Microsoft Windows profile
Encyclopedia
Microsoft Windows profile refers to the user profile
that is used by the Microsoft Windows
operating system to represent the characteristics of the user.
At first logon, a folder will typically be created under "Documents and Settings" (standard folder on English version of Windows 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003) matching the logon name of the user. Should a folder of that name already exist, the profile-creation process will create a new one, typically named username.computername, on workgroup computers, or username.domainname on Active Directory member computers.
Once a profile folder has been created, Windows will never automatically rename that folder. Thus if the username itself is subsequently changed, the profile folder will remain as is, and the profile will no longer match the username, which could lead to confusion. For this reason the administrator might want to avoid renaming user accounts if at all possible, or rename the folder manually and edit the registry to reflect the changes.
The new profile is in fact created by making a copy of a special profile, named Default User. It is permissible to modify this Default User profile (within certain guidelines) so as to provide a customised working environment for each new user. Modification of the Default User profile should ideally be done from new, prior to any users logging-on to the computer; if a user has already logged on once or more, the Default Profile has no effect whatsoever for that user.
My Documents - This folder is intended to contain the user's work, and in Windows XP-aware programs, dialog boxes will typically prompt the user to store documents here. 'My Documents' as a shortcut also appears on the desktop, and in My Computer. It is here that these shortcuts point.
Favorites, Cookies and History - These folders are used by Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser to store surfing data. They are not used by alternative browsers such as Firefox or Opera, which typically store their data under "Application Data."
Nethood, Printhood - These folders contain the network shares and printers 'discovered' by the user with the My Network Places applet, in the form of shortcuts.
Start Menu - This folder contains the shortcuts present on the same-named Desktop feature.
Desktop - Similarly, this folder contains files and shortcuts present on the user's desktop.
Application Data is provided mainly for the use of programmers, as a place to store data that is related to specific software, but which does not fall into the category of documents that a user might open directly. This folder was made necessary by Windows' 'good practice' programming guidelines, which now prohibit the storage of temporary data of any kind in the Program Files folder.
Local Settings is functionally similar to Application Data, and in fact it contains a second subfolder of that name. It also contains the temporary files generated by Windows programs themselves, and as a result of Internet Explorer's online activities. For standalone computers the two folders are functionally similar, but on networks employing Roaming profiles, the Local Settings folder is not included in the profile-synchronization process. Thus, data in the Local Settings folder will not be copied between computers when the user roams.
Note: Some of these subfolders are hidden from the user's view in Explorer. To see them you must uncheck Hide System Folders in the folder options.
All Users - This profile is present mainly to answer an issue related to software installation. It provides a way for setup-programs to create desktop or start-menu shortcuts which will be visible to all users of the computer, not just the user running the setup program. The Application Data section may also contain program-data common to all users. All Users acts purely as an information-store, it is never loaded as an active profile.
Administrator - All versions of NT-based Windows have an administrator account and corresponding profile, although on XP this account may only be visible on the log-on screen if the computer is started in safe mode. In Windows Vista, it is disabled by default.
/98 product line did not employ user-profiling as standard, with all users sharing the same settings, although that feature could be activated in Control Panel.
The user-profiling scheme in force today owes its origins to Windows NT
, which stored its profiles within the system folder itself, typically under C:\WINNT\Profiles\. Windows 2000 saw the change to a separate "Documents and Settings" folder for profiles, and in this respect is virtually identical to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
's profiles are functionally similar to those of Windows XP, but with some differences. Perhaps the key difference is that they are stored in a "C:\Users" folder, instead of "C:\Documents and Settings." Therefore, to cater for programs which are not Vista-ready, a symbolic link
is also provided under the name of "Documents and Settings" which invisibly redirects any attempted access of the latter to "C:\Users." The fact that the profile-root folder appears twice in any folder-listing has adverse implications for any backup program. Backup software needs to be aware of this Vista idiosyncrasy, or else it is possible to double the size of the backup by copying what appear to be two separate folders, both potentially containing the bulk of the data on the computer.
A second change in Vista is that the media-specific "My Pictures" and "My Music" folders are now outside of the "My Documents" folder, instead of being subfolders (as well as removing the "My" Prefix - so My Documents becomes Documents, for example).
User profile
A user profile is a collection of personal data associated to a specific user. A profile refers therefore to the explicit digital representation of a person's identity...
that is used by the Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system to represent the characteristics of the user.
Profile creation
Establishing a user account on the computer (or on its parent domain) does not, in fact, create a profile for that user. The profile is created the first time the user interactively logs on at the computer. Note that logging on across a network to access shared folders does not create a profile.At first logon, a folder will typically be created under "Documents and Settings" (standard folder on English version of Windows 2000, XP and Windows Server 2003) matching the logon name of the user. Should a folder of that name already exist, the profile-creation process will create a new one, typically named username.computername, on workgroup computers, or username.domainname on Active Directory member computers.
Once a profile folder has been created, Windows will never automatically rename that folder. Thus if the username itself is subsequently changed, the profile folder will remain as is, and the profile will no longer match the username, which could lead to confusion. For this reason the administrator might want to avoid renaming user accounts if at all possible, or rename the folder manually and edit the registry to reflect the changes.
The new profile is in fact created by making a copy of a special profile, named Default User. It is permissible to modify this Default User profile (within certain guidelines) so as to provide a customised working environment for each new user. Modification of the Default User profile should ideally be done from new, prior to any users logging-on to the computer; if a user has already logged on once or more, the Default Profile has no effect whatsoever for that user.
Profile contents
NTUSER.DAT - Within the root of the profile, a file named NTUSER.DAT contains the user's personalized settings for the majority of software installed on the computer, including Windows itself. When the user logs on, NTUSER.DAT becomes merged with the computer's registry, such that it appears as the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch of the registry tree. NTUSER.DAT is held open for writing (i.e., 'locked') for the entire time the user remains logged on, hence somewhat paradoxically this file cannot be copied or backed up by its owner, but only by another user, whilst the owner is logged off.My Documents - This folder is intended to contain the user's work, and in Windows XP-aware programs, dialog boxes will typically prompt the user to store documents here. 'My Documents' as a shortcut also appears on the desktop, and in My Computer. It is here that these shortcuts point.
Favorites, Cookies and History - These folders are used by Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser to store surfing data. They are not used by alternative browsers such as Firefox or Opera, which typically store their data under "Application Data."
Nethood, Printhood - These folders contain the network shares and printers 'discovered' by the user with the My Network Places applet, in the form of shortcuts.
Start Menu - This folder contains the shortcuts present on the same-named Desktop feature.
Desktop - Similarly, this folder contains files and shortcuts present on the user's desktop.
Application Data is provided mainly for the use of programmers, as a place to store data that is related to specific software, but which does not fall into the category of documents that a user might open directly. This folder was made necessary by Windows' 'good practice' programming guidelines, which now prohibit the storage of temporary data of any kind in the Program Files folder.
Local Settings is functionally similar to Application Data, and in fact it contains a second subfolder of that name. It also contains the temporary files generated by Windows programs themselves, and as a result of Internet Explorer's online activities. For standalone computers the two folders are functionally similar, but on networks employing Roaming profiles, the Local Settings folder is not included in the profile-synchronization process. Thus, data in the Local Settings folder will not be copied between computers when the user roams.
Note: Some of these subfolders are hidden from the user's view in Explorer. To see them you must uncheck Hide System Folders in the folder options.
Special profiles
Default User - Plays a role in the profile-creation process, see above.All Users - This profile is present mainly to answer an issue related to software installation. It provides a way for setup-programs to create desktop or start-menu shortcuts which will be visible to all users of the computer, not just the user running the setup program. The Application Data section may also contain program-data common to all users. All Users acts purely as an information-store, it is never loaded as an active profile.
Administrator - All versions of NT-based Windows have an administrator account and corresponding profile, although on XP this account may only be visible on the log-on screen if the computer is started in safe mode. In Windows Vista, it is disabled by default.
History and origin
Historically, the Windows 95Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
/98 product line did not employ user-profiling as standard, with all users sharing the same settings, although that feature could be activated in Control Panel.
The user-profiling scheme in force today owes its origins to Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
, which stored its profiles within the system folder itself, typically under C:\WINNT\Profiles\. Windows 2000 saw the change to a separate "Documents and Settings" folder for profiles, and in this respect is virtually identical to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
Recent developments
Windows VistaWindows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
's profiles are functionally similar to those of Windows XP, but with some differences. Perhaps the key difference is that they are stored in a "C:\Users" folder, instead of "C:\Documents and Settings." Therefore, to cater for programs which are not Vista-ready, a symbolic link
NTFS symbolic link
An NTFS symbolic link is a filesystem object in the NTFS filesystem that points to another filesystem object. The object being pointed to is called the target. Symbolic links should be transparent to users; the links appear as normal files or directories, and can be acted upon by the user or...
is also provided under the name of "Documents and Settings" which invisibly redirects any attempted access of the latter to "C:\Users." The fact that the profile-root folder appears twice in any folder-listing has adverse implications for any backup program. Backup software needs to be aware of this Vista idiosyncrasy, or else it is possible to double the size of the backup by copying what appear to be two separate folders, both potentially containing the bulk of the data on the computer.
A second change in Vista is that the media-specific "My Pictures" and "My Music" folders are now outside of the "My Documents" folder, instead of being subfolders (as well as removing the "My" Prefix - so My Documents becomes Documents, for example).