Local Computer Policies Disappearing
I'm completely befuddled. Here's the setup: For a few years now, I've been running a combination of roaming profiles, folder redirection, and dynamic local users (Novell) in our student computing labs. The roaming profiles and redirected folders are stored on the user's Netware drive. The local computers are running Win XP SP 3.
We just got a batch of new computers to replace all the student computers. I decided to do a completely fresh installation on the new computers. Sounded like a good idea at the time, but I can't get the profiles to work correctly on the new systems. The Netware policies have not changed (the older computers are still using them) and I've copied all the local computer policies on the older computers to the new.
With the policies setup, I log off Administrator and logon with a student account. It's immediately apparent that the logon scripts aren't working (one is supposed to change the desktop). Logging back on as Administrator, I find that all the local policies are gone, vanished into thin air. That is, the directories C:\Windows\System32\GroupP
At this point, I'm completely at a loss as to what to try next and am desperate for help!
We just got a batch of new computers to replace all the student computers. I decided to do a completely fresh installation on the new computers. Sounded like a good idea at the time, but I can't get the profiles to work correctly on the new systems. The Netware policies have not changed (the older computers are still using them) and I've copied all the local computer policies on the older computers to the new.
With the policies setup, I log off Administrator and logon with a student account. It's immediately apparent that the logon scripts aren't working (one is supposed to change the desktop). Logging back on as Administrator, I find that all the local policies are gone, vanished into thin air. That is, the directories C:\Windows\System32\GroupP
At this point, I'm completely at a loss as to what to try next and am desperate for help!
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ZENandEmailguy,
I set up another new computer and installed the necessary Novell clients from scratch. (I started with 4.83 and worked my way up to 4.91 sp2.) Then I set all the policies as Administrator, logged off, and logged back on with a roaming profile userid. Hey presto! The policies are still there!
I must have corrupted something along the way on the previous computer. Having installed several applications on the first one, I would have liked to have gotten it working. But we're rapidly reaching a point of diminishing returns, so I think I'll move ahead with the new box where roaming profiles are working.
Even though the problem was not "solved" per se, your suggestions were excellent so I'll award you the points. Thanks for your help!
I set up another new computer and installed the necessary Novell clients from scratch. (I started with 4.83 and worked my way up to 4.91 sp2.) Then I set all the policies as Administrator, logged off, and logged back on with a roaming profile userid. Hey presto! The policies are still there!
I must have corrupted something along the way on the previous computer. Having installed several applications on the first one, I would have liked to have gotten it working. But we're rapidly reaching a point of diminishing returns, so I think I'll move ahead with the new box where roaming profiles are working.
Even though the problem was not "solved" per se, your suggestions were excellent so I'll award you the points. Thanks for your help!
ASKER
As per your suggestion, I made the DLU non-volatile, but all that accomplished was to leave the user's profile on the workstation. The local policies still disappeared. In fact, they are being deleted on logon. I can log in and out of Administrator (local profile) to my heart's content and the policies are there. But the first time I logon with a roaming profile -- poof! -- they're gone in a puff of smoke and never applied.
The computer I'm working on was to provide the image for 30 other computers. At this point, I think I'll start fresh with one of them in case I screwed something up with the current setup. I'll report back here as soon as I get it going, hopefully later today.