From Roaming Profiles to Folder Redirection

[exchange keys]

I am upgrading 75 workstations from Windows XP Pro SP3 x86 to Windows 7 Pro SP1 x86. 50 workstations will be at the main office, 20 workstations will go to four remote sites. 5 workstations will be spares and placed in storage.

Roaming profiles is being used on this network. Under the user's Profile tab in AD, the Profile Path is \\%SERVER%%\UserProfile\UserName. There's a System Variable "SERVER" set on the workstation so it points a specific File Server.

I'd like to move away from this and utilize Folder Redirection instead. I'd like to redirect the users' desktop, documents, and favorites. I'm unsure about the Music, Pictures, and Videos folders though, so these can be optional for now.

Domain functional level is Windows Server 2003. There's one DC with Windows Server 2008 R2. However, I'm thinking of installing RSAT on one of the Windows 7 desktops and configure the Group Policy that way.

I've never set Folder Redirection before, so I'm not sure how to set it up correctly. If someone here has already done this (or can guide me in the right direction), it would be most helpful. What I'm afraid of is having the problem of the users' home folders changing their name to "My Documents". I've fix that with Denying Read to desktop.ini the users' home folders. I'm trying to avoid that...

 

[k1pp3r]

This Article will go over it, it was written for 2003 but it's the same process with 2008.

You can use redirected folders and roaming profiles together which prevents a lot of data from moving over the network when users log in/out.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/288991

 

[Mister Natural]

I did a thread on this a couple years ago when I got sick of roaming profiles and was upgrading the primary domain to 2008r2. I know you said you're getting rid of roaming profiles but I'll help make the decision even easier. Don't even bother trying to move Server 2003 profiles to Server 2008(>) because they aren't compatible.I don't think the thread addressed some of your questions but you might look at it anyway.

 

[MrGuvernment]

Yes

i am doing the same here, will save loading times on profiles and less traffic across your network during start and end hours as noted above.

Roaming Profiles
Folder Restrictions for Roaming profiles, music, video, picture folders are not copied over

Going to Redirected folders as well.

Choose what folders you think are critical and then inform people where to save their stuff.

our Parent company has a single folder on the desktop and prohibits anything being saved anywhere else on the system via GPO

prevent folders:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/814592

Pretty guide with pics
http://www.grouppolicy.biz/2010/08/...folder-redirection-a-k-a-user-virtualization/

Limitations
http://stealthpuppy.com/reduce-logon-times-by-excluding-the-bloat/

 

[exchange keys]

Thanks, everyone!

I ended up creating a single GPO for Folder Redirection. I created five global security groups (e.g., FolderRedirectionSiteName), and added them to the Security Filtering. I also used the Advanced Settings instead of the Basic Settings, and added the groups along with their respective File Servers. Unfortunately, I don't have DFS, so I couldn't use a shared namespace. I ended up disabled Offline Files on the shares (Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP2). I didn't disable Offline Files through GPO though. I only turned off SyncCenter and Offline Files on the master image.

What I'm afraid though is when the "My Documents" issue appears. For example, since the UNC paths point to \\FileServer\RootShareName\%Username%\Documents, but the %Username% will probably morph to "My Documents" and I won't be able to find it unless I add a "FileName" column header. I know there's a PowerShell script out there to add "Deny" to SYSTEM on the desktop.ini file, but I was wondering if there was a way to prevent this...

Edit: I guess the "My Documents" won't get renamed because I did do what Microsoft asked me to do: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947222

To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

Create a subfolder under the redirected folder in the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path. For example, use the following UNC path: \\server\users\username\Documents

 

[Mister Natural]

What I'm afraid though is when the "My Documents" issue appears. For example, since the UNC paths point to \\FileServer\RootShareName\%Username%\Documents, but the %Username% will probably morph to "My Documents" and I won't be able to find it unless I add a "FileName" column header. I know there's a PowerShell script out there to add "Deny" to SYSTEM on the desktop.ini file, but I was wondering if there was a way to prevent this...

If you have this occur you can easily determine which user it is by checking the permissions on the Documents folder. Once that is done you can safely rename the folder to the username logging into the domain and accessing that folder. The folder name will then usually stay that way after it is renamed.You can even do this while the user is logged in and using their files. Just be sure you type in the username exactly as it is setup.