User Profile Does Not Roam

A user with a roaming user profile regularly uses several computers. As the user moves from computer to computer his or her configuration and settings generally follow the user correctly. But on one occasion, the user logs on and some configuration information or settings are missing because the roaming user profile did not roam.

Possible Causes:

• Network connectivity problems make the server storing the roaming user profile unavailable.
• Network connectivity is lost while the roaming user profile is downloading.
• There are insufficient file access privileges to the roaming user profile share and folder.
• Roaming user profiles does not support roaming with encrypted files.
• There is a registry leak.
• The user exceeded his or her disk quota for the roaming user profile.
• The roaming user profile size is limited by an Administrative Template Group Policy setting.

Diagnostic Tests:

To check to see that the user can connect to the server that contains the roaming user profile file share

1. Ping this computer by the server's IP address to test base-level IP connectivity.
2. Ping this computer by server name to test Domain Name System (DNS) name resolution.
3. Use the net view command to view this computer to see the available shares (this also confirms if the user has rights to access). You should be able to see the share name that stores the roaming user profile.

If the server that contains the roaming user profile is unavailable at logon, the following message might be generated in the event log:

Event ID:    1000

Category:    None

Source:        userenv

Text:    Windows cannot load your profile. Contact your network administrator.

Check if network connectivity is lost when the roaming user profile is copying. You can find this information by using Eventvwr.msc to look for the two following Event Viewer messages:

Event ID:    1000

Category:    None

Source:        userenv

Text:    Windows cannot copy file <> to the location <>. Contact your network administrator.

Event ID:    1000

Category:    None

Source:        userenv

Text:    Windows cannot load the profile and is logging you on with a temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off.

Check to see if the user has enough security file access rights to his or her roaming user profile. If the user has insufficient file security, the following message will be generated to Event Viewer:

Event ID:    1000

Category:    None

Source:        userenv

Text:    You do not have permission to access your central profile located at <>. Contact your network Administrator.

Check to see if the user has any encrypted files that use the Windows 2000 Encrypting File System (EFS) in his or her roaming user profile. Roaming user profiles do not support roaming with encrypted files. If the user profile contains encrypted files, the following message is generated in the event log:

Event ID:    1000

Category:    None

Source:        userenv

Text:    Windows cannot copy your profile because it contains encrypted files or directories. The keys to decrypt the files or directories are also stored in the profile and are not available now. Please decrypt the files and try again.

Check for a registry leak on the user's computer. You can find this by looking at Event Viewer:

Event ID:    1000

Category:    None

Source:        userenv

Text:    Windows cannot unload your registry file. If you have a roaming profile, your settings are not replicated. Contact your administrator.

To see if a disk quota has been exceeded

1. Make note of the size of the roaming user profile.
2. Check to see if there is a disk quota on the server that stores the roaming user profile.
3. Check to see if you have applied a Group Policy setting to limit roaming user profile size. The Group Policy setting that can limit the roaming user profile size is AdministrativeTemplates\UserSettings\System\LogonLogoff\Limit Profile Size.

To see if this Group Policy setting has been applied

1. Run Gpresult.exe in verbose mode.
2. Check the output to see if either of these registry keys exists:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DiskQuotas\Limit

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DiskQuotas\Threshold

If a disk quota is exceeded, as shown earlier, the following event is generated in the event log:

Event ID:    1000

Category:    None

Source:        userenv

Text:    Windows cannot update your roaming profile. Contact your network administrator.

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