See also: Windows Home Directories

See also: Windows Group Policy

See also: roaming_profiles|Windows Roaming Profiles]]

See also Dealing with Low Disk Space

Detailed Terminal Server Example: http://www.virtualizationadmin.com/articles-tutorials/terminal-services/performance/configure-folder-redirection.html

http://blogs.technet.com/b/askds/archive/2008/06/30/automatic-creation-of-user-folders-for-home-roaming-profile-and-redirected-folders.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/b/netro/archive/2010/09/01/which-minimum-share-amp-ntfs-permissions-do-you-need-for-the-use-of-offline-files-and-folder-redirection-in-windows-2008-2008-r2.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766489%28WS.10%29.aspx

Folder Redirection is a newer feature of Windows that is complementary to Roaming Profiles. It can be used with or without Roaming Profiles.

Roaming Profiles can be very beneficial, but it can cause long logon/logoff cycles. Folder Redirection can help this situation by using redirection to access the bulkier parts of Windows Profiles instead of synchronizing/copying it on every logon/logoff.

Folder Redirection is:

• Complementary to Roaming Profiles
• Configured using Group Policy
• A user-based policy
• Redirection policies are usually applied to:
  • Containers of user objects
  • User Groups

This folder structure supports implementation of these four functions and permits the functions to be implemented separately at different times or together at once.

• Shares
• Home Directories
• Roaming Profiles
• Folder Redirection

E:\Shares
        \Share1
        \Share2
          
E:\Homes
        \User1
        \User2

E:\Profiles
                      
E:\Redirected
        \User1
        \User2
             \AppData
             \Documents

Use Advanced buttons to edit these settings as noted in the instructions below!

1. Create a folder “Redirected”
   1. Disable permissions inheritance
   2. Set folder permissions per the table above
      1. Use the Advanced option to edit permissions
2. Share the folder “Redirected”
   1. Set the share name as “Redirected$”
      1. The dollar symbol hides the share
      2. Leave off the $ if you prefer
      3. Use Properties → Sharing → Advanced to create hidden shares
   2. Set the share permissions per the table

See also Group Policy

1. Modify Group Policy
   1. Start → Run → gpmc.msc
   2. Create a new Group Policy Object (GPO) or edit an existing one
   3. User Configuration → Policies → Windows Settings → Folder Redirection
   4. Right-click each folder you want to redirect → Properties
      1. Target Tab
         1. Setting
            1. Basic - Redirect everyone's folder to the same location
         2. Target Folder Location
            1. Create a folder for each user under root path
            2. Root path: \\servername\Redirected$
      2. Settings Tab
         1. Deselect Grant user exclusive rights
            • If you don't do this, administrators can't access redirected folders
         2. Select Also apply to Windows 2000, XP, etc.
         3. Select Redirect the folder back to the local userprofile location when policy is removed

http://www.virtualizationadmin.com/articles-tutorials/terminal-services/performance/configure-folder-redirection.html

• Don't use 'administrator' for testing - use a regular user account?
• Logging in through Terminal Services (as an admin) may affect folder creation?

You might try blocking Group Policy inheritance to see if upstream policies are affecting your issue.

Start → Run → gpmc.msc

Right-click the container/group → Block Inheritance

You might try deleting a problem user's profile and redirected folders so that they will be recreated cleanly according to your Group Policies on the next user login.

Right-click My Computer → Properties → Advanced → User Profiles

View all shares including hidden shares (share name ending with $ symbol):

net share

1. User logs in and does not get custom Desktop, Documents etc. Event log MAY show corrupt ntuser.dat file had been recovered.
2. Delete the users profile from the workstation using the Advanced System Settings → Advanced Tab
3. Take ownership of the users profile on the server and rename.
4. Log in as user and it will recreate the users profile on the server and workstation. Custom settings, Desktop Background, Outlook configuration, Quick Launch etc. will need to be reset.