Display Domain's Shares

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

First, my environment is currently a network running Windows XP Professional
SP2 workstations joined to a Windows 2000 Server AD Domain.

Secondly, I have a few questions concerning the environment:

1. Is there a way to display all the network file/printer shares from all
computers in the domain in one place, whether it be through command line or
GUI interface in administrative tools?

2. Is there a way to convert a local user profile into a roaming profile
that can be replicated across the domain so that no matter which workstation
a user logs onto their preferences (wallpaper, sound settings) will be the
same?

3. If question 2 cannot be done, is there a way to save/backup the local
user profile so that I can apply it to a different computer so that the user
does not have to re-customize his/her preferences?

Any hints and suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance and have a nice day!

 

[Guest]

1. NET VIEW will probably suffice, though ShareEnum from
http://www.sysinternals.com is more informative.

2. Profiles - Any profile can be made roaming, you just need to specify an
upload location for it. This location, which is set as the user's "profile
path" must (obviously) be accessible when the user logs-on. It might also be
necessary to change the profile's access-rights depending on the situation.

I would think carefully before implementing roaming profiles though, they
create a lot of additional issues, especially in terms of
computer-maintenence. In particular, a user with a lot of data is likely to
suffer inordinate log-on times.

3. Yes. You need to create an identical username on the second computer and
then log on as that user at least once. (this action creates the
profile-folder)
You then copy the entire profile-folder from one compter to the other
(including hidden files) by any convenient means. Note that to do this both
computers must be logged-on with a DIFFERENT user, NOT the one to which the
profile belongs, one with admin priveleges.

A problem you may encounter is that of over-length filenames in the profile.
This is most often found with temporary internet files. The presence of such
filenames 'trips-up' the copy completlely. If the files are nonessential then
you can delete them to make the copy work. (I really wish Microsoft would
sort this over-long filename issue out, it's a major PITA when doing any
maintenance)

 

[Guest]

Thanks Ian for your information on my questions. I am still unclear about one
thing, however.

Where do I change the profile from local to roaming, server or workstations?
I went into System Properties > Advanced > User Profiles > Settings and when
I click on "Change Type" for one of the user accounts, the radio button for
roaming is grayed out. I'm not sure how I can change or even create roaming
profiles from scratch.

Thanks again in advance.

 

[Steven L Umbach]

You can use various programs such as the free ShareEnum from SysInternals or
the not fee [but free to try] Languard to scan the network for network
shares and much more in the case of Languard. This assumes however that the
computer you are doing the scanning from has network access to the computers
and the Windows Firewall or such is not blocking access.

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ShareEnum.html --- ShareEnum
http://www.gfi.com/languard/ -- Languard

I don't have a good answer for your profile question and roaming profiles
can be a pain and cause delays that annoy users as their profiles load. A
better way may be to train the user to use File and Settings Transfer wizard
to copy there settings only to the computer where they want to use them.

Steve