Microsoft Virtualization Secrets

Understanding the Fundamentals of User Profiles

The world of the computer user fundamentally comes down to three things: the user’s applications, data, and customizations. While a new operating system is nice and holds the promise of better productivity through new and improved features, each new version of the operating system must enable fast and efficient access to these three things that the user needs. If users are going to use multiple operating system instances, such as when Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) or session virtualization are used, or even just where multiple physical desktops are used, those three fundamental requirements need to follow them. Chapters 4 and 5 described how to use virtualization to make users’ applications and data easily available no matter what operating system they are using. That only leaves the user’s customizations—or, more specifically, using virtualization to make their user profile available from any operating system or device.

NOTE A profile folder could already exist for a username if, for example, there were a local user account with the same name as a domain account, or if a domain user account were deleted and then re-created, in which case, even though the account would have the same name, it would have different identifiers and be considered a different account. Therefore, it would not reuse the existing profile. This is why, if an AD account is deleted accidentally, just re-creating the user account won’t provide the desired ...