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You can acheive it from domain group policy, users profiles.
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if you have 2 profiles and different users who access them then you could try using mandatory profiles however your description of what you are trying to achieve is a little vague so if you could flesh it out a bit i might be able to help you more
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Yeah, I believe this can be done through group policy. &nbsp;I suppose you could create two different GPO's that correspond to two different roaming profile shares and then apply them to the individual computers as necessary, like this:<br />
<br />
-- &nbsp;GPO#1 applied to PC#1 using Roaming Profile Share #1, \\server\profile_share1<br />
<br />
-- &nbsp;GPO#2 applied to PC#2 using Roaming Profile Share #2, \\server\profile_share2
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<div>
Sorry if I wasn't clear enough. &nbsp;I will try to simplify.<br />
<br />
We have 1 user, UserA. &nbsp;This user has 2 computers, Computer1 and Computer2. &nbsp;He logs on to both computers with the UserA account.<br />
<br />
The registry settings on Computer1 and Computer2 are different, and need to remain different. &nbsp;There are also different desktop items on each of the computers under the UserA profile.<br />
<br />
The problem is, when we implement the roaming profile, it will try to merge the desktop files, and will save up the most recent copy of the registry. &nbsp;It seems that the &quot;out of the box&quot; roaming profiles will not allow different profiles for a single user account. &nbsp;This makes sense to me, as far as how profiles are supposed to work. &nbsp;This is probably a fairly unique scenario that we are looking for a workaround for.<br />
<br />
Let me know if I need to clarify further. &nbsp;Thanks for your help on this one.<br />
<br />

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robrandon: &nbsp;Did you read my suggestion? &nbsp;I believe my answer is exactly or at least close to what you're looking for. &nbsp;Applying two different GPOs to your two different computers using separate roaming profile shares should work just fine. &nbsp;You can still use your single account and Windows won't attempt to merge the profiles from one computer to another because it will be using the profile from share1 and share2 respectively.
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ok so if you need different setups on each machine what is the benefit for roaming profiles, i would be inclined to think it might be for teh my documents storage?<br />
<br />
if that is the case use folder redirection as opposed to roaming profiles, the profile is therefore saved on the machine however the my documents are redirected to a network store.<br />
<br />
if there are other reasons why you wish to use roaming profiles please let me know
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NJDfan1711,<br />
<br />
Yes, I did, and thanks. &nbsp;I wanted to provide more information for the other users who posted.<br />
<br />
I need to review/test your comment to see if it is practical for us. &nbsp;In my example above, it is a single user, but this will involve several more.<br />
<br />
I didn't know you can setup a computer with a roaming profile path. &nbsp;Would all of the profiles for that computer then be stored in that location? &nbsp;Also, if we then added another computer to look at the same computer profile path, and a user logged on, would they then see their same profile?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
slam69,<br />
<br />
We need the roaming profiles so when the users goes to our DR facility, each of their computers are setup with the same environment as in Production.
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i think your going to struggle then<br />
<br />
&nbsp;multiple users on each machine knocks out NJDfan's suggestion as the gpo applied to the machines will only be applicab le for one user.<br />
<br />
You could use my suggestion of folder redirection as The folders that you can redirect are Application Data, Desktop, My Documents, and Start Menu and this may be a far better option although may still not fit your model , have a look at the below site for a further and better description<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Profile-Folder-Redirection-Windows-Server-2003.html" rel="ugc">http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Profile-Folder-Redirection-Windows-Server-2003.html</a><br />
<br />
If folder redirection is not possible then finally there is mandatory profiles whereby users all have assigned profiles that are static but again i dont think this will completely satisfy what you need, unfortunately you may not be able to achieve exactly what you want, but you should be able to find a happy medium using folder rediection i think
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slam69,<br />
<br />
It's more than just files. &nbsp;We need the profile's registry stuff. &nbsp;If it was 1 user/computer, would NJDfan1711's solution work?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
NJDfan1711,<br />
<br />
Do you have any documentation on your solution?<br />
<br />
<br />
Thanks.<br />
<br />

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i dont believe it would work no as the gpo for user profiles cannot be implemented against a machine, its not something i have ever investigated however so i wouldnt like to say but id be amazed if it did.<br />
<br />

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Well first off, despite what slam69 said, the GPO can be applied to any amount of users, not just one. &nbsp;If UserA logs on to Computer1 which is controlled by GPO1, he will be forced to use the roaming profile share associated with that GPO. &nbsp;If UserB logs on to Computer1, he too will be forced to use roaming profile share associated with that same GPO since he logged on to the same computer which is controlled by that same GPO. &nbsp;<br />
<br />
You can search any general Microsoft documentation for setting up Roaming Profiles, but here are some basic steps:<br />
<br />
To create a roaming profile for your users you must perform 2 tasks: &nbsp;1. &nbsp;generate a share to store the profiles and 2. Either create two separate GPOs and apply them to each computer individually (you may want or have to put them in their own OUs), or change the user properties on a per-user basis in active directory to point to the new shares.<br />
<br />
1. &nbsp;Generate the share. &nbsp;Create a share on one of your servers (can be a member server). &nbsp;I would recommend using a seperate drive for this as it can get large. &nbsp;For this example I've installed a new NTFS drive d on server1, created a folder called user profiles, and shared it out under the share name user$ (note the $ will make this a hidden share). &nbsp;I'm also implimenting quotas on this drive before anyone writes anything to it to make sure everyone falls under the quota restrictions (currently set to the size of the drive because I'm being generous in this example). &nbsp;I edit the share permissions and remove the everyone group and replace it with the domain users group with full permissions (not required but a good idea). &nbsp;I edit the NTFS permissions on the folder. &nbsp;Using the advanced button, I change the permissions for everyone to &quot;List folder/read data&quot; and &quot;create folders/append data&quot; only. &nbsp;That's it, this share is now ready for user profiles.
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NJDfan1711,<br />
<br />
I know how to implement the roaming profiles for users, but I thought your suggestion was to apply it to a computer. &nbsp;I can't find any documentation on that. &nbsp;Are you sure a computer can have a roaming profile setup for it? &nbsp;I'm looking for documentation on that, but can't find anything.<br />
<br />

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NJDfan1711,<br />
<br />
I still haven't found a way to do what you are suggesting. &nbsp;If you can update, it would be appreciated.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Has anyone seen any type of scripting solution that would help with this? &nbsp;Like maybe a prompt to ask the user which profile they want to use, and it loads that one from a different server path?<br />
<br />

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Like i said i dont think it can be done 
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<div>
Still looking for a work around and wondering if NJDfan1711 will chime in again.<br />

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<div>
i would suggest the lack of response to say something sorry but as initially indicated i still dont think this can be achieved
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<div>
How about this idea:<br />
<br />
Setup an OU that would store the Secondary computers that the users have. &nbsp;For that OU, setup a Loopback Group Policy that would apply a different profile path for users.<br />
<br />
So, if a user logs on to their Primary computer, they will get the regular User Group Policy which would put their Profile in the correct path. &nbsp;If they log on to the Secondary computer, the loopback policy will apply instead, and will give use a secondary profile path.<br />
<br />

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I wasnt aware you could set the users profile path within gpo it is set within AD, if thats not correct I apologise but as far as i am aware you can only set the profile path within AD.<br />
<br />
nice Ad with teh loopback and thats a great tool in lots of instances but i dont think it can be employed here, if im wrong i apologise
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I'm going to research further.
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thats fine please remember to come back to the question as i promise you that this is not possible and i would not post if that were not the case
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<div>
Sorry it took a while to get back to this topic, have been busy with some other work-related items.<br />
<br />
Contrary to slam69, I am not avoiding this because my suggestion was not correct. &nbsp;Like I initially said, I &quot;believe&quot; this could be accomplished through GPO, but apparently not. &nbsp;With that said, I have somewhat of a dumb question for you:<br />
<br />
Why implement roaming profiles at all for this scenario? &nbsp;You can avoid the problem of creating jondoe1 and johndoe2 and just use one single account for each computer (johndoe1) and their individual profiles will remain on the computers. &nbsp;What's wrong with leaving it the way it is?
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The reason is firm-wide policy. &nbsp;We have several hundred users and nodes and require this configuration for disaster recovery reasons. &nbsp;User can only have 1 account.<br />
<br />
I will continue to test by putting these secondary computers in a sub-OU and enabling a loop-back policy. &nbsp;<br />
<br />

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OK but can i just stand by teh orginal answer as said all along that this is not possible, loopback policy is fantastic for many many things but cannot be used for profile path settings.<br />
<br />
im not saying this ot be awkward Im just trying to save yuou a lot of time and heartache, the scenario you are trying to achieve is not possible and a choice has to be made on which route to go down that can best apply to your business but the current thinking is not possible
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Thanks slam69. &nbsp;I know. &nbsp;I'm just looking at all options. &nbsp;Before posting I didn't think it was possible, and I would hate to end up where I started.<br />
<br />

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<div>
robrandon: &nbsp;My question to you did not involve users having more than one account. &nbsp;As it stands right now, each user already has one single account, correct? &nbsp;So, what is wrong with letting User1 login to ComputerA (which has unique profile settings) with his account, and then letting him also login to ComputerB (which also has unique profile settings)? &nbsp;By this logic, the profiles on each computer will remain unchanged and won't be merged together because there is no roaming profile scenario setup, yet you also have one single account for each user as you mentioned was company policy.
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<div>
Hi if you check back up the post i questioned the exact sam ething and recieved<br />
<br />
slam69,<br />
<br />
We need the roaming profiles so when the users goes to our DR facility, each of their computers are setup with the same environment as in Production.<br />
<br />
in response
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<div>
Sorry about the confusion.<br />
<br />
1 account per user.<br />
<br />
The user is allowed to logon to 2 computer. &nbsp;Each computer has a different profile. &nbsp;Our goal is to provide via roaming profiles, BOTH profiles at once, which is not an &quot;out of the box&quot; option through MS, and thus my posted question.<br />
<br />
So, what I'm looking for is:<br />
&quot;Is there a way, WITHOUT creating additional accounts for these users, to have the roaming profiles remain separate? &quot;<br />
<br />

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<div>
robrandon: &nbsp;If slam69's response to my question was correct then I have my answer, however, based on what you just said, again I must reiterate that my question involved one account per user, just as you mentioned.<br />
<br />
So, do you definitely need roaming profiles because you need the same profile to be used in a production environment at one location, and a test (DR) environment again another physical location? &nbsp;If this is the case, then I can see why roaming profiles are needed, but if it isn't then I am not so sure this is the solution you need...
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The idea is that if a user goes to the DR facility, they can logon to any spare computer there and have their exact profile already configured. &nbsp;As far as the user is concerned, they can do everything on that DR computer that they could do on their main office computer. &nbsp;This works for 99% of the users here.<br />
<br />
The issue is with the users who have more than 1 computer and actually have different options setup in the registry. &nbsp;The roaming profiles is smart enough to keep copies of files from both computers (unfortunately it merges them into 1 profile but at least the users have their data), but not smart enough to keep 2 different registry hives.<br />
<br />

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which is the nature of roaming profiles it loads your mobile settings from one machine to another but cannot distinguish between two paths as there is no way to program two sepearte profile paths, there is one profile to each ad profile
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<div>
I know I know. &nbsp;I'm just trying to find a work-around. &nbsp;Figured I would check with the brains on EE to come up with something out of the box.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />

</div>


<div>
well without blowing my own trumpet i am pretty up there with regards to xp and have good knowledge of AD management and profiles, I used to take care of Barclaycards AD and software deployment and its not soemthing ive ever seen nor something i will see as i dont think its possible. <br />
<br />
Please dont think im being negative just i know how frustrated i get when I spend ages on something and cant resolve and thats what will happen here ;o(
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<div>
Was really hoping for a work-around but it doesn't look like there is one - at least not an obvious one. &nbsp;It may be possible on Vista and 2008 AD, but that's not our environment right now. &nbsp;Thank you both for your comments. &nbsp;If you come across a solution in the future, please post back.
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<div>
<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
We are looking to implement roaming profiles for our users for disaster recovery. &nbsp;This is in a Windows 2003 Domain.<br />
<br />
We have a handful of users who use 2 different computers, and have 2 different profiles. &nbsp;So, each computer has different desktop items and different registry settings.<br />
<br />
Is there a way, WITHOUT creating additional accounts for these users, to have the roaming profiles remain separate? &nbsp;Ideas welcome.<br />

</div>
</div>


We are looking to implement roaming profiles for our users for disaster recovery.  This is in a Windows 2003 Domain.

We have a handful of users who use 2 different computers, and have 2 different profiles.  So, each computer has different desktop items and different registry settings.

Is there a way, WITHOUT creating additional accounts for these users, to have the roaming profiles remain separate?  Ideas welcome.


Windows XP User - 2 computers - different profiles - Want to implement roaming profiles - ideas?

Microsoft Windows XP is the sixth release of the NT series of operating systems, and was the first to be marketed in a variety of editions: XP Home and XP Professional, designed for business and power users. The advanced features in XP Professional are generally disabled in Home Edition, but are there and can be activated. There were two 64-bit editions, an embedded edition and a tablet edition.

Windows XP

Active Directory (AD) is a Microsoft brand for identity-related capabilities. In the on-premises world, Windows Server AD provides a set of identity capabilities and services, and is hugely popular (88% of Fortune 1000 and 95% of enterprises use AD). This topic includes all things Active Directory including DNS, Group Policy, DFS, troubleshooting, ADFS, and all other topics under the Microsoft AD and identity umbrella.

Active Directory

Windows Server 2003 was based on Windows XP and was released in four editions: Web, Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter. It also had derivative versions for clusters, storage and Microsoft’s Small Business Server. Important upgrades included integrating Internet Information Services (IIS), improvements to Active Directory (AD) and Group Policy (GP), and the migration to Automated System Recovery (ASR).