Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution

Transcription

1 Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution Microsoft Windows Family of Operating Systems Microsoft Corporation Published: May 2010 Abstract User state virtualization describes the separation of user settings and data from an end user's personal computer. Microsoft Windows provides three technologies for virtualizing user state information: Roaming User Profiles, Folder Redirection, and Offline Files. Windows 7 includes improvements that provide IT implementers with more options, greater flexibility, and simplified management of these User State Virtualization technologies, as well as provide end users with a better overall experience. The challenge organizations face today is to implement the right mix of these technologies to meet their business needs. This whitepaper is designed to provide technical decision makers with practical guidance in this area. The paper assumes the reader already has some familiarity with how these technologies work.

2 Copyright information The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. This White Paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Active Directory, Internet Explorer, Windows, Windows Server, and Windows Vista are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation group of companies.the names of actual organizations and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

3 Contents Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution... 1 Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution... 5 Introduction... 5 Roaming User Profiles... 6 Folder Redirection... 7 Offline Files... 7 Choosing a User State Virtualization Solution Based on your End User Requirements... 8 End User Requirements Checklist for Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution Choosing a User State Virtualization Solution Based on IT Requirements IT Requirements Checklist for Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution Walkthrough for a Sample Scenario Appendix: Personalization Settings, Roaming User Profiles and Group Policy Additional Resources... 24

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5 Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution Introduction User state virtualization involves separating user settings and data from the user's personal computer and storing these settings and data centrally on a network server. The term user settings refers to the various kinds of customizations that a user might perform on a computer running Microsoft Windows. Examples of such customizations can include operating system customizations such as changing the desktop background, customizing the way the Start menu or taskbar works, selecting a different keyboard layout, mapping a network drive, configuring the Internet Explorer home page and favorites, configuring how documents are arranged in the Documents library, and so on. User settings can also include application customizations such as those available on computers that have Microsoft Office or other productivity applications installed. For example, a user might customize Microsoft Office by making certain hidden formatting marks visible or by configuring the spell checker to ignore uppercase words. Most third-party applications also support customization by the user and therefore have their own configurable user settings. The term user data refers to the documents and other files that a user can create, modify, save and delete on their computer. Examples of user data depend on the type of work the user performs and can include Microsoft Word or other document formats, and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations stored in the user's Documents library; photos and artwork stored in the user's Pictures library; music files stored in the user's Music library; video files stored in the user's Videos library; and Internet Explorer or other browser favorites/bookmarks stored in a subfolder (typically either Favorites or AppData\Roaming) of the user's profile. In Microsoft Windows, the user settings and data for a user are stored in the user's profile. A user profile is a collection of folders together with a registry hive known as HKey Current User (HKCU) which together define and describe the configurable desktop environment of the user. Every user who logs on interactively to a computer running Windows has a local profile on the local hard drive of the computer. On Windows 7 this local user profile is a subfolder of the C:\Users folder, for example C:\Users\Karen. By centralizing all or some portion of a user's profile on a network server, businesses can provide end users with increased flexibility by enabling them to roam, that is, to access their desktop environment and data from any authorized computer on the network. A second benefit of centralizing user profiles on a network server is that user settings and data can be backed up more easily. This helps reduce IT cost in several ways. Firstly, loss of employee productivity is minimized by ensuring that the user s data is regularly backed up. Secondly, if a user's computer becomes damaged, lost, or stolen, the user's desktop environment can be quickly restored simply by providing the user with a new domain joined computer. And finally, interruption of work can be avoided while the damaged or stolen computer is being 5

6 replaced simply by moving the user to a different desk that has a domain joined computer available. User state virtualization can be implemented using a combination of three different Windows technologies: Roaming User Profiles, Folder Redirection, and Offline Files. Roaming User Profiles Roaming User Profiles (RUP) refers to the storage of a user's profile structure on a network server. Roaming User Profiles stores the entire profile of the user in a user-specific folder within a folder on the server. With RUP, when a user logs on to his or her computer, the user's roaming profile is downloaded from the network server and locally cached on the user's computer where it is used when the user logs on to his or her computer. When the user logs off from his or her computer, the user's local profile is uploaded from that computer to the network server and copied to become the user's roaming profile. Because users can have hundreds of megabytes of documents and other types of work files on their computers, copying the entire contents of a user's profile to a network server can take some time which can lead to slow logon and logoff times. This problem of slow logons/logoffs with Roaming User Profiles can be mitigated in two ways: By using Folder Redirection as described in the next section below. By configuring certain Group Policy settings found under Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\User Profiles and User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\User Profiles. For example, a new Windows 7 machine policy setting named "Background upload of a roaming user profile's registry file while the user is logged on" allows administrators to schedule the period upload of a logged-on user's HKCU registry hive to the network server. One scenario where this policy can provide a benefit is when an organization has mobile users who work remotely from their laptops. By configuring this policy to periodically upload a roaming user profile's registry file, a user who hibernates his or her laptop instead of logging off can still have his or her user settings and data uploaded to the profile server. Without this policy setting, any customizations and data modifications from the user's session could be lost should the user's laptop fail to resume from sleep. For more information on this new policy setting, see "What's New in Folder Redirection and User Profiles" on Microsoft TechNet at A variation of the roaming profile is the mandatory profile, a read-only copy of the user's profile stored on a network server. Users who have mandatory profiles configured for them can personalize their desktop environment, but when they log off from their current logon session any customizations they made during their session are lost because the profile is not uploaded to the server. Mandatory profiles are typically used in Remote Desktop Services (RDS) environments where task workers that have flexible seating arrangements require access to standard applications to perform their work. 6

7 Folder Redirection Folder Redirection (FR) refers to the redirection of specific folders within a user's profile to shared folders on network servers. Windows 7 supports the redirection of the following folders within a user's profile: AppData(Roaming), Desktop, Start Menu, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, Favorites, Contacts, Downloads, Links, Searches, and Saved Games. Redirection of these folders can be configured using Group Policy settings founder under User Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Folder Redirection. By implementing Folder Redirection together with RUP, the size of roaming profiles can be significantly decreased resulting in faster logon/logoff times. Folder Redirection can also be implemented without Roaming User Profiles to provide users with access to their data and some application customizations from any computer they log on to on the network. Notes While Folder Redirection alone can be used to roam both user data (for example, files in the user's Documents library) and some application-related files such as templates and custom dictionaries (typically located in the AppData\Roaming folder), there are numerous desktop personalization settings and application customization settings that cannot be roamed unless Roaming User Profiles is also used. See the Appendix at the end of this whitepaper, a comprehensive (but not exhaustive) list of per-user desktop and application personalization settings that can only be roamed with RUP. (Some of these settings can also be centralized using Group Policy and this is also discussed in the Appendix.) For information about improvements to Folder Redirection in Windows 7, see "What's New in Folder Redirection and User Profiles" on Microsoft TechNet at Offline Files Offline Files is a feature of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate edition that allows users to access and work with files stored on shared folders on network servers even when those shared folders become unavailable. Offline Files maintains productivity by enabling users to work with locally cached copies of files stored on network shares when the server goes down or the network is unavailable for some reason. Offline Files also helps maintain productivity at branch offices when the WAN link goes down or is too congested. Offline Files also enables mobile workers to work with files stored on network shares while they are travelling and unable to connect to the corporate network. Offline Files complements Folder Redirection to make user state virtualization more robust. This is because while Folder Redirection alone can make user data accessible from any computer on the network, users will not be able to access their data if the server hosting the redirected folder goes down or if the network is unavailable. By combining Folder Redirection with Offline Files however, you can ensure that end users remain productive even when a server is down or the network is unavailable. Offline Files is enabled by default in Windows 7, making it easy to 7

8 complement Folder Redirection with Offline Files when implementing a user state virtualization solution. For information about improvements to Offline Files in Windows 7, see "What's New in Offline Files" on Microsoft TechNet at Choosing a User State Virtualization Solution Based on your End User Requirements Organizations wishing to virtualize user settings and data for users of Windows 7 computers can choose from several different methods. For many organizations, implementing Folder Redirection alone will satisfy most of their end user requirements. For some organizations with unique end user needs, implementing Folder Redirection together with Roaming User Profiles may be required. Organizations implementing Folder Redirection also have a choice of which folders they want to redirect. Table 1 provides some examples of how organizations can use either Folder Redirection alone or Folder Redirection together with Roaming User Profiles to meet the specific business requirements of their end user population. Note Deploying Roaming User Profiles without Folder Redirection is generally not recommended. Table 1: Recommended user state virtualization solution based on end user requirements with examples. End User Requirements End User Requirement #1: Users need to be able to access their documents (Microsoft Office or thirdparty document file types) from any computer connected to the corporate network. Recommended Solution Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Documents folder. Notes This approach also works with applications that create subfolders under My Documents. For example, Office SharePoint Designer creates a My Web Sites folder under My Documents, and this means that any Web site saved in this folder will be redirected as part of My Documents. They do not need access to their personalized desktop environment or to any application customizations. (For examples of Windows and application personalization settings, see the Appendix The applications used to create or work with these documents must also be installed on or available from any computer the user intends to perform their work on. 8

9 at the end of this whitepaper.) Example: A student needs to access Microsoft Word documents relating to her class project from any computer on campus. She is not concerned about their customized desktop or application settings the ability to access her documents from anywhere is her primary need. End User Requirement #2: Users need to be able to access their documents (Microsoft Office or thirdparty document file types) from any computer connected to the corporate network. They also need access to certain basic application customizations such as templates and custom dictionaries in order to perform their work. Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Documents folder. Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's AppData(Roaming) folder. The AppData(Roaming) folder should among the redirected folders in this scenario because templates and custom dictionaries for business productivity applications such as Microsoft Office are generally stored in this folder. The applications used to create or work with these documents must also be installed on or available from any computer the user intends to perform their work on. However, they do not need their personalized desktop or any other application customizations. (For examples of Windows and application personalization settings, see the Appendix at the end of this whitepaper.) 9

10 Example: An attorney needs to be able to be able to use her customized Microsoft Office styles and her customized Office Dictionary to apply styles and use spell check on any PC in any of her law firm s offices. End User Requirement #3: Users need to be able to access their documents (Microsoft Office or thirdparty document file types) from any computer connected to the corporate network. They also need access to their fully personalized applications and desktop regardless of which computer they log on to on the corporate network. (For examples of Windows and application personalization settings, see the Appendix at the end of this whitepaper.) Example: A bank district manager needs access to his customer and bank data from any computer in the bank branches he manages. In addition, he wants the look and feel of Windows and his line-ofbusiness applications to be Use Roaming User Profiles to centralize user settings. Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Documents folder. Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Desktop folder. Consider using Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Pictures, Music and Videos folders. Consider using Folder Redirection to redirection the user's AppData(Roaming) folder. Roaming User Profiles must be used in this scenario because the user requires full fidelity with regard to customizations they have made to their Windows desktop environment and business productivity applications. The Documents folder should be redirected when using Roaming User Profiles to reduce logon time. The Desktop folder should generally be redirected when using Roaming User Profiles to reduce logon time since many users store data files directly on their desktop. The Pictures and Videos folders should be redirected if the user has a valid business requirement for accessing files in these folders from any computer. If these folders should not be redirected, IT should prevent users' Pictures, Music and Videos folders from being roamed by using Group Policy as described in Table 2 below. Perform testing to determine whether the AppData(Roaming) folder needs to be redirected in order to ensure that 10

11 the same from every computer. application-specific user settings are properly roamed for each application. End User Requirement #4: Users need access to a preconfigured, unalterable application and desktop environment regardless of which computer they log on to. Example: A bank teller needs access to a preconfigured user environment in order to do his job. Because a teller's job requires repetitive work using a limited set of applications, and because of the bank's security and regulatory requirements, the look and feel of the desktop and application environment must be the same on every computer the teller might use and the teller must not be able to make any changes to this environment. Use Roaming User Profiles configured for mandatory profiles to centralize user settings in read-only format. Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Documents folder. Consider using Folder Redirection to redirect the user's AppData(Roaming) folder. The applications needed by the user should be installed on each computer the user will use. The applications used to create or work with these documents must also be installed on or available from any computer the user intends to perform their work on. Roaming User Profiles must be used in this scenario because the user requires full fidelity with regard to customizations they have made to their Windows desktop environment and business productivity applications. Roaming User Profiles must also be configured for mandatory profiles in this scenario because the user must not be able to make any changes to their desktop environment and application settings. The Documents folder should be redirected when using Roaming User Profiles to reduce logon time. Perform testing to determine whether the AppData(Roaming) folder needs to be redirected in order to ensure that application-specific user settings are properly roamed for each application. End User Requirement #5: Users have one or more custom folders within their user profile and need to be able to access the contents of these folders Use Roaming User Profiles to centralize user profiles. Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Folder Redirection can only redirect known folders within user profiles such as the Documents or Pictures folder. Folder Redirection cannot redirect custom folders the user creates in the root of his user profile Roaming User 11

12 from any computer connected to the corporate network. Example: A third-party application creates an additional folder in the root of the user's profile. This additional folder is used to store various customization files that are specific to the application. An office worker who uses this application needs to be able to run it from any computer on the corporate network. End User Requirement #6: Users need to be able to access their browser favorites/bookmarks from any computer connected to the corporate network. Example: A researcher for a news company needs to be able to access her favorite websites from any computer she logs on to on in the newsroom. End User Requirement #7: Users need to access their documents from computers on the corporate network that are running Windows 7, Windows Vista, and earlier versions of Windows such as Windows XP. Example: An office worker Documents folder. Consider using Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Desktop, Pictures, and other folders. Use Folder Redirection to redirect either the user's Favorites folder or AppData(Roaming) folder depending on the browser used. Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Documents folder with the setting "Also apply redirection policy to Windows 2000, Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems" enabled. Profiles must be used to accomplish this. The Documents folder should be redirected when using Roaming User Profiles to reduce logon time. Evaluate whether redirection of Desktop, Pictures and other folders is needed for this scenario. Windows Internet Explorer saves the user's favorites in the Favorites folder within the user's profile. Mozilla Firefox saves the user's bookmarks in a file within a subfolder of the AppData\Roaming folder. Evaluate whether redirection of other folders is needed for other browsers. Enabling this setting makes the redirected folder available from Windows 7, Windows Vista and earlier versions of Windows. This setting can only be enabled for folders that were redirectable in earlier versions of Windows, namely Application Data, Desktop, My Documents, My Pictures, and Start Menu. For more information, see 12

13 needs to be able to access her documents on computers running Windows 7 or Windows XP on the corporate network. End User Requirements Checklist for Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution You can use the following checklist to help you choose an appropriate User State Virtualization solution for your business based on your end user requirements: Do users need to be able to access their documents from any computer connected to the corporate network BUT not need access to their personalized desktop environment or to any application customizations? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #1 in Table 1 above for the recommended solution. Do users need to be able to access their documents from any computer connected to the corporate network AND also need access to certain basic application customizations such as templates and custom dictionaries in order to perform their work BUT not need their personalized desktop or any other application customizations? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #2 in Table 1 above for the recommended solution. Do users need to be able to access their documents from any computer connected to the corporate network AND also need access to their fully personalized applications and desktop? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #3 in Table 1 above for the recommended solution. Do users need access to a preconfigured, unalterable application and desktop environment regardless of which computer they log on to? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #4 in Table 1 above for the recommended solution. Do users have one or more custom folders within their user profile and need to be able to access the contents of these folders from any computer connected to the corporate network? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #5 in Table 1 above for the recommended solution. Do users need to be able to access their browser favorites/bookmarks from any computer connected to the corporate network? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #6 in Table 1 above for the recommended solution. Do users need to access their documents from computers on the corporate network that are running Windows 7, Windows Vista, and earlier versions of Windows such as Windows XP? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #7 in Table 1 above for the recommended solution. For an example showing how to use this checklist to choose a User State Virtualization that can meet the end user requirements for your business, see the section titled "Walkthrough for a Sample Scenario" later in this whitepaper. 13

14 Choosing a User State Virtualization Solution Based on IT Requirements IT implementers considering virtualization of user state information for users of Windows 7 computers may have additional requirements based on their organization's business needs. Table 2 provides some examples of what can be done in this area. For detailed guidance on implementing Roaming User Profiles and Folder Redirection, see the "Managing Roaming User Data Deployment Guide" found on Microsoft TechNet at Table 2: Recommended user state virtualization solution based on administrator requirement. IT Requirement IT requirement #1: IT needs to be able to easily back up users' documents from a central location on the network. IT requirement #2: IT needs to be able to back up files stored on users' desktops from a central location on the network. IT requirement #3: IT wants to exclude users' pictures, videos and music files from being backed up (even if these files are mixed into the user's Documents folder or other redirected folders) since these files tend to be large and are generally personal rather than work-related. Recommended Solution Use Folder Redirection to redirect each user's Documents folder to a network server and then back up the files on the server regularly. Use Folder Redirection to redirect each user's Desktop folder to a network server and then back up the files on the server regularly. Do not use Folder Redirection to redirect each user's Pictures, Videos or Music folders to a network server. Use Group Policy to configure the Exclusion List feature of Offline Files to prevent files of certain types (for example, MP3 files) from being synchronized with the server (applies only to Windows 7). Notes Perform testing to ensure that all installed business applications save their documents and other data files in the user's Documents folder. Consider not redirecting the Desktop folder and instead train your users not to save any of their important work files on their desktops as they may get lost otherwise. If Roaming User Profiles has also been implemented, you can prevent users' Pictures, Videos and Music folders from being roamed by using the following Group Policy setting : User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\User Profiles\Exclude directories in user profile You can configure the Exclusion List for Offline Files in Windows 7 by using the following Group Policy setting: Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative 14

15 Templates\Network\Offline Files\Exclude files from being cached Alternately, you can use Microsoft File Server Resource Manager to perform file screening in order to block specific file types from being written to file server. IT requirement #4: IT wants users to have the same theme applied when they log on to any computer connected to the corporate network so that they will experience the same desktop background, windows border color, sound scheme, screen saver, etc. Use Group Policy. You can configure a theme by using policy settings found under the following Group Policy node: User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Personalization Note that in order for the theme specified to be displayed on any computer the user logs on to, the.theme file for that theme must also be installed on each computer. These.theme files are stored outside the user profile in the %windir%\resources\themes folder. IT requirement #5: IT wants users to have the same desktop background (wallpaper) displayed when they log on to any computer connected to the corporate network. Use Group Policy. You can configure a desktop background by using the policy settings found under the following Group Policy node: User Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Desktop\Desktop Note that in order for the desktop background configured by the user to be displayed on any computer the user logs on to, one of the following must be true: The bitmap image file for that desktop background must be stored in the same location on each computer. The bitmap image file for that desktop background must be 15

16 located on a network share and specified as a UNC path the user personalizes his computer. IT Requirements Checklist for Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution You can use the following checklist to help you choose an appropriate User State Virtualization solution for your business based on your IT requirements: Does IT need to be able to easily back up users' documents from a central location on the network? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #1 in Table 2 above for the recommended solution. Does IT need to be able to back up files stored on users' desktops from a central location on the network? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #2 in Table 2 above for the recommended solution. Does IT want to exclude users' pictures, videos and music files from being backed up even if these files are mixed into the user's Documents folder or other redirected folders? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #3 in Table 2 above for the recommended solution. Does IT want users to have the same theme applied when they log on to any computer connected to the corporate network? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #4 in Table 2 above for the recommended solution. Does IT want users to have the same desktop background (wallpaper) displayed when they log on to any computer connected to the corporate network? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #5 in Table 2 above for the recommended solution. For an example showing how to use this checklist to choose a User State Virtualization that can meet the IT requirements for your business, see the section titled " Walkthrough for a Sample Scenario" below. Walkthrough for a Sample Scenario To see how the information in Tables 1 and 2 can be useful, let's walk through a sample scenario where implementing a User State Virtualization solution can help an organization meet the requirements of both end users and IT: Paul Jones is a District Manager for Woodgrove Bank a large financial institution with many branches. Every month, Paul spends a week working at each of three Woodgrove Bank branches, and he spends the last week working at headquarters. That s at least four desktop PCs running Windows 7 that Paul uses each month not to mention his laptop PC. 16

17 Regardless of which PC he is using, he needs access to his large quantity of files. These files include confidential bank data and customer information. They also include large video files that he uses for training. Paul also has a large personal music collection to which he enjoys listening while working. Not only does Paul want to access his files from all of the PCs he works from, but he also wants his settings to follow him without having to reconfigure each PC. For example, Paul created a custom desktop theme based on vacation photos, and he wants to use that theme on each of his PCs. He s also very particular about his desktop background (wallpaper) and the toolbar customizations he has made for Microsoft Office. As the IT implementer for Woodgrove Bank s IT department, I need a solution that gives Paul the experience he needs. That is, I need to enable his files and settings to follow him from PC to PC while enabling him to work efficiently. I also need to ensure that Paul's files are backed up regularly, including any important files that he might save directly on his desktop instead of in his Documents folder. What User State Virtualization solution should I use? To choose an appropriate User State Virtualization solution for the above scenario, begin by going through the checklist below, taken from the section titled "End User Requirements Checklist for Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution" found earlier in this paper: Do users need to be able to access their documents from any computer connected to the corporate network BUT not need access to their personalized desktop environment or to any application customizations? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #1 in Table 1 for the recommended solution. NO because the user (Paul) also needs access to his personalized environment (custom themes and desktop icons). Do users need to be able to access their documents from any computer connected to the corporate network AND also need access to certain basic application customizations such as templates and custom dictionaries in order to perform their work BUT not need their personalized desktop or any other application customizations? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #2 in Table 1 for the recommended solution. NO because the user also needs access to his personalized environment (custom themes and desktop icons). Do users need to be able to access their documents from any computer connected to the corporate network AND also need access to their fully personalized applications and desktop? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #3 in Table 1 for the recommended solution. YES the user needs access to both his files (bank data and customer information, video training files and personal music) and his personalized environment (custom themes and desktop icons). Do users need access to a preconfigured, unalterable application and desktop environment regardless of which computer they log on to? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #4 in Table 1 for the recommended solution. NO because the user also needs to be able to customize his desktop environment. 17

18 Do users have one or more custom folders within their user profile and need to be able to access the contents of these folders from any computer connected to the corporate network? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #5 in Table 1 for the recommended solution. NO the user does not need to be able to access custom folders within his user profile. Do users need to be able to access their browser favorites/bookmarks from any computer connected to the corporate network? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #6 in Table 1 for the recommended solution. NO the user does not need to access his browser favorites/bookmarks from other computers. Do users need to access their documents from computers on the corporate network that are running Windows 7, Windows Vista, and earlier versions of Windows such as Windows XP? If the answer is YES then see End User Requirement #7 in Table 1 for the recommended solution. NO because all the computers the user uses run Windows 7. Based on the End User Requirements Checklist above, an appropriate solution would include the recommendations specified by End User Requirement #3 in Table 1, namely: Use Roaming User Profiles to centralize user settings. Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Documents folder. Use Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Desktop folder. Consider using Folder Redirection to redirect the user's Pictures, Music and Videos folders. Consider using Folder Redirection to redirection the user's AppData(Roaming) folder. To finish choosing an appropriate User State Virtualization solution for the above scenario, go through the checklist below, taken from the section titled "IT Requirements Checklist for Choosing an Appropriate User State Virtualization Solution" found earlier in this paper: Does IT need to be able to easily back up users' documents from a central location on the network? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #1 in Table 2 for the recommended solution. YES since this is an explicit requirement of IT for your business. Does IT need to be able to back up files stored on users' desktops from a central location on the network? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #2 in Table 2 for the recommended solution. YES since this is an explicit requirement of IT for your business. Does IT want to exclude users' pictures, videos and music files from being backed up even if these files are mixed into the user's Documents folder or other redirected folders? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #3 in Table 2 for the recommended solution. NO because the user explicitly needs access to his video training files and personal music. Does IT want users to have the same theme applied when they log on to any computer connected to the corporate network? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #4 in 18

19 Table 2 for the recommended solution. NO because the user needs to be able to configure his own custom theme for his desktop environment. Does IT want users to have the same desktop background (wallpaper) displayed when they log on to any computer connected to the corporate network? If the answer is YES then see IT Requirement #5 in Table 2 for the recommended solution. NO because the user needs to be able to configure his own desktop background (wallpaper). Based on the IT Requirements Checklist above, the solution you implement should include the recommendations specified by IT Requirements #1 and #2 in Table 2, namely: Use Folder Redirection to redirect each user's Documents folder to a network server and then back up the files on the server regularly. Use Folder Redirection to redirect each user's Desktop folder to a network server and then back up the files on the server regularly. Appendix: Personalization Settings, Roaming User Profiles and Group Policy This section goes into more detail concerning which user personalization settings cannot be centralized (and thus roamed) unless you implement Roaming User Profiles within your environment. Note that the information in this section is comprehensive but is not exhaustive there may be additional user personalization settings not listed here that require implementing Roaming User Profiles in order to centralized these settings. Table 3 provides some examples of user personalization settings in Windows 7 that cannot be centralized unless you use Roaming User Profiles. The reason Roaming User Profiles is required is because the user settings identified in this table are all stored in the HKCU registry hive (NTuser.dat) which is located in the root of the user's profile and cannot be redirected using Folder Redirection. Note that settings in Table 3 (and also in Table 6) that are marked with an asterisk ("*") can be centrally managed to some extent by using Group Policy settings and/or Group Policy Preferences. Note however that using Group Policy to manage these settings does not have the same effect as using Roaming User Profiles. When Roaming User Profiles are used, users can personalize these settings themselves (unless mandatory profiles are being used). With Group Policy however, it is the IT implementer who configures (and possibly mandates) these settings, not the user. Whether you use Group Policy settings or Group Policy Preferences to manage the settings marked with an asterisk depends on whether you want the user to be able to override the configured settings. Specifically: If the settings are deployed using Group Policy Policies, the user will not be able to override the deployed settings. For example, the following Group Policy Policies setting can be used to mandate the active power plan on computers targeted by the policy: 19

20 Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates \System\Power Options\Select an Active Power Plan If the settings are deployed using Group Policy Preferences, the user will be able to override the deployed settings. For example, the following Group Policy Preferences setting can be used to configure the active power plan on computers targeted by the policy: Computer Configuration\Preferences\Control Panel Settings\Power Options\New\Power Plan (Windows Vista and later) Tables 4 and 5 provide some examples of personalization settings for Microsoft Office 2007 and a sample third-party application (Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 ) that cannot be centralized unless you use Roaming User Profiles. Note that some Office application files such as templates and custom dictionaries are stored in the AppData\Roaming folder within the user's profile and can thus be redirected out of the user's profile using Folder Redirection of AppData(Roaming). Similarly, some Adobe Acrobat Reader application files such as scripts, forms and security files settings are also stored in the AppData\Roaming folder and can be similarly redirected out of the user's profile. Table 6 provides some examples of personalization settings for Windows 7 that are not roamed even when Roaming User Profiles has been implemented. Personalization settings that are machine-specific instead of user-specific cannot be roamed using Roaming User Profiles even though the user is capable of configuring these settings. An example of configuring a machinespecific personalization setting is when the user selects a power plan for his computer. Note Some Windows 7 features such as the Action Center combine both user- and machine-specific personalization settings within the same user interface. For example, if you use the Action Center to configure Problem Reporting, you are configuring a per-user setting that can be roamed. But if you use the Action Center to configure Windows Update, you are configuring a per-machine setting that cannot be roamed. In addition, some per-user personalization settings in Windows 7 were simply not designed to roam. An example of this is when a user chooses to display some gadgets on his desktop. Because of the way gadgets are implemented in Windows 7, the gadgets the user selects are not roamed even in an environment where Roaming User Profiles has been implemented. Note For a list of personalization settings for a third-party application that are not roamed even when Roaming User Profiles has been implemented, contact the vendor for that application. Table 3: Some examples of personalization settings for Windows 7 that cannot be centralized unless you implement Roaming User Profiles. User settings category Themes Examples Change the current theme used to customize the desktop background, window colors, sounds and screen saver for 20

21 the user. Sounds Desktop background* Screen saver* Desktop icons Mouse pointer Display settings Taskbar settings Start menu* Accessibility Regional Options* Keyboard settings Action Center Problem Reporting* Folder Options* Windows Explorer Libraries Change the sounds that should be planed when various system events occur. Select a folder containing pictures to be displayed as a slide show on the user's desktop. Select a screen saver and configure the timeout interval. Choose whether icons such as Computer, Network and Recycle Bin should be displayed on the user's desktop. Enable or disable mouse pointer features such as pointer trails and pointer shadow. Change the displayed text size from 100% to 125% to make it easier for the user to read what is displayed on the screen. Configure the taskbar properties to auto-hide the taskbar. Configure the Start menu to not store and display recently opened programs. Configure Magnifier to invert the colors of the magnified area of the screen. Change the currency symbol and the long date format. Change the repeat delay and repeat rate when a key is pressed. Turn different types of notification messages on or off in the Action Center Specify whether Windows should check for solutions to problems that are found on the computer Configure Windows Explorer to open each folder in a separate window, to show hidden files, to use partial matches when searching indexed locations, and other settings configured by selecting Folder Options from the Tools menu. Configure Windows Explorer to display items within a folder using Extra Large Icons. Configure the Documents library to arrange documents by Author. 21

22 Create a new Library that includes a shared folder on a network file server. (Note: Libraries of this type can also be roamed by enabling Folder Redirection for the AppData(roaming) folder.) Internet Options* Windows Media Player Printers* Network connections* Mapped drives* Command prompt Change the home page, disable tabbed browsing, change the security level for the Intranet Zone, and make other changes using the Internet Options Control Panel. Configure how often Windows Media Player checks for updates, specify privacy settings, configure Media Library settings, and make other changes to Windows Media Player by selecting Options from the Tools menu. Add a printer connection to a network printer published in Active Directory. Set up a Virtual Private Networking (VPN) connection to a VPN server on a remote network. Map a drive letter to a shared folder on a network file server. Change the buffer size in the command prompt properties. Table 4: Some examples of personalization settings for Microsoft Office 2007 that cannot be centralized unless you implement Roaming User Profiles. User settings category Ribbon Quick Access Toolbar Word Options Examples Minimize the ribbon. Position the Quick Access Toolbar above or below the Ribbon. Enable Live Preview, show formatting marks for Tab characters, specify the language for a custom dictionary, ignore UPPERCASE words when spell-checking, personalize your copy of Office with your username and initials, specify autosave settings, or configure other Office personalization settings by configuring Word Options, PowerPoint Options, or another Office application's Options dialog. Table 5: Some examples of personalization settings for a third party application (Adobe Acrobat Reader 9) that cannot be centralized unless you implement Roaming User Profiles. User settings category Examples 22

23 Toolbars Preferences Display or hide the Edit toolbar. Specify the default page layout and zoom level, configure how often open documents should be saved to a temporary file, change the underline color for spell checking, and configure other settings by selecting Preferences from the Edit menu. Table 6: Some examples of personalization settings in Windows 7 that are not centralized even when Roaming User Profiles is implemented. User settings category Power Options* Gadgets Customer Experience Program* Windows Update* Backup* Remote Assistance* Remote Desktop* Network and Sharing Center Performance Options Account picture* Screen resolution Examples Selecting a power plan for the computer Dragging gadgets onto the computer's desktop Enabling or disabling the collection of information about the computer and sending it to Microsoft when a problem is encountered on the computer Changing the way updates are downloaded and installed on the computer Settings up Backup by choosing which folders on the computer should be backed up to a shared folder on the network. Allow or prevent Remote Assistance connections to the computer. Specify which types of Remote Desktop connections are allowed to the computer. Enabling or disabling Network Discover or File and Printer Sharing on the computer. Enable or disable visual effects such as slide open combo boxes or fade out menus. Display the user's selected account picture when Ctrl+Alt+Del is pressed. Change the screen resolution used for display on the computer. 23

24 Additional Resources "What's New in Folder Redirection and User Profiles" at "What's New in Offline Files" at "Managing Roaming User Data Deployment Guide" at "Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows and Windows Server" available from a4f5-ff24cc2030fb. "Group Policy Preferences Overview" available from Chapter 15 "Managing Users and User Data" in the Windows 7 Resource Kit available from Microsoft Press (see for more information). 24