# [SOLVED] Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client



## rasec8711 (May 9, 2012)

I have a Windows 2003 Server and I have roaming profiles set-up with a couple of accounts but I can't get those accounts to leave a cached copy on the computers, so it takes a long time to load the profile every time the user logs in. 

I've enabled Offline Files in the group policies on the Server->Computer Configuration->Administrative Templates->Network->Offline Files. I've also made sure that the "delete cached copies of roaming profiles" is not configured (I've also tried explicitly disabling it) under Server Computer->Computer Configuration->Administrative Templates->System->User Profiles. 

One thing that I noticed (I don't know if it helps) is that under Server->Computer Configuration->Windows Settings->Security Settings->Local Policies->Security Options, the Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on was enabled, yet I wasn't getting the option to shut down on the client computer. I got the client computer to enable that by editing the group policy under Client Computer->Computer Configuration->Windows Settings->Security Settings->Local Policies->Security Options.

Any clues on why these roaming profiles don't leave a cache copy? If I remove the Profile Path in Active Directory, the client computers can log in to the server with the domain username/password and the cache copy will stay in the client computer, but the cache copy will go away after logging out once the Profile Path is set in Active Directory.


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## Dave Atkin (Sep 4, 2009)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

Hello,

My understanding of roaming profiles is that it checks the profile for changes when logging on. So if they have a large profile then it will take a long time to log on.

Is your client, switch and server on a gigabit network?



Dave


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## rasec8711 (May 9, 2012)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

No, my Server and my Client are not in a gigabit network, which I understand that makes the syncing slow. BUT what my problem is that the Server is not syncing my local cached roaming profile with my roaming profile on the server BECAUSE there is no cached copy being saved in the client after logging out. After logging out of the roaming profile on the client computer, I log back in with a local admin account and look into the Documents and Settings folder, and the roaming domain account folder is gone :S but when I'm logged in with the roaming domain profile, the roaming domain profile folder IS under Documents and Settings :S


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## Dave Atkin (Sep 4, 2009)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

Right ok, I understand.

Have you seen this?
The Cache Option for Offline Files Must Be Disabled on Roaming User Profile Shares


Dave


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## rasec8711 (May 9, 2012)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

Thanks Dave! But problem persists 

I had no clue I had to disable the Offline Files options when using roaming profiles. So I went ahead and checked "Files or programs from the share will not be available offline" on my roaming profile folder and on it's parent shared folder (I've called the parent "RoamingProfiles" and my user prifile folder inside the parent is called "creyesroam").

I also "Not Configured" all the items under gpedit.msc->Computer Configuration->Administrative Template->Network->Offline Files 
and also "Not Configured" all the items under gpedit.msc->User Configuration->Administrative Template->Network->Offline Files 

After doing this on Windows 2003 Server, I went ahead and logged in and logged out in my XP client with my roaming profile THREE times just to make sure that all the policies and cached settings were updated.

I logged out and back in a fourth time, then logged back in with a local admin user, but the roaming profile folder was no longer in my Documents and Settings folder. (I checked and the roaming profile folder is loaded under Documents and Settings when I'm logged in with the roaming profile).

Any other suggestions?


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## Dave Atkin (Sep 4, 2009)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

How many users are having issues with Roaming profile? 

I would check the size of the profiles that they are pulling through to see if they are filled with rubbish.

I once had a user trying to pull 1.5GB worth of profile data through the network once. I re-created the profile as it was filled with crap. 


Dave


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## rasec8711 (May 9, 2012)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

I'm trying two profiles and they're both under 5MB, there are only word docs and links to their network drive documents.


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## rasec8711 (May 9, 2012)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

Here's something that I noticed before I just totally ignored it and thought it wasn't a big deal, but I guess it could be.

When I was following the instructions on how to set up the roaming profiles, I was not able to just create the shared roaming profiles folder (with permissions to read and change) and then just put \\CSLWIN2003\RoamingProfiles\%username% nor \\CSLWIN2003\RoamingProfiles\test to create the roaming profile folder for my test user account, the folder didn't get created automatically.

So I had to go ahead and set the shared folder manually, with permissions for the user to have full control, and then added the path for that folder (the one I created) into the user's Profile tab in Active Directory.

Anyways, that's what I did and I am able to log in with the roaming test profile, and the test folders and test pictures that I save while logged in in that profile are being saved in the shared folder for that profile, so again, the roaming profile is working but it is not being cached on the client computers


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## rasec8711 (May 9, 2012)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

Never mind, I was able to fix that issue, I created the RoamingProfiles folder with the correct permissions and started with a new user and the new user's folder was set-up automatically. 

But the problem persists  Profiles are still not being cached in my client computers.


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## Dave Atkin (Sep 4, 2009)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

Hi,

How long does it take to download the profile? 5MB shouldn't be more than about 20 seconds.

I will ask some of the other Microsoft Techs for some further inspiration. 


Dave


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## rasec8711 (May 9, 2012)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

It doesn't take long, about 12 seconds to log in and 30 seconds to log out. But some of the profiles that are actually in use are about 500 MB each. 

I want to get the test accounts working first so that the big profiles only get transferred once over the network and after that one time, only the updated files get synced.

Another thing I've tried so far: I found a client computer that wasn't part of the domain. I joined that computer to the domain and logged in with my test users and that time the profile for the test user was cached (I logged back in with a local account and the folder was still in Documents and Settings). But I logged back in to the test roaming account, and once I logged out for the second time, I logged back in with a local account, and the cached copy of the test roaming account was gone


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## Dave Atkin (Sep 4, 2009)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

500MB is pretty bad. Look at trimming the profiles down by removing temp files and cookies etc.

Have a read of the following article:
Roaming user profile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We dont normally recommend Wiki because it can be inacurate but on this ocassion it does show the limitations of Roaming profiles and explains them pretty well.

How many users do you have? And do they all need roaming profiles?


Dave


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## rasec8711 (May 9, 2012)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

I only need to be able to set up 7 users with roaming. I am planning on re-directing their documents folder to a network shared folder though. 

But before I try re-directing their documents, I want to make sure that I'm able to have their profiles cached on their computers. I mostly want to do the cached roaming profiles for back-up reasons, but 3 of the 7 users do need to use different computers and it would be nice if all 3 accounts were in perfect sync with their regular computers. 

Only one or 2 of the 7 accounts are actually close to 500MB, the 3 users that do use different computers have accounts that are slightly less than 100MB.

I havent' had a chance, but I'll make sure to read the WiKi.

Thanks for all your help so far Dave!


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## rasec8711 (May 9, 2012)

*Re: Windows 2003 Server Roaming Profiles won't leave a cache copy in xp client*

Wow! I was just a noob! I found the problem. What I was editing was the Local Computer Policy! I never edited the default domain policy, WOW.

Tahnks Dave for your help!


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