Local Profiles moving to Roaming or Mandatory for Outlook

[Grommit]

Hi

 

We have Ranger installed and running the desktops

 

When the staff try to open outlook they have to configure Outlook and find the server

 

The Staff have local profiles so I am told that Roaming or Mandatory profiles is the way to go..

 

Now will this affect Ranger ?

 

Ok... just to brush up... is this how I should set up the profiles..

 

I log on a a staff member.

 

Adjust the desktop and rest to desired setup.

 

Copy the profile to server\profile folder

 

Change the .dat to .man in the profile folder

 

go through staff members accounts in AD and point all to the same mandatory profile in the profile folder.

 

And then all staff members should be able to log on to Outlook automatically configured to their own settings

 

What happens if there are some Outlook 2000's around ?

 

Is this correct ? and then all the staff even tho i used 1 staff account should have their Outlook configured on opening ?

 

Many Thanks

[ajbritton]

If you are using Exchange server then I doubt this would work. The first member of staff to log on with the new profile would try to connect to Exchange as the user that you used to make the profile.

 

If you are using POP/SMTP then I'm sure it won't work, as the POP logon details will only be right for the user you used to make the profile.

[Grommit]

If you are using Exchange server then I doubt this would work. The first member of staff to log on with the new profile would try to connect to Exchange as the user that you used to make the profile.

 

If you are using POP/SMTP then I'm sure it won't work, as the POP logon details will only be right for the user you used to make the profile.

 

I am using an Exchange Server 2003 on Server 2000 SP4 Box

[Ric_]

Download the Office ADM files, these can be used to configure the Outlook settings.

 

Since all the data is held on Exchange, it doesn't matter that the users are 'roaming'.... it will just configure the machine if they don't have a local profile.

 

Personally, I just make everyone use OWA unless they have their own machine (i.e. admin staff).

[Grommit]

Download the Office ADM files, these can be used to configure the Outlook settings.

 

Since all the data is held on Exchange, it doesn't matter that the users are 'roaming'.... it will just configure the machine if they don't have a local profile.

 

Personally, I just make everyone use OWA unless they have their own machine (i.e. admin staff).

 

Thanks for the reply

 

I wish I could use OWA but (as my other post) but there are issues with it...

 

Are you saying that I can leave them as local profiles if I use the Office ADM files ?

[Ric_]

@Grommit: That's what I do. When using Exchange all the data is stored on the server so Outlook is effectively just a window onto the server.

[ChrisH]

No doubt your issues have something to do with running Exchange 2003 on 2000 Server. Maybe its time for an upgrade

[ajbritton]

It's certainly possible to use the Office Resource Kit's 'Custom Installation Wizard' to produce an MST with controls how Outlook connects to email services the first time a user runs it. I've done this lot's of times, and it works beautifully.

[wesleyw]

@ajbritton: Could you give me a run down of how you've accomplished this?

 

Wes

[ajbritton]

Basically, the Custom Installation Wizards helps you create an custom transform file (MST) which tailors the installation of Office at install time on your PCs.

 

1 - Create an Admin installation point for your version of Office

 

2 - Download the appropriate resource kit tools for the version of office you are using and install it on a PC

 

3 - Use the Custom Installation Wizard, pointing it at the main MSI file in the admin installation point for Office. Follow the wizard making any settings you require.

 

4 - When you get to the Outlook pages in the wizard, you just need to specify the name of the exchange server and to use %username% as the mailbox alias.

 

5 - Install Office on your PCs using the MST file created by the Custom Installation Wizard. This can be done manually or using GP.

 

In the resource kits for the most recent versions of Office, there is a Custom Maintenance Wizard, which looks very similar to the CIW. This might be useful if you need to reconfigure lots of existing Office installations, but I have never used it.