June, 2007. Revised 7/5/07.
| The changes described here were completed successfully on 7/4/07. If, for some reason, your desktop folder is not redirected you will see a file "DesktopMovedToUDrive.txt". This is unexpected and may mean the computer has the old version of the UserSetup program. Log off and try another computer. You may also try running UserSetup by clicking on the desktop icon. If you see the desktop path on the bottom of the window and it starts with "%USERPROFILE%" click on that label to redirect the destkop. If nothing is shown there then that computer has the old program and you should use a different one. |
This page describes changes made during June and July, 2007 to "move" all user Desktop folders from the roaming profiles to the UDrive. The details here are primarily for help desk personnel and lab managers. Most users do no need to understand the details here the change or take any action, should read the section Recommendations.
Contents:
The Desktop folder is where files and shortcuts that appear on your Windows desktop are stored. Prior to this change, users of CLC/CLM managed Windows systems had the Desktop folder set to be in the Roaming Profile, which is the usual default. The Roaming Profile is a group of files and registry settings that are downloaded from a file server to the computer when you log on and uploaded back to the file server when you log off. All the files are copied to the computer, so if there is a lot of data then it takes a long time to log on. For this reason the size of the Roaming Profile is small.
Prior to redirection on a lab computer, or on your own Windows computer, look in C:\Documents and Settings\<userid> to find the Desktop folder and see what is in it. Items you see on the desktop also include files in the profile for All Users. Your deskop folder will have only items you have added. After July 4, users of our lab computers will find the desktop folder in V:\Desktop.
Although we regularly put out notices and reminders that the Desktop should not be used to store data and documents (just shortcuts), many people are in the habit of putting large files there and having problems when they exceed their profile quota.
Another problem is that sometimes the profile needs to be cleared to fix application problems (an application my have saved bad data or registry settings). Clearing the profile erases the Desktop contents.
Also, since the contents of the profile are replaced on the server when you log off, using more than one computer at a time can result in a loss of data. For example, log on two computers, save a file to the desktop on one and log off that computer and the file is saved with the profile. Now log off the second computer where the file doesn't exist. That copy of the profile is saved to the server and, poof, the file is gone. This is difficult for many users to understand.
The location of the Desktop folder and various other folders is specified in the user registry, specifically, the Explorer User Shell Folders key. The Cookies and Favorites folders are where IE stores cookies and bookmarks. These were relocated to your "Home Folder" (UDrive or PASS) long ago, so they are not downloaded when you log on. The Desktop folder is a little different in that it must be available when you log without prompting you for credentials. Since the UDrive is secured with Kerberos, redirecting it there works better than using the PASS space which does not currently use Kerberos.
To redirect the folder, a new version of then UserSetup program checks your registry settings when you log on. If your profile is new (you have never used a lab computer or you have cleared the profile) it will change the registry setting for the Desktop folder, pointing to the UDrive. If the profile is not new it will change the setting only if it sees a file "DesktopMovedToUDrive.txt" in the old profile Desktop folder.
On July 4th, a job on our servers moved all files from each user's profile Desktop folder to their UDrive Desktop folder. It placed a "DesktopMovedToUDrive.txt" in the old profile Desktop folder. Do not erase that file or the Desktop folder in your UDrive space!
The new UserSetup program will see "DesktopMovedToUDrive.txt" file in the old (downloaded) Desktop folder the next time a user logs on and it will change the registry to point to the UDrive and then restart the "shell" (Windows Explorer). That file will remain there for a few weeks until another version of UserSetup is deployed that will no longer look for it and will always set the registry to point to the UDrive if that setting is wrong.
A nightly job to create a UDrive folder for all users, and add a Desktop folder under it, was put into production in late May 2007. If you erase the Desktop folder it will be recreated early the next morning. (Don't erase it.)
An updated UserSetup program was deployed on July 2/3. New users, or users who have cleared their profiles, will have their desktop folders relocated the first time they log on as part of the new user setup.
On July 3 beginning around 11pm, a server job moved everyone's existing Desktop files from the roaming profiles to the UDrive. This finish around 6am on July 4. When each of these users logs on the next time, their registry setting will be changed to point the Desktop to the UDrive as described above.
Generally we expect most users to not notice or care. Users with large amounts of data on the desktop may notice a faster login or the disappearance of the dialog box at logoff saying they are over their profile quota, which is much smaller than the UDrive quota.
Users in the habit of saving large files to the desktop might notice that saving a larger file to the desktop is slower than when the desktop was downloaded to the local machine, but they should notice logging on and off is faster since Desktop files are no longer copied to and from a remote server. Large temporary files should be saved to the T: drive which is a local TEMP folder.
Users that might be on two computers at once will notice that putting something on the desktop on one computer causes it to appear a moment later on the other as well. This is, of course, because they point to the same location.
We still do not recommend storing data and documents on the desktop. It does take some time to render the icons for the desktop contents, and many files will slow down logging on. Also, many applications expect the default save folder to be My Documents or a folder under My Documents. My Documents will continue to be redirected to the UDrive or the PASS space, as selected by the user.
Large temporary files should be placed on the T: drive, which is temporary space on the local computer.
The default quota for UDrive users changed from 300MB to 350MB to accomodate the Desktop folder. If you need more space please use the PASS service.