the profile you're currently logged in with. Also, I do believe that if you've ever been logged into a profile without rebooting you won't be able to copy that profile either. So you might have to restart before you can copy the profile. ***
    • To fix this "feature" you should log on as your preferred user (who should be an administrator, to make things easier), make all the needed changes, log off, log on as an administrator, then try to copy the previous user profile. Now it should work.***

4. In the Copy To dialog box enter the path to where you want to copy the profile to. You can also browse. The default location for the user's profile should be

      %systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\username

You can also copy the profile to a network share

You can also use the %username% variable to auto-create a subfolder with the user's name.

Note: This might not work when creating folders on FAT partitions, and if you're copying another user's profile you'll end up with a folder with YOUR name, not the user's name...

Press OK to start copying.

If this profile is to be used by a specific user make sure that user will have access right to the folder. In the Permitted to Use section click Change. Enter the user's name and press Check Names. You can choose to enter user names from the AD or from the local computer's SAM, depending upon it's membership in a domain or in a workgroup.

If the profile will be used by many users (such as copying it to the Default User profile) make sure you give Everyone access rights.

Press Ok.

Open Windows Explorer and see if the profile was copied successfully.

In DOS cmd:

echo %userprofile%

In the registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE

\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList->ProfilesDirectory