Microsoft KB Archive/170027

{| = Changes To User Profiles Are Not Saved =
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Last reviewed: September 29, 1997

Article ID: Q170027 The information in this article applies to:
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51, and 4.0
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51, and 4.0

SYMPTOMS
All user-made changes to the user profile have been lost after logging off then logging on to the computer again.

No error messages are generated.

If the user is made an Administrator of the local workstation, then all changes to the user profile are retained properly.

Also, the user may notice that when logged off, the local profile %SystemRoot%\Profiles\%Username% will disappear, and the server-based roaming profile has not been updated but still exists.

CAUSE
If a user is not a member of the local workstation Users group, the user is considered a Guest when Windows NT determines how to manipulate that user's profile. Because the user is essentially a Guest in this condition, profiles for this user are treated as mandatory. Mandatory profiles cannot be saved. The result is the server-based profile being treated as read only and any changes that the user makes to the user profile are discarded when they log off the computer. Thus, the local profile disappears and the server-based profile is not updated.

The user does not have to be a member of the Guests group for their profile to be treated as mandatory. Simply not being a member of the Users group will also cause this behavior.

When you add a user to the Administrators group and not the Users group, Windows NT looks at the two groups and uses the properties of Administrator to determine whether the user can save changes in their profile. Administrators are always allowed to save the user profile.

RESOLUTION
Add the user to the local workstation Users group to prevent the profile from being treated as mandatory.
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