Procedure to copy all settings from admin account to user account?

[h7qvnk7q001]

As a good security practice, I would like to configure machines to run
normally at a lower privilege user account, and only use the
administrator account for maintenance and administration. However, I
have machines that have been already configured with a single
administrator account, and all applications and settings are already
configured in that administrator account to the preference of the user.


Is there any procedure or technique to copy all system settings from
the administrator account to a newly created user account? The
objective is for the user to not have to re-install anything, and to
not have any system settings changed. Only the user privilege level
would be lower to reduce the risk of attack.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

As a good security practice, I would like to configure machines to run
normally at a lower privilege user account, and only use the
administrator account for maintenance and administration. However, I
have machines that have been already configured with a single
administrator account, and all applications and settings are already
configured in that administrator account to the preference of the user.


Is there any procedure or technique to copy all system settings from
the administrator account to a newly created user account? The
objective is for the user to not have to re-install anything, and to
not have any system settings changed. Only the user privilege level
would be lower to reduce the risk of attack.

How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151


--

Bruce Chambers

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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[h7qvnk7q001]

Bruce,

Thanks for the tip. The referenced article seems to be a recovery
procedure for a damaged user profile. It explicitly does not copy the
user part of the registry (NTUSER.DAT) . I believe using this procedure
would result in the user account being created without most settings
for installed software from the registry (HKCU\Software).

Is there a procedure to create a "clone" user, including all files and
registry settings?

Tim.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Bruce,

Thanks for the tip. The referenced article seems to be a recovery
procedure for a damaged user profile. It explicitly does not copy the
user part of the registry (NTUSER.DAT) . I believe using this procedure
would result in the user account being created without most settings
for installed software from the registry (HKCU\Software).

Is there a procedure to create a "clone" user, including all files and
registry settings?

Tim.

Not per se, but you can probably use the Files and Settings Transfer
Wizard to transfer some of the settings that the KB article omit.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

Copy a User Profile:

Open System in Control Panel. On the User Profiles tab, and under Profiles stored on this computer, click the user profile you want to copy, and then click Copy To.

In the Copy To dialog box, under Copy profile to, type the location for the new profile, or click Browse to select the path.
Click Change to open the Choose User dialog box, click a new user from the Names list, and then click Add. The new user name will appear in Add Name. Click OK to add the user as a new user profile on your computer.

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to the local computer to copy user profiles. To open a Control Panel item, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the appropriate icon.

Additional Note: You must be logged on to an Administrator level account that is not the account you are copying to/from.