Choosing to Use System Policies or Mandatory User Profiles

You can use either system policies or mandatory user profiles to enforce user settings. In certain situations, it may be desirable to use both system policies and mandatory user profiles. The two features differ in the following ways:

• System policies let you mandate user-specific and computer-specific settings. Mandatory user profiles let you mandate only user-specific settings.
• System policies let you selectively determine a subset of user settings to control, and each user controls the remaining settings. Mandatory user profiles always control every user-specific setting.

Before deciding to implement system policies, you should consider the following issues:

• What types of restrictions and settings would you like to define and manage centrally? For example, do you want to limit access to the MS-DOS prompt and other applications, or to Control Panel options, or do you want to implement a standard desktop for all users?
• Do you want to use one set of standard settings for all users and computers, or do you want to customize settings by groups of users? Also, do you want to maintain individual settings for users and computers? Typically, you customize settings by groups, so that the majority of users are in groups (such as Accounting, Marketing, and so on), and a small group of individuals (such as administrators) have special privileges. If so, you must install special files to support group policies.
• Will you be using user system policies (as opposed to defining only computer policies)? If so, enable user profiles on the computers running Windows 98, and make sure that the computers use 32-bit, protected-mode network clients.
• Do system policies in Windows 98 meet your system administration needs, or do you need a more sophisticated system? If you need a high level of administrative control, you might want to consider using a more sophisticated management software tool, such as Microsoft Systems Management Server, rather than System Policy Editor. For information, see Appendix E, "Microsoft Systems Management Server."