How to create a default user profile in Windows 7

Transcription

1 AnswesThatWok TM How to ceate a default use pofile in Windows 7 (Win 7) How to ceate a default use pofile in Windows 7 When to use this document Use this document wheneve you want to ceate a default use pofile which has all you favouite softwae pogams peconfigued, all you favouite utilities installed and configued with you own pefeences, etc... A typical use of this document would be in a copoate envionment whee you want all uses of a PC to have all pogams behaving identically acoss all pofiles, all pintes installed in the same way, all equied toolbas installed and configued accoding to you copoate standads, etc.. Altenatively you may be a home use whee, again, you want all you family membes to enjoy the benefit of all pogams having been configued popely befoehand. Poblem : ceating a default use pofile in Windows 7 is completely diffeent to the way it used to be in eithe Windows XP o Windows Vista. The copy-configued-use-pofileto-default-pofile method using the Use Pofiles section of the Advanced System Popeties dialogue sceen, does NOT wok. Basically the Copy to... button is always disabled, as illustated in the sceenshot below : Page 1 of 7 Copyight AnswesThatWok.com, 4-Sep-2010.

2 AnswesThatWok TM How to ceate a default use pofile in Windows 7 (Win 7) It is maddening - Copy to... is always disabled. This is vey poo fom Micosoft a numbe of people in Quality Contol missed this one completely and should have been sacked! How else can you explain the next poblem : not only is the Copy To button neve enabled, but, to make mattes wose, the Micosoft solution to the poblem, Knowledge Base aticle , is idiculous and nonsensical. How can anyone in Quality Contol think that it is ight to eplace what used to be a 2-minute pocedue in Windows XP / Vista, with a 2-hou pocess involving the Windows 7 SYSPREP tool. The mind boggles! Fotunately, we ae AnswesThatWok.com, not Micosoft, and we have fo you a 3-minute pocedue which bings sanity back into this pocess ead on. Configue the pofile you will be using as you template fo the Default Use Pofile Make sue you ae logged in with a pofile that is an Administato on the PC. Then : Do youself a favou and download the fee Classic Shell fo Windows 7 fom the following web page : While Windows 7 itself is excellent, afte the unbelievably teible Vista the wost opeating system eve invented the Windows 7 Stat Menu, on the othe hand, is teible, so make sue you install Classic Shell to bing back Stat Menu use fiendliness. Install all the pogams that will be needed on a standad use PC. Configue netwoking. Install netwok pintes. Choose you standad default pinte and configue the pinte defaults that you want you uses to have (e.g. Tay 2 as default tay, double-sided pinting, etc..). Map netwok shaes (unless this is done by seve-side login scipts o goup policies). Install all Windows Updates (don t foget the Optional Updates). Install all add-on utilities such as Adobe Acobat Reade, Flash, and Shockwave. Install you favouite pictue viewes. Install and configue you copoate antivius softwae. Configue you START menu. Configue toolbas (Quick Launch, Wod, Excel, etc...). Configue Intenet Exploe and othe web bowse defaults (we have excellent documents fo this on ou website in the Libay of Answes That Wok). Run TUT, a must, to optimize you Windows 7 setup. Page 2 of 7 Copyight AnswesThatWok.com, 4-Sep-2010.

3 AnswesThatWok TM How to ceate a default use pofile in Windows 7 (Win 7) Install you copoate templates and point Wod, Excel, PowePoint to the default netwok dives and foldes. Open all pogams so that uses ae not faced with fist-un Licence Ageements and setup wizads the fist time they use a newly set-up PC (and that includes utilities like Acobat Reade, itunes, etc...)!!!! Disable automatic updates that you do not want uses to be faced with (e.g. Acobat Reade, Flash, Windows?,...). Set up you copoate pefeed Taskba notification pefeences. Set up you copoate pefeed Auto-Play pefeences. Set up you copoate pefeed Notification Icons pefeences Finally, delete all the files in C:\Uses\<You-Pofile>AppData\Local\Temp Empty you Recycle Bin Now ceate the Default Pofile Now that you have finished configuing a pofile exactly as you want evey use to have as thei default pofile, it is time to copy this pofile to the Default Use Pofile that all uses will be using. Fo the examples in this document we will assume that the pofile we configued to become the default pofile, was that of a use called Kaia. Logout of Kaia and Reboot the PC (not a logoff, a full eboot). Log back into the PC as anothe Administato use, e.g. Administato. Open Windows Exploe. Go into Tools \ Options. Page 3 of 7 Copyight AnswesThatWok.com, 4-Sep-2010.

4 AnswesThatWok TM How to ceate a default use pofile in Windows 7 (Win 7) Configue the Geneal tab as below (make sue to Apply you changes) : Configue the View tab as follows (make sue to Apply the changes) : Page 4 of 7 Copyight AnswesThatWok.com, 4-Sep-2010.

5 AnswesThatWok TM How to ceate a default use pofile in Windows 7 (Win 7) OK you way out. Whilst still in Windows Exploe home in on the C:\Uses folde. The foldes you will find in thee will be something like this : Right-click on Kaia (ou fully configued pofile) and choose COPY. Next, PASTE back into the same C:\Uses folde. You should end up with two Kaia foldes, one of them being a copy of the oiginal, as shown below : Page 5 of 7 Copyight AnswesThatWok.com, 4-Sep-2010.

6 AnswesThatWok TM How to ceate a default use pofile in Windows 7 (Win 7) Next, ename the Default folde to something which indicates that it is a backup of you last Default Use Pofile, as pe the example below : Finally, ename Kaia Copy to Default. That s it Job done!!! A copy of the Kaia use pofile which you configued caefully ove many hous, is now in the Default folde. Fom now on, when a new use of this PC logs on fo the fist time, Windows 7 will ceate that use s new pofile using all you caefully configued pefeences stoed in the Default use pofile. Page 6 of 7 Copyight AnswesThatWok.com, 4-Sep-2010.

7 AnswesThatWok TM How to ceate a default use pofile in Windows 7 (Win 7) All you now need to do is tidy up. Go back into Tools \ Options in Windows Exploe and set some of the options back, fo safety, as follows : ooooooooooooooooooooo Page 7 of 7 Copyight AnswesThatWok.com, 4-Sep-2010.