User profiles
Users should never use the same profile for their normal workstation and their TS sessions (to avoid profile corruption).
To set a TS-specific roaming profile:
- Use the "Terminal Services Profile" tab in the AD account properties
or (better!) :
- use a Group Policy, linked to the OU which contains the Terminal Server machine account, and configure the setting
Computer Configuration - Administrative templates - Windows components - Terminal Services
"Set path for TS roaming profiles"
Note that you should not add %username% here, just something like \\server\TSprofiles.
To avoid filling up your system disk on the TS, combine both options above with the following setting
(see KB 274152):
Computer Configuration - Administrative templates - System - User profiles
"Delete cached copies of roaming profiles"
And to make troubleshooting of user profiles a bit easier, configure this setting as well:
Computer Configuration - Administrative templates - System - User profiles
"Add the Administrators security group to roaming user profiles"
General guidelines
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Vista / Windows Server 2008
User profile design has changed with Vista and Windows 2008. Here's information about the new Version 2 user profiles and how to migrate from Version 1 (XP, 2003) profiles to Version 2 profiles:
Guidelines
Misc. problems
- 960464 - Error message when you log on to a Windows Vista-based or Windows Server 2008-based computer that uses roaming user profiles: "Unable to log you on because your profile could not be loaded, please contact your administrator"
- 945122 - User profiles are unexpectedly deleted after you configure the "Delete user profiles older than a specified number of days on system restart" Group Policy setting on a Windows Vista-based computer
- 949552 - A Windows Vista-based or Windows Server 2008-based client computer may stop responding when you try to log on to a domain if roaming profiles, folder redirection, and the offline folder feature are enabled
- 957802 - The "Slow network connection time-out for user profiles" Group Policy setting does not work for a Windows Vista Service Pack 1-based or a Windows Server 2008-based client computer
- 947242 - A temporary profile is loaded after you log on to a Windows Vista-based system applies also to 2008
- 940453 - A temporary user profile is created every time that you log on to a Windows Vista-based computer that is connected to a domain applies also to 2008
- 955625 - Mandatory user profiles do not work as expected on Windows Vista-based and Windows Server 2008-based client computers when the %LogonServer% environment variable is set in the profile path
- 944917 - Windows Vista uses the profile path that is defined on the Terminal Services Profile tab instead of on the Profile tab when a user logs on to a Windows Vista-based client computer by using a Remote Desktop session
- 969267 - Error message when requesting a user certificate on a Windows Server 2008 or a Windows Vista client: "The certificate request cannot be created. The profile for the user is a temporary profile." with 3rd party profile management software
- 969535 - Roaming user profiles are ignored if the network connection to the remote server that stores the roaming user profile is slow applies also to 2003
- 976919 - Redirected Favorite Links do not work correctly on a Windows Vista-based or on a Windows Server 2008-based computer
- 971338 - The terminal server roaming profile of a user account is not loaded correctly on a terminal server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 after the user password is changed during session logon
Windows Server 2003
Guidelines, tools, configuration
- Download UPHClean v1.6 for 32-bit OS - the User Profile Hive Cleanup service helps to ensure user sessions are completely terminated when a user logs off 2003 only, built-in in 2008
- Download UPHClean v2.0 beta for 64-bit OS
- 246132 - User Profile and Home Directory Behavior with Terminal Services
- Using User Profiles in Windows Server 2003
- sepagoPROFILE: A comprehensive profile solution - white paper describing the concepts behind Windows user profiles and explaining common pitfalls and how to avoid them
- CTX110351 - User Profile Best Practices for MetaFrame Presentation Server
- 959753 - How to customize the default local user profile when you prepare an image of Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
- 325364 - HOW TO: Create a Custom Default User Profile in the Windows Server 2003 Family
- 321281 - The Desktop.ini File Does Not Work Correctly When You Create a Custom Default Profile XP, 2003
- 236621 - Cannot Move or Rename the Documents and Settings Folder W2K, 2003
- 243535 - Terminal Services Client Roaming Profile Is Inconsistent or Overwritten
- 908011 - You cannot use a Group Policy setting to set the same mandatory profile for all the Terminal Services users in Windows Server 2003
- 287566 - The Cache Option for Offline Files Must Be Disabled on Roaming User Profile Shares
- 327259 - Windows Server 2003 Checks for Pre-Created Roaming Profile Folders When You Make a Roaming User Profile
- 320186 - HOW TO: Clean Profiles By Using the Cprofile Command in Terminal Services
Profile Load and Unload errors during Logon & logoff
- 837115 - You experience log off problems on a Windows XP-based, Windows Server 2003-based, Windows 2000-based, or Windows NT 4.0-based computer Userenv EventID 1000, 1500, 1517, 1524
- 328607 - Roaming Profile Accumulates Extra .tmp Files Userenv EventID 1000
- 958246 - The logoff process may take a long time when a user makes a terminal session from a Windows Server 2003 terminal server in a trusted domain, and the terminal service roaming profiles are used
- 887434 - "Failed to load Terminal Server Profile path" event message is logged on a Windows Server 2003-based computer Winlogon EventID 1218
- 911805 - You cannot load or unload a roaming user profile if it contains EFS files on a Windows XP-based or a Windows Server 2003-based client Userenv EventID 1513, 1504
- 928096 - A Windows Server 2003-based terminal server crashes when 30 to 40 users use roaming profiles to log on to or log off the terminal server with Citrix MF and old version of UPHClean
- 933562 - Index.dat files are not deleted from the server when a user logs off a Terminal Services session to a Windows Server 2003-based computer Userenv EventID 1505
- 935642 - Error message and the terminal server roaming profile is not loaded when you log on to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server Userenv EventID 1506
- 935649 - Error message when you try to log on to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server: "Windows cannot load the user's profile but has logged you on with the default profile for the system" Userenv EventID 1505, 1508
- 944984 - The user profile may not be correctly unloaded when you log off from a Windows Server 2003-based computer, and event 1517 is logged
- 951029 - User profiles are corrupted after you log off from a remote desktop session to a Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server on which Symantec AntiVirus 10.1 is installed Userenv EventID 1511, 1512, 1518
3rd party Profile management solutions
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