Microsoft KB Archive/185588

= Guide To Windows NT 4.0 Profiles and Policies (Part 3 of 6) =

Article ID: 185588

Article Last Modified on 8/13/2007

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
 * Microsoft Windows 95

-



This article was previously published under Q185588



SUMMARY
This article is the third in a series of articles that provides information and procedures for implementing Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Profiles and Policies on client workstations and servers.

A whitepaper is available that contains all of this information and additional flowcharts, diagrams and examples and can be downloaded from the following web page:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/winntas/maintain/prof_pol.mspx

prof_policies.asp

NOTE: The above link is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

For the other sections of this guide, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

161334 Guide to Windows NT 4.0 Profiles & Policies Part 1 of 6

185587 Guide to Windows NT 4.0 Profiles & Policies Part 2 of 6

185589 Guide to Windows NT 4.0 Profiles & Policies Part 4 of 6

185591 Guide to Windows NT 4.0 Profiles & Policies Part 6 of 6



MORE INFORMATION
                  Windows NT Server Operating System White Paper Guide to Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Profiles and Policies

Copyright 1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

This White Paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.

Microsoft, the BackOffice logo, MS-DOS, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Other product or company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA 0997

DEFAULT USER TEMPLATE PROFILES

=
=================

During Windows NT 4.0 Workstation installation, the setup program creates a generic User Profile, the Default User, and saves it in a folder in the profiles directory. These default settings define an environment for new users who log on to the computer locally or who log on to a domain that does not contain a network Default User profile. When a new user logs on, a profile directory is created for that user, and the default settings are written to the new user's directory. (The profile may or may not then be customizable, depending upon how the administrator has configured profiles.)

In Windows NT 4.0, administrators have the option of generating a network Default User profile that, if present, will be used before the local Default User profile is used. With the original retail release of Windows NT 4.0, workstations downloaded this network Default User profile and the most recent NTconfig.pol file, and cached them in the local Default User (Network) and Policy folders, respectively. Then, instead of automatically downloading these from the server whenever they were needed, the logon process compared the time/date/size stamps of the two versions, and if they were the same, used the cached versions without performing another download. With Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 2, however, the System Policy file, NTconfig.pol, is downloaded during each logon. (The profile functionality remains unchanged-the profile is downloaded only if the local copy is out of date.)

PROFILE NAMES AND STORAGE IN THE REGISTRY

=
============================

Windows NT 4.0 records which profile should be used by which user by placing registry keys for the user's security ID (SID) in the registry in:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion \ProfileList

Each user who has logged on to the local machine will have a SID recorded here in a subkey, with a value that contains the path to that user's local profile, ProfileImagePath. Should multiple users with the same account name log on to the network, separate distinct profiles are created for each. For example, if multiple users with the account name John Smith log on to the computer, the first John Smith is assigned a folder named JohnSmith. Subsequent users with the same name are assigned folders named JohnSmith with a numerical suffix appended, for example JohnSmith.000, JohnSmith.001, and so forth.

MANUALLY ADMINISTERING A USER PROFILE THROUGH THE REGISTRY

=
=============================================

As system administrator, you may need to change a given setting to avoid unnecessary user interaction, to make modifications before setting the profile to mandatory, or to add custom registry entries. In addition, you may need to modify the Default User Profile on a computer before new users log on and use it as the template. You can open a specific user's profile or the Default User Profile and customize it manually as explained in the procedure below.

NOTE: Make sure that the user is not logged on before using this procedure. If the user is logged on while changes are made, the changes will be overwritten by the user's preferences because profile settings are saved at log off.

As discussed earlier, the NTuser.dat file contains all of the registry settings located in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. As system administrator, you can modify the data contained in the NTuser.dat portion of the profile by loading the hive into the registry.

To manually customize a User Profile:

1. Locate the profile to be modified.

- If the profile is a server-based profile, locate the \\server\share\username and determine the extension on the NTuser.xxx file.

- If the profile is a local profile, locate the %systemroot%\Profiles\username directory, and determine the extension on the Ntuser.xxx file.

- If you need to edit the Default User Profile, locate the %systemroot%\Profiles\Default User directory, and determine the extension on the Ntuser.xxx file.

- If you need to edit the Network Default User Profile, locate the Default User folder in the NETLOGON share of the domain controllers that are doing user authentication, and determine the extension on     the Ntuser.xxx file. If there is more than one domain controller and directory replication is ensuring that the "Default User" profile is     the same on all domain controllers, open only the profile on the domain controller which is the export server.

2. Start Regedt32.exe, and select the HKEY_USERS on Local Machine window. Highlight the root key of HKEY_USERS.

3. From the Registry menu, select Load Hive.

4. Browse for the directory identified in Step 1, and select the NTuser.xxx file located in that directory.

5. A dialog will prompt you to enter a Key Name. You can use any value, but you must remember this value so that you can select it during the unload process. For this reason, we recommend that you use the user name.

6. Click Enter. This adds the profile registry hive as a subkey to  HKEY_USERS, as shown in the illustration below.

7. Edit the existing values as necessary.

8. After completing the changes, highlight the root of the user's profile registry key, and from the Registry menu, select Unload Hive. This saves the changes to the user's profile. (When you first selected Load Hive,  the key was mapped to the file selected in the Open dialog. A Save As   option is therefore unnecessary.)

MODIFYING THE DEFAULT USER PROFILE

=
=====================

To modify a Windows NT-based workstation's Default User Profile settings or to modify the Network Default User Profile, load the NTuser.xxx hive into the registry as outlined above, make the necessary changes, and unload the hive (this automatically saves the changes).

- The workstation Default User Profile is located in the \%systemroot%\Profiles\Default User directory.

- To make changes to the Network Default User Profile, use the Ntuser.xxx file from the scripts export directory (%systemroot%\system32\repl\export\scripts) of the domain controller that is the export server for the domain. Any changes that you make to  this file will be replicated to the other domain controllers (which are   import servers).

To provide users with a Default User Profile that contains custom shortcuts, folders, and files that are not centrally managed, place the icons in the appropriate folder within the Default User Profile. New users will receive the shortcuts, folders, and files as part of their new profiles. For example, if you want each new user that logs on to a given computer to receive a folder called "My Storage" on the desktop, just create this folder in the path:

\%systemroot%\Profiles\Default User\Desktop

UPGRADING WINDOWS NT 3.5X SERVER-BASED PROFILES TO WINDOWS NT 4.0 ROAMING PROFILES

=
==============================

When you upgrade Windows NT 3.5x roaming profiles (.usr profiles), you do not need to change anything in the profile path configured in the user account. When the user logs on to a Windows NT 4.0-based machine and the profile is found to be a Windows NT 3.5x profile, a process automatically looks for the equivalent Windows NT 4.0 profile. If the profile isn't found, a conversion process creates a new Windows NT 4.0 profile using the settings established in the Windows NT 3.5x profile.

During the conversion process, Windows NT 4.0 creates a directory for the new profile in the same location as the existing Windows NT 3.5x profile. The resulting directory has a .pds extension, which stands for Profile Directory Structure, rather than the previous Windows NT 3.5x .usr extension. For example, if the User Profile path for the Windows NT 3.5x user mydomainuser is \\myserver\myshare\mydomainuser.usr, and the user logs on to a Windows NT 4.0-based machine, the profile directory mydomainuser.pds would be created within \\myserver\myshare.

This approach allows the user to log on to the network from either a Windows NT 3.5x or 4.0-based workstation. If the user were to log on from a Windows NT 3.5x-based computer, the profile path would direct the Windows NT 3.5x-based machine to the User Profile used prior to the Windows NT 4.0 upgrade. If the user then moved to a Windows NT 4.0-based computer, the user's Windows NT-based workstation would recognize that the profile contained Windows NT 3.5x syntax, would replace the .usr with .pds, and would then use that string to locate the Windows NT 4.0 profile. The resulting Windows NT 4.0 structure will be the Windows NT 3.51 profile (now NTuser.xxx) and the Default User Profile folders.

It is important to emphasize that the Windows NT 3.5x profile is not deleted-it is still available to the user should they ever log on from a Windows NT 3.5x-based computer. It is also important to note that the settings for these two profiles are completely independent; changes made to the Windows NT 3.5x profile will not be reflected in the Windows NT 4.0 profile, and vice versa.

NOTE: As an administrator, if you review the directory structures in the share where users' roaming profiles are stored, and no .pds or .pdm extensions are appended, this is normal. No extension is appended to roaming profile directories that are new to Windows NT 4.0. These extensions are only added when profiles are migrated from Windows NT 3.5x to 4.0, or when the administrator creates a new Windows NT 4.0 mandatory profile that requires a successful logon.

UPGRADING WINDOWS NT 3.5X MANDATORY PROFILES TO WINDOWS NT 4.0 MANDATORY PROFILES

=
================================

Upgrades of Windows NT 3.5x mandatory profiles to Windows NT 4.0 cannot be done automatically. This is because the same restrictions that prevent a user from saving any changes to his or her profile also restricts the system's ability to generate a new Windows NT 4.0 mandatory profile from an existing profile.

When you upgrade a Windows NT 3.5x mandatory profile, the profile path does not need to be modified. However, you will need to create a new mandatory profile with the same desired settings. To create the mandatory profile, you can remove the mandatory extension from the old profile and force a conversion, or you can create the new profile from a template. Both procedures are explained below.

To create a mandatory profile from the old profile:

1. Replace the .man extension on the existing mandatory profile with the extension .usr.

2. Change the extension on the user's profile path from .man to .usr.

3. Allow the user to log on. This permits the conversion to take place.

4. Have the user log off. This creates a directory with the name of the profile and a .pds extension.

5. Change the .pds folder extension to .pdm and change the user's profile path back to .man.

6. Rename the NTuser.dat file to NTuser.man.

To create the profile from an existing template profile:

1. In the \\server\share specified in the User Profile path, create a  folder with the directory name of the location where the profile is   stored. Use the .pdm extension for this directory name. For example, if  the user name is domainuser, the directory name would be   \\server\share\domainuser.pdm.

2. On the Windows NT-based computer hosting the profile, log on as an  administrator and map a drive to the \\server\share where the profile will be stored.

3. From the Control Panel, click System.

4. On the User Profiles page, select the profile to be copied. Use the Copy To option to select the user's folder created in Step 1, modify the permissions to reflect the proper account, and click OK.

The profile is now written to the designated location, including the folder trees and the NTuser.xxx file originally included with the profile. The permissions are also encoded into the binary NTuser.xxx file.

5. In the directory that the profile was copied to, check the NTuser.xxx file for the .man extension. If the extension is .dat, the profile will still be modifiable. Change the extension to .man, if necessary.

Note that because the User Profile was saved into a directory with a .pdm extension, both the Windows NT 3.5x and Windows NT 4.0 profiles exist on the server. A user can log on from either a Windows NT 3.5x or Windows NT 4.0-based computer, and the appropriate profile will be used.

EXTRACTING A USER PROFILE FOR USE ON ANOTHER DOMAIN OR MACHINE

=
=================================================

As explained previously in this document, a user is given explicit permissions to use a profile, and these permissions can be created and controlled by an administrator or generated automatically by the system when the user first logs on.

If a profile has permissions that differ from those needed by the user (for example, if the profile was created for a user on a different domain), the profile permissions must be changed to function correctly. As an example, suppose you have a Windows NT-based workstation that you would like to have join the domain, but you want the user to be able to retain his or her profile settings. The Windows NT-based workstation is currently a part of the WORKER workgroup and will be joining the domain BIGDOMAIN.

To change the profile:

1. Log on to the computer as an administrator, and create a local account that will be used only temporarily to house the profile during the conversion process.

2. Log on as a temporary user and immediately log off. This will create a  subdirectory underneath the %systemroot%\Profiles directory with the name of the account that logged on.

3. Log back on as an administrator, and configure the workstation to join the domain.

4. After the workstation has joined the domain, reboot the computer.

5. After the machine restarts, log on as the user from the domain that will need the converted profile, and then log off. This sets up the directory structure needed to complete the conversion process.

6. Log back on as an administrator, and copy the profile structure, including the Ntuser.xxx file and all subdirectories, from the directory that stored the workgroup user's profile to the subdirectory created for the temporary user in Step 2.

7. From the Control Panel, click System.

8. On the User Profiles property page, select the temporary user profile, and click Copy To. Browse under %systemroot%\Profiles to locate the subdirectory that contains the profile for the domain user that logged on in Step 5. Click OK and then click the Change button for the permissions.

9. Select the domain user who will use the profile. Click OK to copy the profile.

10. Log off and log on as the domain user. The profile settings should now be available to that user.

NOTE: Alternatively, you can copy the profile and use the instructions from the section "Encoding Permissions in the User Profile" to change the permissions. However, this requires that you manually edit the registry.

CREATING PROFILES WITHOUT USER-SPECIFIC CONNECTIONS

=
======================================

In some cases, you may want to create profiles that include preconfigured persistent connections. However, if you need to supply alternate credentials when you create the template profile, this can cause problems for users later when the profile is used.

Information about persistent connections is stored in the registry location HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Network. This key has subkeys that list the persistent drive connections by drive letter. For each of these subkeys, there is a value of UserName. If alternate credentials must be supplied to make the connection, those credentials are also stored here. Note that this includes only the domain and user account name; the password is not included. When the user receives this profile and logs on, Windows NT attempts to reconnect the drive, but the alternate credentials are sent rather than those of the logged on user.. Note that if the UserName value contains a blank string, the credentials of the logged on user are sent (which is the desired behavior in this case).

To avoid inadequate credentials or wrong credentials being sent, use one of the following approaches:

- Avoid having to supply alternate credentials when you create the connections to network resources in the shared profile by granting the user creating the template profile sufficient permissions in advance.

- Before modifying the profile to be a mandatory profile, run a REGINI script that removes the credentials from the UserName value. Do not delete the value, only the string data.

TROUBLESHOOTING USER PROFILES WITH THE USERENV.LOG FILE

=
==========================================

The Userenv.log is an invaluable tool for troubleshooting the process of loading and unloading User Profiles. Each step in the User Profile process is recorded in the log, including informational and error-related messages.

The checked version of the UserEnv.dll is the same dynamic link library (.dll) as the retail version, except that it contains debug flags that you can set and use with the kernel debugger. This file, which is included in both the Windows NT Device Driver Kit (DDK) and the Windows NT Software Development Kit (SDK), when used in conjunction with a registry entry, generates a log file that can be used in troubleshooting and debugging problems with roaming profiles and system policies on Windows NT 4.0 clients.

To enable logging:

1. Rename the file UserEnv.dll in the %systemroot%\SYSTEM32 directory to  Userenv.old or to a unique name of your choice.

2. Copy the checked version of UserEnv.dll to the %systemroot%\SYSTEM32 directory of the client machine that you want to debug. The checked version of the UserEnv file must match the version of the operating system and Service Pack installed on the client computer.

3. Start REGEDT32 and locate the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion \Winlogon

4. Create a new value called UserEnvDebugLevel as a REG_DWORD type. Assign the hex value 10002.

5. Reboot the computer.

Logging information will be recorded in the root directory of the C drive as UserEnv.log. You can use Notepad to view the log file. A sample log is provided next.

Sample Log --

LoadUserProfile. : Entering, hToken =, lpProfileInfo = 0x12f4f4 LoadUserProfile: lpProfileInfo->dwFlags = LoadUserProfile: lpProfileInfo->lpUserName = LoadUserProfile: NULL central profile path LoadUserProfile: lpProfileInfo->lpDefaultPath = <\\DfsES\netlogon\Default User> LoadUserProfile: lpProfileInfo->lpServerName = <\\DfsES> LoadUserProfile: lpProfileInfo->lpPolicyPath = <\\DfsES\netlogon\ntconfig.pol> RestoreUserProfile: Entering RestoreUserProfile: Profile path = <> RestoreUserProfile: User is a Admin IsCentralProfileReachable: Entering IsCentralProfileReachable: Null path. Leaving GetLocalProfileImage: Found entry in profile list for existing local profile GetLocalProfileImage: Local profile image filename = <%SystemRoot%\Profiles\Administrator> GetLocalProfileImage: Expanded local profile image filename =  GetLocalProfileImage: Found local profile image file ok  Local profile is reachable Local profile name is  RestoreUserProfile: No central profile. Attempting to load local profile. RestoreUserProfile: About to Leave. Final Information follows: Profile was successfully loaded. lpProfile->szCentralProfile = <> lpProfile->szLocalProfile =  lpProfile->dwInternalFlags = 0x102 RestoreUserProfile: Leaving. UpgradeProfile: Entering UpgradeProfile: Build numbers match UpgradeProfile: Leaving Successfully ApplyPolicy: Entering ApplyPolicy: Policy is turned off on this machine. LoadUserProfile: Leaving with a value of 1. hProfile =

Additional query words: wpaper

Keywords: kbinfo KB185588

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.