User profiles are useful for configuring or managing custom desktops on a Microsoft network (that is, one that uses Microsoft products for networking functionality). A user who logs on from different computers at different times can see the same desktop at every logon. Any changes the user makes to the profile appear the next time the user logs on.
In Windows NT Workstation, a user's computing environment is determined primarily by the user profile. Windows NT security requires a user profile for each account that has access to the system. User profiles are created by default when a Windows NT user logs on for the first time. You can also create and modify user profiles on a computer running Windows NT Server. To do so, select System from the Control Panel, and select the User Profile tab.
In Windows 95, user profiles are not created by default; they must be enabled by an administrator. For information on setting up User Profiles for Windows 95 computers on a Windows NT Network, see Chapter 15, "User Profiles and System Policies," in the Windows 95 Resource Kit. Also, to take advantage of user profiles from a computer running Windows 95, you must specify Client for Microsoft Networks as the Primary Network Logon client.
Profiles for computers running Windows NT Workstation or Windows NT Server are stored in the "Profile Path" directory on a Windows NT server. The "Profile Path" directory can be found in the user's account in User Manager for Domains. Windows 95 does not use this directory. Windows 95 profiles are stored in the home directory.
If a user works at a computer running Windows NT Workstation part of the time and at a computer running Windows 95 other times, that user can have two different profiles, one for each operating system. Changes to the settings for one operating system will not affect the settings for the other operating system. (Also, the profiles used by Windows NT Workstation 3.51 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0 differ, reflecting the differences in the interfaces. Users who move between versions of Windows NT Workstation will have different profiles for the two versions of the operating system.)
Because these operating systems use different profiles, some elements of the user environment are easier to control in a mixed environment by creating logon scripts.