modifying User's Local Profile

[Francis Arcangel]

Hello All,

We have w2k Users and XP Users. We need to change their
IE or Netscape Proxy settings. When I logged in as
Administrator, make the changes and save the settings. I
reboot and when the users logs in, the changes I made as
an administrator did not affect their IE or Netscape
Settings. Because of the nature in Academia, we can only
do these changes when faculty members are not in their
offices.

Is there a ulitiy that will change the "users" local
profile when I log in as "Administrator" on their machine?

Thanks in Advance!

 

[Gerry Hickman]

Hi,

The whole point of "user" settings is that they are for the user, NOT
for you.

I don't know what Netscape uses for proxy settings - I hate to think! I
assume you mean the excellent Mozilla? Netscape (all versions) is total
rubbish and should be taken off all machines.

For IE, you can use the IEAK to set proxy settings via an
AutoConfiguration script.

If you want to do it manually, you could experiment with WMI's
StdRegRrov from a login script, or use Regini with their HKCU hive while
they're NOT logged in.

 

[Jason]

Something that I have seen work like for printers is if
you log on locally as the computer administrator (I am
assuming you are on a domain if not this is something you
have probably tried) not the domain administrator. I
have seen that when adding printers as the local admin it
will take to all profiles. something to try without
getting into scripts and what not

 

[Gerry Hickman]

have seen that when adding printers as the local admin it
will take to all profiles.

If roaming profiles are in effect it should NOT do this! The exception
is if the printer is connected DIRECTLY to the PC - then it makes sense.

 

[Guest]

When I need to make such changes to multiple users and
computers I follow this basic process:
1) Identify each registry key that is modified (this can
be easy to hard, there are utilities that monitor your
registry and can list the changes)
2) Export those changed registry settings and combine them
into one REG file. I use regedit rather than regedt32 for
this.
3) Have or make each user run the created reg file to
change their user section (usually CURRENT USER) of the
registry. I usually force the registry update by running a
registry merge in the logon script. I'll leave the command
in the logon script for a while and then remove it. I also
make sure to update the "Default User" profile for each
computer.
To run a registry merge without user intervention you can
use this command in a CMD file:
%WINDIR%\regedit /s c:\filename.reg

As always, be very careful about modifying the registry
and test your merge on your various configurations before
rolling out to all systems and users.

Jen
Network Administrator

 

[Guest]

If you don't have roaming profiles, this can be done with
directly connected printers or any printer that can be
accessed via an IP address.

I install all our networked printers as "local" with the
port as a "Standard IP port". This allows all users,
regardless of their profile to have access to all the
network printers I've added. I haven't found an easy way
to change the defualt printer for existing profiles, but I
do try to maintain the Default User profile with these
types of settings.

Jen
Network Administrator