Can I rename PC's without losing settings?

[Fran]

I posted this by mistake to the .dns group so many apologies first
off.

I have taken over an account with about 10 PC's on a Windows 2000
Server AD domain using roaming profiles.

The computers are all scattered in their naming and I want to set up
some naming convensions for these (is there already an industry naming
convention used? If so I'm open to suggestions.)

Anyway, I would like to rename these but NOT lose all the user's
settings from their roaming profiles. Can this be done? If so, what's
the best technique?

Finally, is it better to put e-mail (.pst) files on the server or
leave them local? Pros? Cons?

Thanks all for any help!

Fran

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I posted this by mistake to the .dns group so many apologies first
off.

I have taken over an account with about 10 PC's on a Windows 2000
Server AD domain using roaming profiles.

The computers are all scattered in their naming and I want to set up
some naming convensions for these (is there already an industry naming
convention used? If so I'm open to suggestions.)

Anyway, I would like to rename these but NOT lose all the user's
settings from their roaming profiles. Can this be done? If so, what's
the best technique?

Finally, is it better to put e-mail (.pst) files on the server or
leave them local? Pros? Cons?

Thanks all for any help!

Fran

You can rename your PCs without affecting your profiles. Do one
and see for yourself!

Microsoft advise against putting .PST files on the server, because
of performance issues, but I've been doing it regardless for years,
because it's the simplest way to back them up and because it
allows my users to roam. You might, of course, consider using
Exchange, in which case you won't need .PST files at all.

 

[Fran]

I was told that it would effect the profile / GUID association. I'll
try that, then. Thanks.

I have someone with Outlook 2003 and her PST file is on the server
(and we've already had to restore some deleted folders in Outlook so
they want to keep it on the server) but there are times when she gets
errors that Outlook cannot connect to the .PST file and must be closed
and restarted (which does solve the problem)

Any thoughts on why this would happen?

Also, I am working toward my MCSE but haven't gotten into Exchange
yet. Is this difficult to install and implement? I would like to
propose this as a solution for many things at this site.

Fran

 

[Carl Hilton]

Actually you will want PST files, specifically ARCHIVES so all the stuff
doesn't stay in the server database. However, I also recommend these stay on
the server so users can roam and have access to their archives.