How to prevent folders from roaming with a profile in Windows 2000 (315415)

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article describes how to use a group policy to prevent specific folders that are contained in a roaming-user profile from being copied to the server.

A roaming-user profile is stored on a Windows 2000 Server-based computer and is loaded onto the client workstation when the user logs on. This profile defines the Windows 2000 environment, and includes all user-specific settings such as program items, screen colors, and network and printer connections. When the user logs off the computer, the profile is copied to the server computer.

You can use a group policy to prevent certain folders from being copied to the server when the user logs off the client computer.

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Create a Group Policy Object

You can modify an existing Group Policy object (GPO) or create a new one. To create a new GPO:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. In the console tree, right-click your domain, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Group Policy tab, and then click New.
4. Type the name that you want to call this policy (for example, Modify Roaming Profile), and then press ENTER.
5. Click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
6. Click to clear the Apply Group Policy check box for the security groups that you want to prevent from having this policy applied. Click to select the Apply Group Policy check box for the groups to which you want to apply this policy. When you are finished, click OK.

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Exclude Folders from Roaming Profiles

Edit the GPO to exclude specific folders in roaming profiles:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. In the console tree, right-click your domain, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Group Policy tab, click the GPO that you want to work with, and then click Edit.
4. Under User Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand System, and then click Logon/Logoff.
5. In the Policy list, double-click Exclude directories in roaming profile.
6. Click Enabled.
7. In the Prevent the following directories from roaming with the profile box, type the appropriate folder names, separated by semicolons (;).
   
   NOTE: By default, Windows 2000 profiles are stored in the Documents and Settings\user name folder (where user name is the name of the user to whom the profile belongs) on the local computer. This is considered as the "root" folder of the profile, and is not included when you specify folders to exclude. For example, to prevent the desktop from roaming with the profile, type desktop in the Prevent the following directories from roaming with the profile box. Ensure that a semicolon separates each entry in the list.
8. When you are finished excluding folders from roaming profiles, click OK.
9. Close the Group Policy snap-in, click Close, and then quit the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.

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