How Windows Chooses Between Roaming and Local Profiles

This article explains the following topics:

• How Windows determines if the locally cached profile is more recent than the roaming profile
• How modifications to the roaming profiles can be propagated to the locally cached profiles

When a user with a roaming profile logs on to a computer running Windows, the system checks whether the cached locally profile is more recent than the roaming profile. In that case, the system doesn't need to reload the profile from the central server. This check is based only on the "last write time" of the user's registry hive Ntuser.dat.

If a network administrator makes any modifications (for example, program groups or shortcuts) to a roaming profile, these changes may be lost.

The following is an example where these changes will be lost:

1. UserA logs on to a workstation.
2. UserA logs off and both profiles (roaming and locally cached) are updated.
3. The network administrator adds a new shortcut on the roaming profile.
4. UserA logs on to a workstation. The locally cached profile is used and the modification is lost.

After applying the modifications to the roaming profile, modify the last write time of Ntuser.dat to reflect the date of the change on the profile. You can use the Touch utility from the Windows Resource Kit to do this. You should also be sure that the user is not currently logged on the network when you make the changes.