Is this close to what you are looking for: (For Vista but might work in 7 too.)
How to Delete Old User Profile Folders Automatically in Windows Vista - The Winhelponline Blog
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940017
Edit, BTW just deleteing C:\Users\[username] while does remove the profile, it doesn't remove the registry entries. It kinda confuses the profile service into thinking the profile is corrupted.
I just tried to give this a shot again... I'm unsure of something. I just did a simple test on a new Windows 7 image and customized the start menu and changed the background picture. Then, like before, I renamed Default to Default.bak and copied the administrator profile and renamed that to Default.
Then, I rebooted and logged in to a new local account that I haven't been in before.
The custom start menu gets pulled over just fine. The background image is just... blank.
Is copying the default profile using this method the proper way to do it? Or is there a better way that I'm not aware of?
I am curious if you resolved the default profile issue. The college I work for is looking to start teaching Windows 7 starting fall 2010 so, while I have a few months, I (like you) would like to get this ironed out before we go live. I have not tried the link yet from the first page, but plan to. If you have found out any other tricks for these pcs, please share. I also would like to have the system delete the profiles in a couple of our labs (like the library). Thanks!
I have not resolved this.
In fact, I have 30 computers on my lap right now. The holdup? Default profiles.
It's extremely frustrating being in a school district with a Windows environment. We need default profiles. Period. Done. Over. We need them.
2k Pro can handle this.
XP Pro can handle this.
Mac OSX can handle this.
Ubuntu can handle this.
Why was it taken away in Vista? Why was it taken away in 7? I don't know how Microsoft expects us (school districts across the nation) to even CONSIDER their products if we can't set a default profile.
And please, spare me of roaming profiles - it's just not an option.
Quite a few months now I've been trying to figure this out, and I'm not a single step closer.
Sorry to vent frustration - but I really need to figure this out, or else Microsoft better plan on extending XP Pro's life span - again.
Sorry to hear that. I setup 10 computers for a test lab using the instructions listed in the 2nd post and part of it worked. It seems like it only carried about half of the settings over.
The other annoying thing is the public documents and the users documents. If they save something in public documents, it doesn't matter if it wipes their profile on a reboot, anything saved is still in public which can get big. I removed this from the user that I copied to the default, but if I remember right, this is one of the settings that didn't hold.
I'm trying to get into one of the XP to 7 migration classes they are offering so I can ask these questions. I hope they have some type of decent resolution. I'll let you know if I find anything out.
Thank you. That would be a huge help if you could report back with anything you find - and I will do the same if I figure anything out.
I too have gotten mixed results. In some cases I can copy desktop icons, but not printers. Other times the background image doesn't copy over either.
I thought 7 was supposed to be more user friendly?
For you average user.....
Us techies will always have issues because of what we do (I do at least!).
Anyways, I might have a suggestion. I know MS has some tools to install 7 across many platforms at once (for businesses and such), but I have never used it, nor do I know much about it. If you could get one of those, perhaps it has a feature like this?
~Lordbob
Are you referring to sysprep? If so, I've tried that route. Granted I know nothing about sysprep so I could be doing something wrong for all I know.For you average user.....
Us techies will always have issues because of what we do (I do at least!).
Anyways, I might have a suggestion. I know MS has some tools to install 7 across many platforms at once (for businesses and such), but I have never used it, nor do I know much about it. If you could get one of those, perhaps it has a feature like this?
~Lordbob
It's just frustrating as a tech in a huge school district having to manage this many computers. It makes me wonder why we stick with Windows. Why can't we just... copy the default profile? Like before? I know new versions progress and make changes, etc, but this is one of those DUUR DA DUUR things I don't think Microsoft should have messed with.
Sorry to keep with the sour attitude. But I just have a hard time realizing that we'll be on XP forever if this can't get fixed. I had high hopes for Windows 7.
Yeah, I feel your pain (my school still uses XP and 2000).Are you referring to sysprep? If so, I've tried that route. Granted I know nothing about sysprep so I could be doing something wrong for all I know.For you average user.....
Us techies will always have issues because of what we do (I do at least!).
Anyways, I might have a suggestion. I know MS has some tools to install 7 across many platforms at once (for businesses and such), but I have never used it, nor do I know much about it. If you could get one of those, perhaps it has a feature like this?
~Lordbob
It's just frustrating as a tech in a huge school district having to manage this many computers. It makes me wonder why we stick with Windows. Why can't we just... copy the default profile? Like before? I know new versions progress and make changes, etc, but this is one of those DUUR DA DUUR things I don't think Microsoft should have messed with.
Sorry to keep with the sour attitude. But I just have a hard time realizing that we'll be on XP forever if this can't get fixed. I had high hopes for Windows 7.
This may be something to ask on TechNet about.
~Lordbob
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