Customizing Default users profile using CopyProfile

re: Customizing Default users profile using CopyProfile

Mohammed_sh — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 11:26:59 GMT

how i can copy certain profile if i have many users profile on PC ?

re: Customizing Default users profile using CopyProfile

Rod Echols — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:43:18 GMT

This method works and if you need to make sure your systems are MS compliant, the sysprep method is below the non-sysprep method.

Non-Sysprep Method

Create "Test" or "Setup" account

Make group policy changes

Computer Config > Administrative Templates > System > User Profiles >

Only Allow User Profiles = Enabled

Set Roaming Profile Path for all users logging onto this computer = Disabled

Prevent Roaming Profile changes from propagating to the server = Enabled

Customize the Test or Setup account

Enable built-in Administrator account

Log on as Administrator

Install RichCopy from Technet - robocopy may work also

Use Explorer to unhide system files and folders

Use RichCopy to copy the profile from the account used to implement customizations to "Default User"

Join machine to the domain

Reboot

Log on domain user and all customizations should be applied to the users' profile

Sysprep Method - We may want to use this method because this method should be fully supported by MS

Enable Administrator Account

Log on as Administrator

Go to Manage Users

Delete Setup account and any other accounts that have a profile folder and choose "delete files"

Make reg changes necessary to join Samba domain

3 .reg files located in root of ITS share = Win7-Hotfixes

Delete .reg files after applying them

Make group policy changes necessary for IMSA domain

Computer Config > Administrative Templates > System > User Profiles >

Only Allow User Profiles = Enabled

Set Roaming Profile Path for all users logging onto this computer = Disabled

Prevent Roaming Profile changes from propagating to the server = Enabled

Complete all customizations

Copy validated answer file to C: root

Go to windows\system32\sysprep

Right click while holding shift and choose "open command window here"

run "sysprep.exe /oobe /generalize /unattend:c:\yourunattendfile.xml

Once the system reboots go through whatever portion of mini-setup your answer file dictates

Join machine to the domain

Log on as a domain user

Basic look and feel customizations should have been applied from the local Defaul User profile

Rod Echols

re: Customizing Default users profile using CopyProfile

Drewfus — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:13:02 GMT

Ed Bott makes the following comment;

"She [Gina Trapani] recommends that you disable UAC while you’re getting set up initially and installing programs. Not a good idea, as you’ll discover if you try it. User settings for some programs go in different places, depending on whether UAC is on or off. If you install with UAC off and then turn it back on, some of your programs might get confused."

www.edbott.com/.../what-happens-when-those-tips-dont-work

If programs are installed by the built-in administrator, and then Sysprep is run with the CopyProfile setting set to true in unattend.xml, will this not result in a *different* default profile being created than if the programs had been installed by an admin running in Admin Approval Mode? That is, %localappdata%\virtualstore will likely not have the same contents in each case. Are you aware of this causing problems?

re: Customizing Default users profile using CopyProfile

Drewfus — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 03:23:29 GMT

Great rundown. Thanks.

As a matter of interest, i posted the following at the Sysintenals Forums:

forum.sysinternals.com/forum_posts.asp

re: Customizing Default users profile using CopyProfile

DG — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 19:36:32 GMT

I too am seeing this issue. Did you find a workaround?

I thought maybe a syprep provider could be written to touch the NTUSER.DAT hive under \Administrator by executing under 'SysprepExternalProviders' in the registry. It looks like these providers are run after the main providers. I would be interested in another solution, aside from this (messy solution).

re: Customizing Default users profile using CopyProfile

JC — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 20:47:07 GMT

btw- logs indicating the IIS Specialization is located c:\windows\Panther\setupact.log and the shell unattend copy profile logs is located here c:\windows\Panther\UnattendGC\setupact.log. Based my findings from the datetime entry for those 2 logs files and the datetime stamp of the ntuser.dat file in the service account. Is there a workaround for this (other than removing IIS features and/or delete that account)?

re: Customizing Default users profile using CopyProfile

JC — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 20:39:44 GMT

Thanks for the great post.. Correct me if I'm wrong but it appears that if IIS is enabled and ASP.net service/local account (Classic .NET AppPool) is created, during specialization stage, sysprep will kick off iissyspr.dll which updates the ntuser.dat file. Then copy profile task runs which in turn will use the Classic .NET AppPool account instead of the admin accounts because of latest timestamp.

re: Customizing Default users profile using CopyProfile

David Segura — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:56:29 GMT

Thanks for the info . . . much appreciated.