Migrating machines to new domain

[MikeR]

I need to migrate 400+ computers from one AD domain to another. A temporary
one way trust will be put in place. Users currently logon to Domain "A" on
their machines. After the machines are migrated to Domain "B" they will need
to start logging on using their Domain "B" account.

As their user accounts already exist on both domains, ADMT will not be used
to migrate their user accounts.

My question is about the local profile on their machine. I am thinking that
once they logon using the Domain "B" account they will be creating a new
profile on the machine! How can I ensure that they use the same profile and
not loose any of their settings (i.e. mapped drivers, printers, exchange
profile, etc.)???

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Herb Martin]

I need to migrate 400+ computers from one AD domain to another. A temporary
one way trust will be put in place.

Domain A must trust Domain B (destination)

Users currently logon to Domain "A" on
their machines. After the machines are migrated to Domain "B" they will need
to start logging on using their Domain "B" account.

As their user accounts already exist on both domains, ADMT will not be used
to migrate their user accounts.

My question is about the local profile on their machine. I am thinking that
once they logon using the Domain "B" account they will be creating a new
profile on the machine!

That is correct.

It is a DIFFERENT (new) account, so it gets a new profile.

How can I ensure that they use the same profile and
not loose any of their settings (i.e. mapped drivers, printers, exchange
profile, etc.)???

Migrate the profile with USMT or by hand using XCOPY
or Backup or some such.

USMT is better if you need things like Outlook, Outlook
Express including News, and a wide variety of other things.

Copying the profiles directly is easy (easier), but may be
incomplete since some settings and even some data may not
be "in the profile."

USMT = User State Migration Tool (download from MS site.)

 

[MikeR]

Thanks for the reply Herb. I am aware of USMT and have used it in the past.
The best way I found with NT 4.0 a while back was a reg hack to actually
point the new logon to the old profile. I was hoping to find something like
this for XP.

I was also hoping to hear from MS that ADMT will take care of the profile if
you migrate both the machine and user account using ADMT.

 

[Herb Martin]

Thanks for the reply Herb. I am aware of USMT and have used it in the past.
The best way I found with NT 4.0 a while back was a reg hack to actually
point the new logon to the old profile. I was hoping to find something like
this for XP.

The issue is the same for XP, but you have NEW
accounts. Were you merely upgrading you would
not have such issues as profiles would move forward.

Because you are migrating you are creating new profiles.

You may simple use a rename technique -- rename current
profile; have user log onto new domain.

Rename 'new' (default) profile and then rename the old
profile to that name.

 

[Jason Tan]

Hi,

Thanks for posting!

Based on the scenario, I agree with Herb. Additionally, I would like to
provide you with some more information for your reference:

1. Using Moveuser.exe: Move User
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/all/techre
f/en-us/Default.asp?url=/Resources/Documentation/windowsserv/2003/all/techre
f/en-us/moveuser.asp

2. Copy the user profile
=========================
If manually copying profile is acceptable, you can use the Copy to function
to copy the local profile to domain user profile. Please use the following
steps:

1. Log the user onto the new domain once to create the his/her user
profile and to add the path to it in the ProfilesList registry key
2. Log off as the user and log in as an administrator
3. Copy the user's profile
4. Right click on My Computer and go to Profiles
5. Once in Profiles, use "Copy To," to copy the original profile to the
new profile's path. Also, use "Permitted to Use," to give the new user
account permission to use the copied profile.
6. Log off as the administrator and logon as the user

Note: You may find the copy to button is grayed out. If so, please refer to
the following article:

291555 The "Copy To" Button in the System Properties Dialog Box Is
Unavailable
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=291555

Hope the information helps. If there is anything that is unclear, please
feel free to let me know.

Thanks & Regards,

Jason Tan

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

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[Herb Martin]

Hi,

Thanks for posting!

Based on the scenario, I agree with Herb. Additionally, I would like to
provide you with some more information for your reference:

1. Using Moveuser.exe: Move User
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/all/techre
f/en-us/Default.asp?url=/Resources/Documentation/windowsserv/2003/all/techre
f/en-us/moveuser.asp

2. Copy the user profile
=========================
If manually copying profile is acceptable, you can use the Copy to function
to copy the local profile to domain user profile. Please use the following
steps:

1. Log the user onto the new domain once to create the his/her user
profile and to add the path to it in the ProfilesList registry key
2. Log off as the user and log in as an administrator
3. Copy the user's profile
4. Right click on My Computer and go to Profiles
5. Once in Profiles, use "Copy To," to copy the original profile to the
new profile's path. Also, use "Permitted to Use," to give the new user
account permission to use the copied profile.
6. Log off as the administrator and logon as the user

I would strongly suggest copying profiles using XCOPY
rather than Windows Explorer, by doing so the permissions
(if useful) and file attributes can be copied, errors can be
skipped (continue on error), and a log can be created.

xcopy /c /k /s /h /v /o SRC DEST 1>C:\xc.txt 2>&1

If using the same hardware, rename can also be useful.