Windows 7 - Default Profile. How can I edit it?

[SquonkSC]

Being short is handy for crawling under desks.

 

[Darryl Licht]

...Couple that with random fires that blow up and new wiring jobs and hooking this up and fixing that and fixing this teacher's problem and ID-10-T errors left and right and you suddenly have no free time whatsoever to even consider imaging in the middle of the school year.

ID10T errors... our staff has those all the time!

...As you may or may not know, being in the tech department means 2 things - if you're hearing anything, it's always bad. If you're not hearing a peep, you know things are running good. I don't touch the labs unless I'm hearing issues about them - otherwise I let them alone until yearly maintenance rolls around. "If it aint broke don't fix it."

I told you in an earlier post that I had worked in our schools Tech dept... back to just teaching as my contract in that dept. expired... but yes I understand the logic, but I dont agree with it. Our department had 3 "techs"... 2 of whom sat on their rear ends surfing and watching Internet TV on our T3 lines... while I, the "new guy" did nearly everything! Every tech department I've ever been involved with was reactive rather than proactive... I AM NOT WIRED THAT WAY!

And I'm sorry, but the way you are imaging "locally" with a giga switch under one arm, laptop, and a ball of cat6 is weally WE-TODD-DEAD... Turn on PXE and schedule them to run automatically and start getting new switches... so you dont have to work both days and nights! That's what we do at our school! and we have a 50/50 mix of gbps and mbps switches

...Oh, please - spare me of the Microsoft dominated talk.

... I work in IT every day - I know what works for me, I know what gets the job done, and I know how efficiently (and cost effectively) I can get my work done. That's something that Microsoft (in my opinion) hasn't been an "ace" in -

...something that more and more tech departments in the nation are also beginning to realize. I accept that Microsoft is existent in the world, and I think they have their place in the IT industry and that will forever remain, but I will just never hop on board with the "oh, well, they own everything so let's just move forward with it."

My well intentioned friend... that change will never come from the bottom-up! NEVER EVER! Management will not switch to open source, not anytime in the near furture! Not until some distro (Ubuntu?) makes its' way to the mainstream desktop in homes and businesses! You are smoking something good back there on the right coast, but it wont happen any time soon!

Apparently you have not worked as a tech in the business world, which is so much more stringent regarding software... you might get away with sneeking an open source app into a cash strapped school district, but it won't work in the business world. MS owns over 88% of the desktop share worldwide, that's both business and the home use. It isnt going to change overnight or anytime soon... learn it, use it, deal with it!

Capitalism is all about survival of the fittest, and most of us who live in a capitalized nation do not associate good stuff with the word "free". That isnt to say there isnt good open source stuff out there.. .there is and I USE IT TOO! I'm speaking of perceptions!

 

[Roasted]

My well intentioned friend... that change will never come from the bottom-up! NEVER EVER! Management will not switch to open source, not anytime in the near furture! Not until some distro (Ubuntu?) makes its' way to the mainstream desktop in homes and businesses! You are smoking something good back there on the right coast, but it wont happen any time soon!

Apparently you have not worked as a tech in the business world, which is so much more stringent regarding software... you might get away with sneeking an open source app into a cash strapped school district, but it won't work in the business world. MS owns over 88% of the desktop share worldwide, that's both business and the home use. It isnt going to change overnight or anytime soon... learn it, use it, deal with it!

Capitalism is all about survival of the fittest, and most of us who live in a capitalized nation do not associate good stuff with the word "free". That isnt to say there isnt good open source stuff out there.. .there is and I USE IT TOO! I'm speaking of perceptions!

Keep living that closed in dream, man. More and more businesses are beginning to tinker with open source software - especially with Open Office. I'm not saying that Ubuntu or any Linux distro will take over the world, tomorrow, today, now, next week, next year, etc. But as more and more open source software is getting introduced, more and more people will have the opportunity to be exposed to other software applications that are available that can handle the tasks they need. There's many colleges who work with Linux - my girlfriend's uncle is an instructor at a college who has several Ubuntu labs.

I'm not saying open source software will own the world. I'm just saying, to ignore it is naive because it already is existent and certain OSS applications are already becoming familiar to more and more people.

And don't you dare forget - 50% of Google employees are running Linux. Ouch. I know.

And please - do yourself a favor and don't just assume "somebody hasn't been in tech that long" because of a realistic mind set they have. Thanks.

 

[Darryl Licht]

My skills will remain where the $$ is! Remember, the techs only suggest... management decides!

You can have Ubuntu and the mass confusion that surrounds the too numerous open source distros and their open source apps!

Tinker was the appropriate word... it means the same as mess with, experiment... that's all open source will be for some time in the future... an experiment!

I keep abreast of open source apps like your fav FOG, GParted, Phex, VNC, etc... and I always will... but my bread is buttered by Microsoft. I know it, I accept it... and I live by it!

I wont change until MS owns under 50% of the market share... which wont be any time soon! You can stay bobbing in the open source surf gasping for air, or grab a MS life raft! Your choice!

Open source is still a pipe dream for the business mainstream, and that wont change overnight! <---TRUE!

 

[Roasted]

My skills will remain where the $$ is! Remember, the techs only suggest... management decides!

You can have Ubuntu and the mass confusion that surrounds the too numerous open source distros and their open source apps!

Tinker was the appropriate word... it means the same as mess with, experiment... that's all open source will be for some time in the future... an experiment!

I keep abreast of open source apps like your fav FOG, GParted, Phex, VNC, etc... and I always will... but my bread is buttered by Microsoft. I know it, I accept it... and I live by it!

I wont change until MS owns under 50% of the market share... which wont be any time soon! You can stay bobbing in the open source surf gasping for air, or grab a MS life raft! Your choice!

Open source is still a pipe dream for the business mainstream, and that wont change overnight! <---TRUE!

No kidding, it won't change overnight. But my point remains - being naive to open source software is your own loss.

Enjoy your MS software. I'll continue using what works.

 

[Darryl Licht]

My skills will remain where the $$ is! Remember, the techs only suggest... management decides!

You can have Ubuntu and the mass confusion that surrounds the too numerous open source distros and their open source apps!

Tinker was the appropriate word... it means the same as mess with, experiment... that's all open source will be for some time in the future... an experiment!

I keep abreast of open source apps like your fav FOG, GParted, Phex, VNC, etc... and I always will... but my bread is buttered by Microsoft. I know it, I accept it... and I live by it!

I wont change until MS owns under 50% of the market share... which wont be any time soon! You can stay bobbing in the open source surf gasping for air, or grab a MS life raft! Your choice!

Open source is still a pipe dream for the business mainstream, and that wont change overnight! <---TRUE!

No kidding, it won't change overnight. But my point remains - being naive to open source software is your own loss.

Enjoy your MS software. I'll continue using what works.

I am everthing BUT naive!

 

[Darryl Licht]

Roasted... you may be happy to hear that the OPK for Win7 is available!

The Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK) is a set of tools and documentation that support automated installation and customization of the Windows operating system.

Microsoft OEM Partner Center

It's primarily meant for OEM system builders, but many use some of it for their imaging needs. Might help...

 

[Roasted]

Roasted... you may be happy to hear that the OPK for Win7 is available!

The Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK) is a set of tools and documentation that support automated installation and customization of the Windows operating system.

Microsoft OEM Partner Center

It's primarily meant for OEM system builders, but many use some of it for their imaging needs. Might help...

I'm confused. Is it for imaging, or does it allow me to set the default profile? If it's for imaging, it's useless to me. Otherwise, we're talkin.

 

[Darryl Licht]

Roasted:

Both! Also, you may want to get your hands on a copy of Win7 Resource Kit... a total of 9 chapters devoted to deployment!

 

[Roasted]

Roasted:

Both! Also, you may want to get your hands on a copy of Win7 Resource Kit... a total of 9 chapters devoted to deployment!

You do realize what's going on here, right?

Microsoft is attempting to make things easier for those of us who have to mass deploy systems, and actually making it 100% harder.

What about those of us who just need default profiles set and no other BS? JUST profiles? Suddenly it's turning into a 40 step process.

Sorry, MS. Fail.

But I appreciate your continued help Licht.

 

[Darryl Licht]

Roasted:

The MS process is still largely unchanged from the past as far as creating and deploying an image the MS way. Why dont you create a seperate image for each unique classroom or lab? You'd need an external HDD to store the images on, but wouldnt that accomplish the same thing as copying a profile. More work creating seperate images for each machine type and lab or classroom... but wouldnt that do the trick?

 

[Lordbob75]

Roasted:

Obviously all of our solutions do not work, or you just don't like them
How about finding another solution, or keep using what you are instead of bashing all of our help?

We have come up with everything we can, and it has all been rejected...

~Lordbob

 

[Roasted]

Roasted:

The MS process is still largely unchanged from the past as far as creating and deploying an image the MS way. Why dont you create a seperate image for each unique classroom or lab? You'd need an external HDD to store the images on, but wouldnt that accomplish the same thing as copying a profile. More work creating seperate images for each machine type and lab or classroom... but wouldnt that do the trick?

You nailed it. That's exactly what I do with FOG. I have a computer that is essentially the FOG server, which has 2 drives in it that back each other up. Within this computer I have a simple folder called images. Then it breaks down by school, then in each school, different labs, library, etc. So I do have set up exactly what you suggested. It's AMAZING how quickly different images can stack up. In the high school alone we have about a dozen different images, just from the business lab, photoshop lab, cadd lab, graphics lab, library, etc etc. It's a system that works out nicely, but MAN am I glad I started a decent naming convention from the very beginning - otherwise I'd be lost now.

Roasted:

Obviously all of our solutions do not work, or you just don't like them
How about finding another solution, or keep using what you are instead of bashing all of our help?

We have come up with everything we can, and it has all been rejected...

~Lordbob

Lordbob:

I suggest you take the time to read over the entire contents of this thread. Discussed in this thread were different ways to edit the default profile of Windows 7, all of which seemed to be recommended to me based on the same directions of Windows Vista, assuming it would work in the same manner. I did however find, both based on personal experience along with numerous other sources, that the CopyProfile option with sysprep in Windows 7 does not function in the manner it should.

In short - I have followed the directions and suggestions given to me. It's not that I ignored them, they simply just... failed.

We are (unfortunately) dropping back to Windows Vista, since their sysprep CopyProfile feature works. Though it's more steps than what was used in XP, and kind of cumbersome, we're still doing what we can to leave personal opinion out of it and get these systems out there in the classrooms for the student's sake.

 

[Darryl Licht]

Roasted:

The MS process is still largely unchanged from the past as far as creating and deploying an image the MS way. Why dont you create a seperate image for each unique classroom or lab? You'd need an external HDD to store the images on, but wouldnt that accomplish the same thing as copying a profile. More work creating seperate images for each machine type and lab or classroom... but wouldnt that do the trick?

You nailed it. That's exactly what I do with FOG. I have a computer that is essentially the FOG server, which has 2 drives in it that back each other up. Within this computer I have a simple folder called images. Then it breaks down by school, then in each school, different labs, library, etc. So I do have set up exactly what you suggested. It's AMAZING how quickly different images can stack up. In the high school alone we have about a dozen different images, just from the business lab, photoshop lab, cadd lab, graphics lab, library, etc etc. It's a system that works out nicely, but MAN am I glad I started a decent naming convention from the very beginning - otherwise I'd be lost now.

If you created a default profile and user name when you made the image, what's the problem if you are a workgroup and not a domain?

Yes your naming convention for your images is mucho importante! Our large campus is pretty easy for this... each building has a different #. The 900 building for example has rooms all in the 900's... so we name our images 975_FA09 for example. We also identified the apps and settings that remain unchanged and have a base image for each machine. This makes building a new image a breeze!

At the community college level the classes taught in each room from semester to semester vary very little... instructors must request any changes needed to a room image usually no later than 2 weeks prior to the start of a new term.

 

[Roasted]

Roasted:

The MS process is still largely unchanged from the past as far as creating and deploying an image the MS way. Why dont you create a seperate image for each unique classroom or lab? You'd need an external HDD to store the images on, but wouldnt that accomplish the same thing as copying a profile. More work creating seperate images for each machine type and lab or classroom... but wouldnt that do the trick?

You nailed it. That's exactly what I do with FOG. I have a computer that is essentially the FOG server, which has 2 drives in it that back each other up. Within this computer I have a simple folder called images. Then it breaks down by school, then in each school, different labs, library, etc. So I do have set up exactly what you suggested. It's AMAZING how quickly different images can stack up. In the high school alone we have about a dozen different images, just from the business lab, photoshop lab, cadd lab, graphics lab, library, etc etc. It's a system that works out nicely, but MAN am I glad I started a decent naming convention from the very beginning - otherwise I'd be lost now.

If you created a default profile and user name when you made the image, what's the problem if you are a workgroup and not a domain?

*shrug* Not sure I follow... We ARE on a domain. Were you thinking I was on a workgroup?

 

[Darryl Licht]

OK... didnt remember. If your image is a member of domain and all users in a classroom use same profile, whats the issue?

 

[Lordbob75]

Roasted:

Obviously all of our solutions do not work, or you just don't like them
How about finding another solution, or keep using what you are instead of bashing all of our help?

We have come up with everything we can, and it has all been rejected...

~Lordbob

Lordbob:

I suggest you take the time to read over the entire contents of this thread. Discussed in this thread were different ways to edit the default profile of Windows 7, all of which seemed to be recommended to me based on the same directions of Windows Vista, assuming it would work in the same manner. I did however find, both based on personal experience along with numerous other sources, that the CopyProfile option with sysprep in Windows 7 does not function in the manner it should.

In short - I have followed the directions and suggestions given to me. It's not that I ignored them, they simply just... failed.

We are (unfortunately) dropping back to Windows Vista, since their sysprep CopyProfile feature works. Though it's more steps than what was used in XP, and kind of cumbersome, we're still doing what we can to leave personal opinion out of it and get these systems out there in the classrooms for the student's sake.

I have been following this thread from the beginning.... My point is simply that we are now beating a dead horse. Since MS apparently can't make a product correctly to you, I would recommend finding something else.

No, I am sorry that I do not know the answer to the original question, nor did my other suggestion work. However, constantly bashing each and every solution wears me down.

I am done with this thread; good luck on your quest for the Grail.

~Lordbob

 

[Darryl Licht]

Roasted:

I dont believe anyone suggested trying the USMT 4.0... User State Migration Tool is part of the WAIK. It allows you to capture user accounts, user files, and OS and app settings. Maybe these links will help:

What's New in USMT 4.0

User State Migration Tool 4.0 User's Guide

http://sqlblog.com/blogs/john_paul_...hybrid-between-upgrade-and-clean-install.aspx

Migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 Beta with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Beta | Media | TechNet Edge

 

[Bob2]

Thank for the warning. It sounds way to complicated for me on a home computer network with two computers and three profiles. I quess I will just try manually to set up the same profiles for each user.
Perhaps someone can come up with a simple method to accomplish this.

 

[MihaG]

Hello!
I am new here, and first of all I would like to apologies for my mistakes in English language.
I was reading trought 8 pages of posts regarding problems with Default user profile.
Recently I installed Windows 7 profesional on one computer, not in a Domain, not in any network, so it is a single computer with 3 to 4 different users. So I want to setup Default user profile as i used to do in Win XP.
I setup new account with administrator rights, instal and setup all aplications (Office, AdobeReader, IE8-default page, temporary directories, etc..). Next step was to login as administrator, go to control panel, system, advanced, user profiles, select profile, copy to -OOOps, it is grayed out! Said to myself OK, I will try dumb copying one profile to another (to Default user). Not all the settings were transfered from one account to Default user profile.
My question is, is there a correct way to do it, regarding my previous statement (one computer, not in a Domain, not in any network, so it is a single computer with 3 to 4 different users)!
Trough this 8 pages, I didnt find all-in-one solution.
Than you!

MihaG