| Microsoft Office 2000/Visual Basic Programmer's Guide | |
In Windows 95 and Windows 98, you have the option of enabling the user profiles feature. A user profile is an account maintained by the operating system that keeps track of a particular user's files and system configuration. When you log on to a computer as a user who has a user profile, Windows checks the data it has stored for that user profile, and loads with those settings in place. Additionally, it maintains a folder for files created under that user profile, the C:\Windows\Profiles\UserName folder.
In Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server, user profiles are automatically turned on all the time. Whenever a new user logs in, a user profile is created for that user under the C:\Winnt\Profiles\UserName folder.
Under either operating system, the system can be secured so that each user has access only to the files, applications, and system configuration defined for his or her user profile. For example, files that are installed by a user who has administrative privileges may not be available to another user who does not share those privileges.
For more information about working with user profiles, see the Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit (Microsoft Press, 1999).