How to Prevent Certain Folders from Uploading to Central Profile

Service Pack 4 for Windows NT 4.0 adds to the user profile replication algorithm the ability to prevent certain folders from being uploaded to the central user profile. This is especially helpful to prevent the Temporary Internet Files from uploading at logoff time with the rest of the user's profile.

This new functionality can be implemented in two different ways. The user can manually edit their profile in the Registry to set their preferences, or the System Administrator can implement a system policy.

Information on which folders to exclude is actually stored in two keys in the Registry -- one key for the user preferences and the other dictated by a system policy. When the user logs off, the two lists are merged into one complete list.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" online Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

User preferences are stored in the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Add the value ExcludeProfileDirs as REG_SZ. The directory names should be entered relative to the root of the profile, and must be separated by semicolons.

For example:
Temporary Internet Files;Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook;Personal

To exclude folders through a system policy, follow these steps:

1. In System Policy Editor, load the templates Common.adm and Winnt.adm.
2. Create a new policy.
3. Open Default User, and then expand Windows NT User Profiles.
4. Select "Exclude directories in roaming profile."
5. In the text box provided, enter the directory names you want to exclude. As above, the directories must be relative to the root of the user's profile, and multiple entries must be separated by semicolons.