The situation is as follows. I have a number of computers running XP SP3 with Deep Freeze installed. For those who don't know, Deep Freeze 'erases' any changes to the selected partition(s) on each reboot. I would like users to be able to safely use and save their local files but not have the ability to edit anything on the system partition. Now, roaming profiles come to mind, but I do not want to load the entirety of each profile everytime a user logs in. Both our server and network in general are not up to the task. I have created a secondary partition on each computer to enable users to save their data to the second partition.
However, users often make many errors or forget causing them to complain down the line. And, of course, it should be more streamlined. My current methodology is to relocate system folders "Desktop" and "My Documents" in the registry, so in most cases, users do not risk losing any data. This usually does work, but one problem remains. For ease of deployment, we also use a number of virtual applications prepared by Vmware ThinApp. The virtual sandboxes are often automatically saved to %appdata%. This parameter can be changed to the same directory or a specific directory, but that does not suit my needs.
Some of these virtual programs are rather large and stored on a central server. If set to 'usb mode' only one user will be allowed to use the program at a time, or the virtual sandbox will throw up an error. So, every computer needs to be able to save the sandbox locally to %appdata%. However, this will always be erased while running deep freeze on the user workstations. This brings us full circle. Even if I cannot save the entirety of a user profile to a local secondary partition, can I move appdata with the same ease as common system folders such as My Documents? I have tried many times and failed because the environmental variable %appdata% always refers to the local system partition. Thus, the sandbox is created and deleted on reboot. I have tried creating different environmental variables such as %sandbox% directing it to the second partition. This works fine in windows, but now each ThinApp compile refuses and saves the sandbox in 'USB Mode' in a folder named %sandbox%. It does not see the environmental variable. Using a custom environmental variable is actually the ideal situation, as I do not want the entirety of %appdata% saved; however, I don't see another solution for the time being.
In short, is it possible to relocate the entire profile folder or just %appdata% to a secondary local partition?
Sorry, that may be a bit confusing. There must be a way to do it, as it is just a snap of the fingers in linux.
However, users often make many errors or forget causing them to complain down the line. And, of course, it should be more streamlined. My current methodology is to relocate system folders "Desktop" and "My Documents" in the registry, so in most cases, users do not risk losing any data. This usually does work, but one problem remains. For ease of deployment, we also use a number of virtual applications prepared by Vmware ThinApp. The virtual sandboxes are often automatically saved to %appdata%. This parameter can be changed to the same directory or a specific directory, but that does not suit my needs.
Some of these virtual programs are rather large and stored on a central server. If set to 'usb mode' only one user will be allowed to use the program at a time, or the virtual sandbox will throw up an error. So, every computer needs to be able to save the sandbox locally to %appdata%. However, this will always be erased while running deep freeze on the user workstations. This brings us full circle. Even if I cannot save the entirety of a user profile to a local secondary partition, can I move appdata with the same ease as common system folders such as My Documents? I have tried many times and failed because the environmental variable %appdata% always refers to the local system partition. Thus, the sandbox is created and deleted on reboot. I have tried creating different environmental variables such as %sandbox% directing it to the second partition. This works fine in windows, but now each ThinApp compile refuses and saves the sandbox in 'USB Mode' in a folder named %sandbox%. It does not see the environmental variable. Using a custom environmental variable is actually the ideal situation, as I do not want the entirety of %appdata% saved; however, I don't see another solution for the time being.
In short, is it possible to relocate the entire profile folder or just %appdata% to a secondary local partition?
Sorry, that may be a bit confusing. There must be a way to do it, as it is just a snap of the fingers in linux.
