Roaming Profiles - Problem with User Desktop

I have setup my Windows 2003 Server. I have created Roaming Profiles, and
enabled Folder Redirection (in Group Policy) for Application Data, My
Documents & Start Menu. I have set "Desktop" to redirect to local profile.

Now, my problem is this:
If I logon Computer A, it takes a copy of my profile from the server to
Computer A. If on another day, I logon Computer B, the same things happen.
Now let's say that I decided to delete an unused file from my Desktop while
using Computer B. This is automatically deleted from my local copy, and on
logoff the file is also deleted from the server copy of my profile.

However, if on the next day (or same day), I logon using computer A, the
server will compare & merge the server copy with the local copy of my
profile, and the file is there again on my Desktop because it still existed
on the local copy of Computer A.

Anyone knows what the problem might be? It happens only with the Desktop.

Thanks.

Hello,

This is a known bug with Microsoft. (Q283902 deleted files reappear) and as
of yet, I don't believe they have a fix for it. I have the same problem on
Windows 2000 and the last I had checked, the word was that they had no
intention of fixing it on 2000, but they had planned on correcting it for
2003.

The only way I have found around this (and it's painful!) is to have the
user send me the files and locations that they want deleted. Once they have
logged off (they cannot be logged on or this doesn't work) I log on to the
server, and delete the files from the server profile.

Hope this helps,

"n8in" wrote:

> I have setup my Windows 2003 Server. I have created Roaming Profiles, and
> enabled Folder Redirection (in Group Policy) for Application Data, My
> Documents & Start Menu. I have set "Desktop" to redirect to local profile.
>
> Now, my problem is this:
> If I logon Computer A, it takes a copy of my profile from the server to
> Computer A. If on another day, I logon Computer B, the same things happen.
> Now let's say that I decided to delete an unused file from my Desktop while
> using Computer B. This is automatically deleted from my local copy, and on
> logoff the file is also deleted from the server copy of my profile.
>
> However, if on the next day (or same day), I logon using computer A, the
> server will compare & merge the server copy with the local copy of my
> profile, and the file is there again on my Desktop because it still existed
> on the local copy of Computer A.
>
> Anyone knows what the problem might be? It happens only with the Desktop.
>
> Thanks.

Thanks for your reply.

I would like to know whether it is possible to use Folder Redirections ONLY?

i.e. when a user logs in, the Application Data, Desktop, etc... are not
actually copied from the server to the local workstation, but rather you save
everything on the server using Folder Redirections.

Will that create any problems? is it possible?

Thanks.

"racegrl" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> This is a known bug with Microsoft. (Q283902 deleted files reappear) and as
> of yet, I don't believe they have a fix for it. I have the same problem on
> Windows 2000 and the last I had checked, the word was that they had no
> intention of fixing it on 2000, but they had planned on correcting it for
> 2003.
>
> The only way I have found around this (and it's painful!) is to have the
> user send me the files and locations that they want deleted. Once they have
> logged off (they cannot be logged on or this doesn't work) I log on to the
> server, and delete the files from the server profile.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> "n8in" wrote:
>
> > I have setup my Windows 2003 Server. I have created Roaming Profiles, and
> > enabled Folder Redirection (in Group Policy) for Application Data, My
> > Documents & Start Menu. I have set "Desktop" to redirect to local profile.
> >
> > Now, my problem is this:
> > If I logon Computer A, it takes a copy of my profile from the server to
> > Computer A. If on another day, I logon Computer B, the same things happen.
> > Now let's say that I decided to delete an unused file from my Desktop while
> > using Computer B. This is automatically deleted from my local copy, and on
> > logoff the file is also deleted from the server copy of my profile.
> >
> > However, if on the next day (or same day), I logon using computer A, the
> > server will compare & merge the server copy with the local copy of my
> > profile, and the file is there again on my Desktop because it still existed
> > on the local copy of Computer A.
> >
> > Anyone knows what the problem might be? It happens only with the Desktop.
> >
> > Thanks.

I understand what you're saying but I'm not sure if that will get you
anything.

From the way I understand roaming profiles and the bug, a copy of the
desktop, etc. is copied to the workstation at the time of log on, and then
copied back to the server at log off. The server version is where the changes
are being made (deleted files) so when the local copy is sent back up, it
overrides the changes you had made to the desktop.

The way I have ours set up is the profile points to the server. Each user
has their own folder on the server where their profile is stored. I have
group policies in place that utilize the folder redirection pointing to the
server. In the group policy, I have it set to delete the local copy of the
profile upon log off.

I was hoping in doing that, it would get around the bug with deleting files
in that the local copy would not be copied back to the server overriding the
"good" version of the profile. It didn't work.

"n8in" wrote:

> Thanks for your reply.
>
> I would like to know whether it is possible to use Folder Redirections ONLY?
>
> i.e. when a user logs in, the Application Data, Desktop, etc... are not
> actually copied from the server to the local workstation, but rather you save
> everything on the server using Folder Redirections.
>
> Will that create any problems? is it possible?
>
> Thanks.
>
> "racegrl" wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > This is a known bug with Microsoft. (Q283902 deleted files reappear) and as
> > of yet, I don't believe they have a fix for it. I have the same problem on
> > Windows 2000 and the last I had checked, the word was that they had no
> > intention of fixing it on 2000, but they had planned on correcting it for
> > 2003.
> >
> > The only way I have found around this (and it's painful!) is to have the
> > user send me the files and locations that they want deleted. Once they have
> > logged off (they cannot be logged on or this doesn't work) I log on to the
> > server, and delete the files from the server profile.
> >
> > Hope this helps,
> >
> > "n8in" wrote:
> >
> > > I have setup my Windows 2003 Server. I have created Roaming Profiles, and
> > > enabled Folder Redirection (in Group Policy) for Application Data, My
> > > Documents & Start Menu. I have set "Desktop" to redirect to local profile.
> > >
> > > Now, my problem is this:
> > > If I logon Computer A, it takes a copy of my profile from the server to
> > > Computer A. If on another day, I logon Computer B, the same things happen.
> > > Now let's say that I decided to delete an unused file from my Desktop while
> > > using Computer B. This is automatically deleted from my local copy, and on
> > > logoff the file is also deleted from the server copy of my profile.
> > >
> > > However, if on the next day (or same day), I logon using computer A, the
> > > server will compare & merge the server copy with the local copy of my
> > > profile, and the file is there again on my Desktop because it still existed
> > > on the local copy of Computer A.
> > >
> > > Anyone knows what the problem might be? It happens only with the Desktop.
> > >
> > > Thanks.

[SimonISSO]

In folder redirection do not set it to the local user profile
Set it instead to:
\\Server\Profile Share\Desktop
In other words, set it directly to the server. This means when something is created or deleated it is deleats directly instead of just the local profile.