Joining a Domain

[Guest]

I have a user who has not been part of the Windows 2003 server network to
date. I want to join him now, but I want to retain his desktop EXACTLY as it
is. He's running Win XP Pro.

Can I use Files and Settings Transfer to migrate everything to the new
directories set up for the domain user account? Are there any tricks I
should know? He's the CEO, so it's rather important to get this right.

Many thanks for the advice.

Richard J.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a user who has not been part of the Windows 2003 server
network to date. I want to join him now, but I want to retain his
desktop EXACTLY as it is. He's running Win XP Pro.

Can I use Files and Settings Transfer to migrate everything to the
new directories set up for the domain user account? Are there any
tricks I should know? He's the CEO, so it's rather important to
get this right.

F.A.S.T. is your best bet - yes.

You could also point his domain profile to his local profile directory
(after setting appropriate permissions) - but the safest way is the F.A.S.T.
wizard.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

I have a user who has not been part of the Windows 2003 server
network to date. I want to join him now, but I want to retain his
desktop EXACTLY as it is. He's running Win XP Pro.

Can I use Files and Settings Transfer to migrate everything to the new
directories set up for the domain user account? Are there any tricks
I should know? He's the CEO, so it's rather important to get this
right.

Many thanks for the advice.

Richard J.

Join the domain
Log in as his domain account once
Log out
Log in as any administrator
Go to control panel | system | advanced
Find the settings button under User Profiles
Find his *local* account and select it, and click Copy To
Copy it to c:\documents and settings\<his_domain_username>\

Log back in as his domain account & see whether everything looks OK. You may
need to play with a couple of shortcuts.

Also - if he's been using his workstation's local login, check first to see
where his My Documents points and consider copying the contents to the
server first - you don't want to lose his files.

I like to use folder redirection for that, to the users' home directories,
set via GPO.

 

[Guest]

Too cool. Well done - I didn't know this feature at all. Having said so,
FAST worked really well except for his Outlook file. I've lost his toolbar
address book - it's all down in the Contacts tab now and the autofill e-mail
address feature isn't working correctly. Any thoughts on that?

Is using GPO (group policy object?) the way you describe the same as using
home folder local path in the domain user's profile tab (Active Directory
Users and Computers admin console tool)?

Thank you for the help.

Richard J.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Too cool. Well done - I didn't know this feature at all. Having
said so, FAST worked really well except for his Outlook file.

For Outlook/Office stuff, you'd want to have used the "Save My Settings"
wizard..should be in the start menu\ ....microsoft office tools\folder. You
can log back in to his local account now & try it if you wish.

I've
lost his toolbar address book -

I don't know what that means, sorry.

it's all down in the Contacts tab now
and the autofill e-mail address feature isn't working correctly. Any
thoughts on that?

Find his .nk2 file from the old profile folder, and copy it to the same
location in his new one. This is a per-profile thing. The name of the .nk2
file needs to match the name of his outlook profile.

Is using GPO (group policy object?) the way you describe the same as
using home folder local path in the domain user's profile tab (Active
Directory Users and Computers admin console tool)?

No - that's just setting the home directory. Folder redirection is done via
group policy, and you can redirect My Documents to the home directory (or
any location you wish).

 

[Guest]

Find his .nk2 file from the old profile folder, and copy it to the same
location in his new one. This is a per-profile thing. The name of the .nk2
file needs to match the name of his outlook profile.

Couldn't find any such file under his old profile directory. There is an
..nk2 file in his new domain user directory (under ...\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook).

For Outlook/Office stuff, you'd want to have used the "Save My Settings"
wizard..should be in the start menu\ ....microsoft office tools\folder. You
can log back in to his local account now & try it if you wish.

This did not work. When I ran it, his Outlook interface basically came up
completely vanilla (no messages, no address book, no nothing), even though
everything was still in his old local profile directory structure.

Any other ideas? Many thanks for the help.

Richard J.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Couldn't find any such file under his old profile directory. There
is an .nk2 file in his new domain user directory (under
...\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook).


This did not work. When I ran it, his Outlook interface basically
came up completely vanilla (no messages, no address book, no
nothing), even though everything was still in his old local profile
directory structure.

Any other ideas? Many thanks for the help.

Richard J.

Search for .nk2 at www.slipstick.com ....and I'd just recreate his Outlook
profile, honestly.