Copy a user profile

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To copy a user profile

  1. Open System in Control Panel.

  2. On the Advanced tab, under User Profiles, click Settings.

  3. Under Profiles stored on this computer, click the user profile you want to copy, and then click Copy To.

  4. Do one or more of the following:

    To specify where the new profile will be saved

    • In Copy profile to, type the location for the new profile, or click Browse to select the path.

    To specify who is permitted to use the copied profile

    1. In Permitted to use, click Change.

    2. In the Select User or Group dialog box, in Enter the object name to select, add the user, group, or built-in security principle or click Object Types to select an object type.

      To specify a domain to search, in the Select User or Group dialog box, click Locations, and then select the domain.

      To further narrow your search, in the Select User or Group dialog box, click Advanced.

    3. Click OK

Notes

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • To open System, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.

  • To open System from a command line as an administrator, type:

    runas /user:computername\Administrator "rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl"

  • You cannot copy or delete a user profile that belongs to the currently logged on user or any user whose profile is in use.

  • If you copy the profile to a new location, you must update the User Profile Path entry for the user's account to refer to this new location as well.

  • You cannot use Windows Explorer or any other file management utility to copy user profiles.

  • You can issue a network default user profile for all new users in the domain. For more information about creating a preconfigured user profile, see Related Topics.

Information about functional differences

  • Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

User profiles overview
Delete a user profile
Switch between a roaming and local user profile
System Properties Overview - Control Panel
Add a home folder to a profile
Create a preconfigured user profile