Mobile Computing

Roaming user profiles make it possible for users to use different computers within the corporate network and still retain a consistent desktop. With a roaming user profile, a user can log on to any computer that is running Windows 2000 within the user's domain. When the user logs on to a computer, all of the settings and documents the user stored on the server in the roaming user profile are copied to the local computer. Users can run applications, modify documents, and work on the computer as they would if the user profile existed on the local computer. When a user logs off, the user profile is copied to the server. When the user logs on to another computer, all of that user's profile information is then copied to the second computer.

Roaming user profiles depend on many of the IntelliMirror technologies to specify the information that is available for the user who is assigned a roaming user profile. You use roaming user profiles primarily to preserve the user's customizations because the My Documents folder is often redirected to another share.

You can use roaming user profiles together with Remote OS Installation and Software Installation and Maintenance when you replace a computer. If a computer system fails and loses its data, you can use Remote OS Installation to install Windows 2000 Professional, use Software Installation and Maintenance to restore applications, and use roaming user profiles to restore critical information. Because a network copy of the data exists, you can easily reestablish links to critical information.

You must configure roaming user profiles on the server; you cannot configure roaming user profiles on Windows 2000 Professional.

Folder redirection allows you to redirect the path of a local folder to a server location. Users can work with individual or shared documents on a secure server as if the folders were on the local drive.

You can not only redirect the My Documents folder, including the My Pictures subfolder, you can also redirect to a network location: the Desktop, Application Data, and Start menu folders. All of these folders are where the user is likely to store data. These folders are located in the Documents and Settings user profile folder on the local computer.

You can also combine folder redirection and roaming user profiles to increase performance for roaming users and mobile users. Besides the improved availability and backup benefits of having the data on the network, users also have performance gains with low-speed network connections and subsequent logon sessions. Because only some of their documents are copied, these users experience performance gains when their profiles are copied from the server. Not all of the data in the user profile is transferred to the desktop each time a user logs on — only the data that the user requires is transferred.

You must configure folder redirection on the server; you cannot set folder redirection on Windows 2000 Professional.