redirected startmenus

[browolf]

have the startmenus on all the workstations redirected to a folder on a server through the group policy and in such a way that if i add an icon in the server it instantly updates on the workstations.
Am i right in thinking this is the correct way to do it?

its just that there's a vast amount of startmenu SMB traffic on the server and i'm wondering if its contributing to problems where the startmenu/machines lock up for like 15 or so seconds periodically

[Dos_Box]

Yes. Just ensure your GPO settings are correct and you make the folder read only.

[OverWorked]

I'll second that. I do it for desktops as well, and place useful stuff there like shortcuts to the school intranet.

[Michael]

I also use Folder Redirection. One of AD's most useful policies being able to redirect the Start Menu, Desktop and My Documents. I'd never put files on the redirected desktop for example, but always put shortcuts.

If you needed to put a file on the desktop, it's much simpler to copy the file to a network drive, create a shortcut and place that shortcut on the desktop. The risk of putting large files to be redirected 'could' slow down logon time.

[browolf]

the folder is read only to all except admins but icons from software i or other domain admins appear or disappear at whim lol

[Michael]

One policy you should enable when using folder redirection is located in:

User Config > Admin Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar

Enable a policy called "Remove common program groups from Start Menu"

This policy removes all shortcuts other than the shortcuts you specify on the server, otherwise shortcuts located locally in \Documents and Settings\All Users will appear on the Desktop and Start Menu. This is maybe why icons may appear and not appear on different machines!

[ChrisH]

I sometimes have trouble with my redirected start menus due to a small blip on the network. I have considered redirecting them to a local folder and having that updated with robocopy when the machine starts up. Most of the time I dont ahve a problem but sometimes....

[MManjra]

It is great apart from when kids start to double click on the startmenu-programs folder, and then work their way up to the netlogon folder and start looking for any other available shared drives they can access. what you need to make sure is they have denied acces to all the other scripts in the netlogon folder and any shares they are not suppose to have.
If there is way of disabling the double click on start menu-programs folder or an alternative, please let me know

[tarquel]

It might fall into the same category as disabling the right-click on the Start Menu

Cheers
Nath

[chrisg]

just a tought, never tried it but could you have an identical share on each server called redirects$ and have the redirect point to

%logonserver%\redirects$\smenu\etc\etc
%logonserver%\redirects$\desktop\etc\etc


this would only work if shares were on DC's but would possibly shareout the work/network traffic needed by one server and if one failed you would have the others to fall back on.

[ajbritton]

If you want resiliency, you can use DFS...

[MManjra]

I think i may have a solution to this problem. what i am thinking of doing is copying the redirected start menu folder to some where locally on the workstation ie. c:\start menu\etc... That way if the kids double click on the start menu, it shouldnt open in a new window. or if it does they wont be allowed to browse the network. all i need to do is create a batch file that will copy the start menu folder from the server and on to the workstaions.
i have tried using the follwing in a batch file but have not had much luck.
xcopy \\server4\profiles$\pupils\start menu c:\pupils\menu /e /y
am i doing something wrong here that it wont copy??

[ajbritton]

xcopy \\server4\profiles$\pupils\start menu c:\pupils\menu /e /y

For a start, any path with a space in it needs surrounding by double quotes "" e.g.

xcopy "\\server4\profiles$\pupils\start menu" c:\pupils\menu /e /y

[E1uSiV3]

Just disable drag n drop access to the start menu for the kids and voila, no double clicking

EDIT: Forgot to tell you how lol

Group policy:

User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Start Menu and Taskbar -> Remove drag-and-drop context menus on the Start Menu

[ken_kaniff]

wecame across the problem of freezing and missing redirected start menus. decided it was most probably cause by yhe fact that at a start of a lesson there might potentiall be 100 or so kids loggin on simulatanoesly thus creating a lot of "start menu traffic".

what i did here was to apply a startup script to all the workstations via a GPO which xcopys the start menu directory from the server to c:\sm on each local machine. then i set folder redirection to point to c:\sm and we've had zero problems ever since.

if the startup script ever did fail on a particular workstation, the worst that can now happen is the start menu might be outdated.