Files and Folders Reappear After Deletion in a Cached Profile

[Guest]

Windows 2000 SP4 File Servers & Domain Controllers, Windows XP SP2 Clients

Users are set to use roaming profiles. Users roam within the Domain, logging
into different PCs. On some PCs on slower (11Mb/s wireless links)
logon/logoff time is unacceptably slow due to large "My Documents" folder
contents being copied to/from local cache and the server copy of the profile.
The solution chosen was to redirect the My Documents Folder to another
location.

Profile path is \\server\profiles\username
In Group Policy "My Documents" is redirected to \\server\users\username by
use of the following:
TARGET TAB
Setting: Basic - Redirect everyone's folder to the same location
Target Folder Location: Create a folder for each user under the root path
Root Path: \\server\users
SETTING TAB
Move the contents of My Documents to the new location
Leave the folder in the new location wen the policy is removed


The Redirection works as expected but a big problem remains:
As users have roamed from PC to PC frequently, their local cached profile
could exist on as many as 10+ PCs.
When the Redirect "My Documents" setting is first applied to a user, the
contents of
C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents are moved automatically to
the new location. When the user logs out, the "My Documents" folder in both
the PCs Local Cache, and the users roaming profile will be empty.
eg
C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents (empty)
and
\\server\profiles\username\My Documents (empty)

Which is the desired effect of "My Documents" redirection.

If the user continues using the same PC, no problems are experienced.
When they log on to a different PC they have logged onto previously (so an
old copy of their cached profile exists) The empty state of the roaming "My
Documents" folder is not copied to the local cached profile. The old "My
Documents" contents in the Local cached profile remain. When the user logs
out, these old contents are copied to the server copy of the profile. Whilst
this doesn't effect the redirected "My Documents" folder, it does mean that
the roaming profile now contains old unwanted files in the
\\server\profiles\username\My Documents folder.

Nothing I have read so far indicates this is by design. I understand that
when Roaming and Local Cached profiles are reconciled, files that have been
deleted and no-longer exist on the Roaming profile, should not re-appear
because a user logs into a different PC where they still remain in the Local
Cache. (These should deleted automatically when the two profiles are
reconciled whilst logging in)

Can someone please confirm whether this behaviour is by design?
If it is, I am left with the problem of many copies of a user's old "My
Documents" folder contained in the Local Cached Profile of any PC they have
previously logged into. If they log into any of them, their old, deleted or
moved files will come back to haunt them.
Again, if this behaviour is by design, the best solution I can think of is to:
Stop "My Documents" being copied to the server copy of the profile, by means
of a Group Policy Setting, and use a logon script to delete the contents of
C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents.

 

[Jerold Schulman]

See tip 3160 » How do I use Group Policy to delete locally cached copies of roaming profiles?
in the 'Tips & Tricks' at http://www.jsifaq.com

To clean up the existing mess, use tip 6360 » How can I remove old profiles from my workstations?

Windows 2000 SP4 File Servers & Domain Controllers, Windows XP SP2 Clients

Users are set to use roaming profiles. Users roam within the Domain, logging
into different PCs. On some PCs on slower (11Mb/s wireless links)
logon/logoff time is unacceptably slow due to large "My Documents" folder
contents being copied to/from local cache and the server copy of the profile.
The solution chosen was to redirect the My Documents Folder to another
location.

Profile path is \\server\profiles\username
In Group Policy "My Documents" is redirected to \\server\users\username by
use of the following:
TARGET TAB
Setting: Basic - Redirect everyone's folder to the same location
Target Folder Location: Create a folder for each user under the root path
Root Path: \\server\users
SETTING TAB
Move the contents of My Documents to the new location
Leave the folder in the new location wen the policy is removed


The Redirection works as expected but a big problem remains:
As users have roamed from PC to PC frequently, their local cached profile
could exist on as many as 10+ PCs.
When the Redirect "My Documents" setting is first applied to a user, the
contents of
C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents are moved automatically to
the new location. When the user logs out, the "My Documents" folder in both
the PCs Local Cache, and the users roaming profile will be empty.
eg
C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents (empty)
and
\\server\profiles\username\My Documents (empty)

Which is the desired effect of "My Documents" redirection.

If the user continues using the same PC, no problems are experienced.
When they log on to a different PC they have logged onto previously (so an
old copy of their cached profile exists) The empty state of the roaming "My
Documents" folder is not copied to the local cached profile. The old "My
Documents" contents in the Local cached profile remain. When the user logs
out, these old contents are copied to the server copy of the profile. Whilst
this doesn't effect the redirected "My Documents" folder, it does mean that
the roaming profile now contains old unwanted files in the
\\server\profiles\username\My Documents folder.

Nothing I have read so far indicates this is by design. I understand that
when Roaming and Local Cached profiles are reconciled, files that have been
deleted and no-longer exist on the Roaming profile, should not re-appear
because a user logs into a different PC where they still remain in the Local
Cache. (These should deleted automatically when the two profiles are
reconciled whilst logging in)

Can someone please confirm whether this behaviour is by design?
If it is, I am left with the problem of many copies of a user's old "My
Documents" folder contained in the Local Cached Profile of any PC they have
previously logged into. If they log into any of them, their old, deleted or
moved files will come back to haunt them.
Again, if this behaviour is by design, the best solution I can think of is to:
Stop "My Documents" being copied to the server copy of the profile, by means
of a Group Policy Setting, and use a logon script to delete the contents of
C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents.

Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com

 

[Guest]

See tip 3160 » How do I use Group Policy to delete locally cached copies of roaming profiles?
in the 'Tips & Tricks' at http://www.jsifaq.com

To clean up the existing mess, use tip 6360 » How can I remove old profiles from my workstations?

Hi Jerold, thanks for taking the time to reply to my post.

I was aware of those two tips but have not used www.jsifaq.com, so it is now
on my Favorites.

I tried to include all the relevant information in my orginal post, but this
probably meant my main question got lost in it.

My Main question is:
When using Roaming User Profiles, and a user typically logs in to many
different PCs say, 10+
If they delete files from their local cached profile. The fact that they
have been deleted, gets propogated to the server copy of the profile. Which
is as it should be.

The problem is, when the user now logs onto a different PC that they have
used in the past, where those deleted files still remain in the local cached
profile, the reconciliation of the profiles that occurs at logon, doesn't
delete them. After logon, the deleted files remain in the Local Cache, but
not on the server copy. When the user logs off, the files (which should have
been deleted?) are copied back to the server copy of the profile.

I need to know if this is by design or not? It would seem crazy if it is.
The Technet documentation on User Data & Settings Management seems to
indicate that, files once deleted from the local cached profile, should not
reappear. If it is by design then it would mean a user has to delete profile
files from every PC they have ever logged into, otherwise they would be in
danger of returning. I know there is a Group Policy setting which can cause
the Local Cached Profile to be deleted automatically when logging off, but I
want the profile to be cached to keep quick logon times, also it wouldnt help
in this case, as the Local Cached Profile for a user will already exist on
many machines already, containing many old files ready to be copied back to
the server copy of the profile, even if they no longer exist in the server
copy.

There is a Technet Article 283902, which may be relevant, but my problem
seems to be the other way around.

 

[Jerold Schulman]

This is not by design.

I suspect that the local profile is being used because a connection problem left the DC temporarily unreachable????
Make sure that you implement User Profile Hive Cleanup Service (UPHClean).
See tip 7815 » Some user profiles will not unload?
in the 'Tips & Tricks' at http://www.jsifaq.com

Hi Jerold, thanks for taking the time to reply to my post.

I was aware of those two tips but have not used www.jsifaq.com, so it is now
on my Favorites.

I tried to include all the relevant information in my orginal post, but this
probably meant my main question got lost in it.

My Main question is:
When using Roaming User Profiles, and a user typically logs in to many
different PCs say, 10+
If they delete files from their local cached profile. The fact that they
have been deleted, gets propogated to the server copy of the profile. Which
is as it should be.

The problem is, when the user now logs onto a different PC that they have
used in the past, where those deleted files still remain in the local cached
profile, the reconciliation of the profiles that occurs at logon, doesn't
delete them. After logon, the deleted files remain in the Local Cache, but
not on the server copy. When the user logs off, the files (which should have
been deleted?) are copied back to the server copy of the profile.

I need to know if this is by design or not? It would seem crazy if it is.
The Technet documentation on User Data & Settings Management seems to
indicate that, files once deleted from the local cached profile, should not
reappear. If it is by design then it would mean a user has to delete profile
files from every PC they have ever logged into, otherwise they would be in
danger of returning. I know there is a Group Policy setting which can cause
the Local Cached Profile to be deleted automatically when logging off, but I
want the profile to be cached to keep quick logon times, also it wouldnt help
in this case, as the Local Cached Profile for a user will already exist on
many machines already, containing many old files ready to be copied back to
the server copy of the profile, even if they no longer exist in the server
copy.

There is a Technet Article 283902, which may be relevant, but my problem
seems to be the other way around.

Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com