You can enable user profiles after Windows 98 has been installed, either locally on a single computer or for multiple computers. You can avoid having to go to each computer to enable user profiles by creating a system policy that can be downloaded automatically when the initial Windows 98 installation is complete. For information about enabling user profiles centrally on multiple computers, see Chapter 8, "System Policies."
Note
Using Microsoft Batch 98 you can also enable user profiles during a clean install or an upgrade. For information about using Microsoft Batch 98, see Appendix D, "Msbatch.inf Parameters for Setup Scripts."
To enable user profiles on a local computer after setup
Tip
If you include desktop icons in your user profile, only the shortcuts (icons that represent links) will be available when you log on to the network from another computer. Actual files on your desktop are part of your local user profile only.
To disable user profiles on a local computer
Note
If an application is installed after user profiles have been enabled with the option to include the Start menu and Programs in the profile, only the user who was logged on when the application was installed will have an entry for that application on the Programs menu. Other users will have to create shortcuts to the application on their Programs menus.
If you want to make user profiles available on the network rather than on individual computers, you must perform the following preliminary steps:
You can use user profiles with Windows 98 on a Windows NT network if the computer is configured to use Client for Microsoft Networks.
Note
Windows 98 does not use the Profiles directory on a Windows NT server; that directory is used only for Windows NT profiles.
To set up user profiles on a Windows NT network
When the user logs off, Windows 98 automatically places an updated copy of the user profile in the user’s assigned home directory on the Windows NT network, in the following path:
\\specified_server\user’s home directory
For information about User Manager and home directories, see Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 online Help.
You can use user profiles with Windows 98 on a NetWare network if the computer is configured to use Microsoft Client for NetWare Networks or another 32-bit NetWare client.
When a user account is created on a NetWare server, a subdirectory of the \Mail directory is automatically created for that user. Windows 98 uses this directory to store user profiles. Novell 4.x servers can specify where a user’s home directory is located when using a client or service that supports Novell Directory Services (NDS).
To set up user profiles on a Novell NetWare network
When the user logs off, Windows 98 automatically places an updated copy of the user profile in the user’s assigned \Mail directory on the NetWare network, as indicated in the following example. (The user’s 8-digit ID can be determined by using the NetWare Syscon utility.)
\\preferred_server\sys\mail\user_id
Note
On a network using Microsoft Service for Novell Directory Services, user profiles are stored in the home directory for each user object. Therefore, if your site has user profiles enabled, you must make sure that every user object in the directory tree has a home directory associated with it.
When you log on using bindery mode, your user profile is stored in the \Mail directory on your preferred server.
If a user alternates between bindery and Novell Directory Services when logging on, then user profiles will be stored in both the \Mail directory and the home directory. If the user always logs on from the same computer, both profiles will be updated properly. However, if the user logs on from several other computers, using both bindery and NDS modes, out-of-date user profiles could be copied.
You might want to have user profiles enabled on a computer but not allow the profiles to move between that computer and others.
To disable roaming profiles on a particular computer
Windows 98 provides limited support for user profiles if the network does not have support for a 32-bit, protected-mode client or centralized network logon. This includes networks that provide only 16-bit network clients and peer networks such as Windows for Workgroups or Windows 98 without a Windows NT domain.
To enable roaming user profiles on such a network, you must first establish a network directory that can be accessed by all users. For security reasons, you should make sure that this directory has read-only permissions so that users cannot modify it. You must create in that directory a text file that lists the home directories for all users who can use roaming user profiles. For example, such a file might be named Profiles.ini on \\Bigserver\Profiles and have the following contents:
[Profiles]
Mary=\\bigserver\homedirs\mary\user.dat
John=\\bigserver\homedirs\john\user.dat
Pat=\\bigserver\homedirs\pat\user.dat
After you have created this file, you must configure each computer running Windows 98 to use it. First, disable roaming profiles. For more information about disabling roaming profiles, see "Disabling Standard Roaming Profiles" earlier in this chapter.
To configure a computer for roaming user profiles on other networks
Thereafter, when a user logs on at this computer, Windows 98 will search in the specified text file to determine the user’s home directory. The user’s profile will be loaded from that home directory as it is from other networks. If the user is not listed in the text file, the user profile will be only local.
In Windows 98, you can create mandatory user profiles for use on Windows NT or NetWare networks. With this feature you can create a standard user profile for each computer and make sure it is implemented every time a user logs on. To do this, create a User.dat file with the settings you want, save it as User.man, and place it in the network directory for each user you want to use that profile. The network directory is either the user’s home directory (on a Windows NT network) or \Mail directory (on a NetWare network).
If User.man is present when the user logs on, Windows 98 uses this mandatory copy to load settings into the registry rather than any previous local user profile. If the user manually makes changes to the desktop configuration during the work session, these changes are not saved to the master copy in the user’s network directory when the user logs off.
To create a mandatory user profile
Note
Windows 98 copies these files automatically for normal user profiles, but not for mandatory user profiles.
The User Profile folders are a subset of the shell Special folders. These folders contain links to various desktop items and, coupled with the user’s registry, make up the user’s profile.
One of the important things about the User Profile folders is how they affect the look and feel of the desktop when a user logs on. Table 7.2 shows some User Profile folders and their contents.
Table 7.2 User Profile folders and their contents
Folder name | Contents |
---|---|
Desktop | File system directory used to physically store file objects on the desktop. |
NetHood | File system directory containing objects that appear in the Network Neighborhood. |
Recent | File system directory that contains the user’s most recently used documents. |
Start Menu | File system directory containing Start menu items. |
Programs | File system directory that contains the user’s program groups (which are also file system directories). |
StartUp | File system directory that corresponds to the user’s Startup program group. |
The User Profile folders can be located on the local hard drive or, for more centralized control and easier management, they can be located on a network server. The location of the Profile folders can be applied with system policies. For more information about system policies, see Chapter 8, "System Policies." To find out more about customizing the Active Desktop, see Chapter 6, "Configuring the Active Desktop and Active Channels."