Microsoft Windows Profiles
What is a personal profile?
Your personal profile stores your individual settings in Windows.
This includes everything from your wallpaper and your desktop
to your My Documents folder.
How does a profile work?
Your profile is stored on a central server and is downloaded
at every login and uploaded at every logout. Your profile
provides a way of customizing your settings so that your personal
settings are the same no matter what Windows computer you log into.
Any change you make to your profile when logged in is not saved to the
central server until you log out. This is why it is not a good idea to store
important files or documents in your profile (i.e. on your desktop).
You should always store important data in your Y: drive, where they are
immediately saved.
What is my profile quota?
Each CS user has a profile quota limit of 45 MB. Setting a quota limit
helps prevent file corruption and speeds up the login process.
Users exceeding this quota will receive a warning by email. Failure to
respond will result in the user's account being disabled.
What causes me to go over quota?
Profiles generally grow in size over time. The most common cause
for going over quota is the files that are cached when you use a web browser.
What do I do if I go over quota?
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The first thing that you need to do is figure out what is taking up the most space
in your profile. To do this, go to
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\.
Right click on your username and choose "Properties". Next, click on the Size tab
(If the size tab is not displayed on the computer that you are using, please
email and they will fix the
problem. Please be sure to include the hostname of the machine you're using.)
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Once you know what is taking up the most space in your profile, you will need
to move this data to either your Y: drive or to project space and then delete it out of
your profile. If browser cache is taking up the most space, you can safely just
delete these files out of your profile. Mozilla and Firefox cache are usually the
number one thing that will put you over your quota.
Mozilla cache is generally stored in
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<random string>\Cache.
It is best if you close Firefox before you delete these files.
PLEASE NOTE: Any data that you delete out of your
profile (i.e. C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\) will
also need to be deleted from the copy of your profile that is stored out on the server.
This will need to be done before you log out. To access your profile on
the server, simply go to Start - Run and enter \\geta\profiles\<username>.
If you'you have already moved the data that you want saved to your Y: drive and/or project
space, you can just delete the data out of your profile on the server -- you don't need to move the data again.
After you move and/or delete the data that you want saved, you should re-check the size of your profile. Simply
close any property windows that you may have opened and repeat step #1 above. Repeat this process as many
times as necessary until your profile is below 45 MB.
I can't find the folder in my profile that is listed as taking up the most space. What should I do?
By default, the windows file manager is set so that it does not show hidden folders or files.
You can change this by double clicking on My Computer and going to Tools->Folder Options. Then
click on the View tab and put a mark next to "Show hidden files and folders".
Click the "Apply" button and click "OK".
Potential Profile Problems
There are a number of potential problems with user profiles that can lead to unexpected behavior and the loss of any data stored in the user profile.
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If the roaming profile is unavailable when a user logs in, a default local profile is used. If during this log on session, the network
connection to the roaming profile becomes active, when the user logs out the default local profile will overwrite the roaming profile and all previously saved data in the roaming profile is lost.
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If for any reason the profile is not successfully copied at log off, the locally cached copy of the profile is not deleted. The next time the user logs in the
roaming profile may fail to load or may be modified by the locally cached copy resulting in unexpected data loss.
- In the event a user is logged in on more than one computer, the profile that is ultimately saved to the server will
depend on the time stamps of the
NTUSER.DAT files. If the time stamps are the same, the copy saved
depends on the order in which the machines successfully log off.
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Because of the vulnerability to data loss, the increase in network traffic and increased log on times, it is
strongly recommended that users do not use their roaming profile for any file storage. All CS accounts
are provided with a home directory that is mounted at log on as the Y: drive. Storing files in your Y: drive
will provide better performance and security.
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A number of directories created during log in are not uploaded to the server at log off. This is by design.
Data saved to these directories will not follow the user and will eventually be lost. The directories (and their
subdirectories) that are not uploaded with roaming profiles are:
- Local Settings
- History
- Temp
- Temporary Internet Files
Recovery
Often the only practical way of recovering from a corrupted profile is to delete the current
profile and allow the system to create a new one. Your profile cannot be deleted while
you are logged in. If you would like or need your profile deleted contact the operator
for assistance.
In the event that there is something that must be recovered the following methods may be successful.
Roaming profiles are backed up to tape nightly but there is no way to be sure that the local version was
successfully copied to the server. Consequently there is no guarantee that data in your profile is going
to be recoverable. Files that are backed up on tape can be restored to your home directory.
If you log in and do not get your usual user profile you may be able to recover. Do not log out!
Contact the operator and ask them to rename the copy of your profile on the server. At
this point you can connect to the server and transfer files that are still in the old profile directory to your home directory.
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