User Profiles Archives • Helge Klein

Windows 10 Roaming Profile: Sharing Violation Every 2nd Logon

I came across this problem while preparing my sessions for this year’s conferences. The setup is boringly simple: a user with a roaming profile logging on to a Windows 10 machine. The interesting part: every second time, loading the roaming profile would fail – causing a 35 second logon delay. Every other time, it would […]

Microsoft Windows Enterprise State Roaming – First Thoughts

Microsoft just announced a new service called Enterprise State Roaming. The broader goal seems to be to replace roaming user profiles. That, however, is not going to happen any time soon. What We Know Here is the link to the announcement. Requirements An Azure Active Directory Premium subscription is required. In addition to that Enterprise […]

Manual Folder Redirection with Symbolic Links

This is a guest post by Bryan Chriscoli, who implemented an innovative alternative to folder redirection with the help of symbolic links, AppSense products and PowerShell scripting. All credit goes to him. Motivation Whilst I was still working for AppSense as a Solutions Architect assigned to implement Environment Manager at UnitedHealth Group, it became apparent […]

Determining the Size of a Folder without Access or Permissions

Imagine you need to determine the size of a directory, but you do not have access to it and cannot change the permissions, either. Such a situation is common with Windows user profiles. This article shows how to deal with it.

Migrating from Citrix UPM back to Roaming Profiles

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. As you may be aware Citrix Profile Management (aka UPM) automatically migrates existing roaming or local user profiles to its user store. A very nice feature, certainly, but what about the way […]

Error Message Explained: User Profile Service Failed the Logon

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. Many errors related to user profiles result in the user getting a temporary profile instead of the regular local or roaming profile. I have written about possible causes for that here. In […]

Citrix Profile Management Architecture – Why it is Not Based on a Mandatory Profile Any More

Ron Kuper asked in a comment why the architecture of Citrix Profile Management was changed from being based on mandatory profiles to capturing the entire profile content by default. This change happened between versions 1 and 2. A Bit of History Citrix Profile Management is based on the product sepagoPROFILE, which I architected and co-developed. […]

Walkthrough: Creating a UE-V Settings Location Template

In this article I explain how to create a template for Microsoft User Experience Virtualization. For details on how UE-V works please see my earlier article Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V): Facts and Review. As a sample application I used my permission management tool SetACL Studio. Generator Installation As explained in my review, a UE-V […]

Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V): Facts and Review

16 years after roaming profiles made their debut in Windows NT 4.0 Microsoft takes another stab at synchronizing user settings across devices – a very different one. As we will see, UE-V is radically different from roaming profiles, but so similar to some other user environment management products that it seems like a best-practices implementation.

How to Configure a File Server for Hosting User Profiles

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. Setting up a network share on a file server for hosting user profiles is not too difficult if you follow the steps outlined in this article. The recommendations I give here apply […]

Customizing the Default Profile

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. Administrators frequently have the requirement to adapt newly created user profiles to corporate standards. This is typically done by modifying the default profile, the profile Windows uses as a template when creating […]

Temporary User Profiles

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. Nobody wants a temporary profile. So why do I get one? Here are the most common reasons for Windows to only issue a profile that is deleted at logoff instead of the […]

Folder Redirection – Denial of Service Waiting to Happen

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. One of the problems inherent to roaming user profiles is that they are copied to the local computer during logon. That takes time. Hence the motivation to limit the size of user […]

Helge’s Profile Toolkit

Helge’s Profile Toolkit is a collection of tips, tricks and tools for working with user profiles.

Differences Between Citrix Profile Management and Immidio Flex Profiles

From time to time I get asked about the differences between Citrix’s and Immidio’s profile management products. Here are some common questions along with my answers.

Why User Profiles Always Get Bigger, Never Smaller: Installers

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. One of the constants in the Windows universe is the knowledge that user profiles increase in size over time. They tend to accumulate all kinds of junk and become bloated which is […]

I Did Not Expect the Wilderness to be so … Wild

I was reminded of this movie quote when I stumbled across the following cry for help in a developer’s forum:

Mandatory Profiles – Insecure by Default?

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. Mandatory profiles are generally considered fast and secure because they usually are small in size and cannot be modified by the user. While that is true – mandatory profiles stay pristine indefinitely […]

USMT and Beyond – Practical Tips for Your Migration

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. This article presents a collection of tips and tricks around user state migration with and without Microsoft’s USMT. I originally compiled this material for my presentation at the 2010 TechDay Online.

Can I Use the Same User Profile on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows?

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. More and more people are upgrading to a 64-bit version of Windows. Many of them would probably like to keep their existing configuration. The question is: can you use the 32-bit profile […]

User Profiles Inside Out – Slides from my Presentation at PubForum

Here is the slide deck for my presentation User profiles inside out from PubForum Berlin 2010. Enjoy.

Free Script: User Profile Domain Migration with SetACL

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. When administrators migrate user accounts between domains, they typically re-ACL those server resources users have access to. In plain English: they copy or move the permissions from the accounts of the old […]

Should AppData be Redirected or Left in the User Profile?

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. Redirecting AppData from the user profile to a folder on the network may significantly improve logon speed. Is enabling AppData redirection a no-brainer, then? Not really, because it often comes at a […]

New OS = New Profile = User State Lost. True or False?

Going to Windows 7 or Server 2008 (R2) means trouble. Let me use an analogy to explain why. You are in charge of moving people from their old houses to shiny new buildings. You have planned everything perfectly. The new homes are beautiful and located in a great neighborhood. But still, after moving house, people […]

Poll: Do Companies Use Local or Roaming Profiles for Desktop PCs?

Would it shock you if 35% of all enterprises used roaming profiles on their desktop PCs? Well, that was the average I got when I asked via Twitter. But is that number correct? It might or might not be. It is based on the answers of only ten people, making it hardly statistically relevant. In […]

Citrix User Profile Manager 5 Years Ago: Birth

Citrix User Profile Manager is pretty well-known in the SBC space today. Five years ago, things were quite different. Citrix did not have a user profile solution, and neither did sepago. But we had an idea spinning in our heads we soon came to call Smooth Profiles. Slowly that idea became code, then was renamed […]

Are Mandatory User Profiles Deleted at Logoff – or Cached?

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. A popular misconception about mandatory user profiles is that they are deleted at logoff. I freely admit that I thought so, too, until I made some tests that proved I was wrong.

Fixing Office 2007’s Quick Access Toolbars With Citrix User Profile Manager

Not sure where user profile management might be useful? Here is an example that should apply to almost everyone.

Should Roaming User Profiles Be Backed Up?

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. This may seem like a silly question, but whether or not to include roaming user profiles in your enterprise backup solution may greatly affect both the performance and the cost of that […]

Profile Hell – The Reality of Windows User Profiles

This article is part of Helge’s Profile Toolkit, a set of posts explaining the knowledge and tools required to tame Windows user profiles. A user calls the help desk to report a strange malfunction of an application. What does the help desk technician do? Analyze the root cause of the problem? Probably not. Most likely, […]

Category: User Profiles

Windows 10 Roaming Profile: Sharing Violation Every 2nd Logon

Microsoft Windows Enterprise State Roaming – First Thoughts

Manual Folder Redirection with Symbolic Links

Determining the Size of a Folder without Access or Permissions

Migrating from Citrix UPM back to Roaming Profiles

Error Message Explained: User Profile Service Failed the Logon

Citrix Profile Management Architecture – Why it is Not Based on a Mandatory Profile Any More

Walkthrough: Creating a UE-V Settings Location Template

Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V): Facts and Review

How to Configure a File Server for Hosting User Profiles

Customizing the Default Profile

Temporary User Profiles

Folder Redirection – Denial of Service Waiting to Happen

Helge’s Profile Toolkit

Differences Between Citrix Profile Management and Immidio Flex Profiles

Why User Profiles Always Get Bigger, Never Smaller: Installers

I Did Not Expect the Wilderness to be so … Wild

Mandatory Profiles – Insecure by Default?

USMT and Beyond – Practical Tips for Your Migration

Can I Use the Same User Profile on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows?

User Profiles Inside Out – Slides from my Presentation at PubForum

Free Script: User Profile Domain Migration with SetACL

Should AppData be Redirected or Left in the User Profile?

New OS = New Profile = User State Lost. True or False?

Poll: Do Companies Use Local or Roaming Profiles for Desktop PCs?

Citrix User Profile Manager 5 Years Ago: Birth

Are Mandatory User Profiles Deleted at Logoff – or Cached?

Fixing Office 2007’s Quick Access Toolbars With Citrix User Profile Manager

Should Roaming User Profiles Be Backed Up?

Profile Hell – The Reality of Windows User Profiles