Each user on a Windows NT system is assigned a user profile, which can be set up on a local or remote computer. This user profile contains all the individual preferences and settings for items such as personal program groups, desktop settings, printer connections, user environment variables, and other items.
With Windows NT Server, you can use the User Profile Editor to move user profiles to other computers, and you can use User Manager for Domains to assign mandatory or individual profiles to users. For information about creating and assigning profiles on local and remote computers, see the Windows NT Server System Guide.
However, you need to use Registry Editor to edit a profile offline or to manage user profiles when you want to examine a profile on a remote computer (as described earlier in this chapter).
When you edit a profile offline, you need to copy both the related hive and .LOG files, and load them on the computer where you will be working, as described in "Loading Hives from Another Computer" in Chapter 11, "Registry Editor and Registry Administration."
This section describes how hive files are created and how you can move a user profile to another computer when User Profile Editor is not available.