Map Home Drive via GPO

[Michael]

Yes all my users are shared this way. It's one way of going about it and I've used Active Directory ever since Windows 2000.

 

Migrating from 2000 > 2003 R2 > 2008 R2 over the years, I've kept the same system. The only difference is I enter the FQDN as 2008 R2 seems to prefer it.

[glennda]

I don't share each users folder, it might just be me but from my experience the servers i've used over the years the ones that have been setup in the way that each user has its only share they havn't performed aswell as having a share for say staffdata and studentdata and them filtered out down the tree i.e server\share$\intake10\%username%

 

This is not based on fact nor do i have anything to prove just based on experience. I know there are a few people around that agree (i'm afraid i can't remember who it was as it was a long time since we discussed) but there are just as many people that disagree and many in the middle that are not sure!

[burgemaster]

We are using "File Server Resource Manager" to control quotas. Whether its a bug or supposed to be like this for a reason i dont know. But each user, in "My Computer" shows the whole server drive quota not their individual quota set by FSRM. So they see the nice graph/bar in win7 and think "oh ive got 500gig of 1tb left."

The only was to get they to show the correct quota is share each home drive, but ive read as Glennda has said this might have a hit on performance.

[Michael]

I think there are lots of factors really which could affect performance. Server specification, network speed and number of users.

 

I use Autoshare to do all the donkey work for me, so don't get the impression I am manually sharing folders I don't think the method of sharing should influence speed dramatically and if it worked for 2000 why not 2008? They're still very similar in many respects.

 

As for your quota issue, I suspect it's because Windows Server looks at space per volume, rather than per quota. I do agree though, it does seem a little pointless if the end user cannot accurately see how much space they have left.

 

From memory, I think there's a setting or GPO which can inform the user when they have 10% left of their quota. This may be worth exploring.

[Shuriken1]

Just to add my 2p, we've moved from a 'share for each person' to a 'one share with separate folders' approach of the last few years and I think it did contribute to a performance increase. I can't prove this in any way, just gut feeling. It does also mean that AD automatically creates home folders for you and you (in theory) don't have to go and share it or anything extra.

[CommodoreS]

Here are some additional tweaks I have made:

 

All Tested on Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

 

Note: \\SERVER.domain.domain represents the FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name)

 

Folder Redirection Update 23.10.11

 

Thanks for posting your setup Michael. It is always useful to see how others have configured things (although there is sometimes more than one way of doing things).

 

For some reason I had problems with these settings you suggested.

1. Documents - Redirect to the user's home directory

2. Pictures - Follow the Documents Folder

2. Music - Follow the Documents Folder

2. Videos - Follow the Documents Folder

3. \\SERVER.domain.domain\%Username%$\Saved Searches

4. Application Data (Not Applicable)

 

1. When setting this as you suggested, in Win 7 I found software (Word 2003) would default to the local C:\users\username\documents folder to open and save files. This seems to correspond with Libraries>Documents which inside Document Library Locations was showing as C:\Users\username\documents as the default folder. However after changing the Documents redirection using Method 2 at When you redirect the Documents folder on a Windows Vista-based or Windows 7-based computer to a network share, the folder name unexpectedly changes back to Documents It now shows the network location (\\servername\users\teachers\username\My Documents) as the default location in Libraries and Documents and no longer tries to save to C:\users\username\documents. I just wondered how you managed to get around this by setting it as Documents - Redirect to the user's home directory.

 

2. When I set these as Follow the Documents Folder, I found that the Administrator on the server was not granted permissions to view these folders as a result of not being able to select "Grant the user exclusive rights to My Documents" (See http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-7/90460-administrators-cannot-access-users-my-music-my-pictures-my-videos-folders.html ). After I had changed these to:

Basic - Redirect everyone's folder to the same location

Create a folder for each user under the root path

\\servername\users\teachers

All 3 settings boxes ticked

Leave the folder...

Then when the folders were created, administrators had access to read the folders. Again, I am wondering how you got around this by setting this to Follow the Documents Folder, as I could not find another way around that problem.

 

3. Do you mean Saved Games? I could not find a setting called Saved Searches. Only Saved Games which you have not mentioned.

 

4. I have decided to Redirect Application Data. However I am unsure whether I should redirect this to:

\\servername\users\teachers\username\Application Data

or

\\servername\users\teachers\username\Application Data\Roaming

[CommodoreS]

I use Autoshare to do all the donkey work for me, so don't get the impression I am manually sharing folders I don't think the method of sharing should influence speed dramatically and if it worked for 2000 why not 2008? They're still very similar in many respects.

 

I have tried looking for information on Autoshare but could not find anything. Do you have any more information please?

[Michael]

1. When setting this as you suggested, in Win 7 I found software (Word 2003) would default to the local C:\users\username\documents folder to open and save files.

 

There's nothing wrong with the GPO settings you've set, but of course you need to make sure you specify the home folder per user. In Active Directory, right click a user and select Properties. Select the Profile tab, then specify a drive letter and the home folder path. It would read something like:

 

H: \\SERVER.domain.domain\Username$

 

or

 

H: \\SERVER.domain.domain\users\teachers\username

 

Make sure the user themselves has Full Control to their home folder and optionally Domain Administrators (recommended).

 

When I set these as Follow the Documents Folder, I found that the Administrator on the server was not granted permissions to view these folders as a result of not being able to select "Grant the user exclusive rights to My Documents"

 

As a recommendation, you should untick Grant the user exclusive rights to My Documents. I specify Basic - Redirect everyone's folder to the same location and then Redirect to the user's home directory which would link to the above setting I mentioned earlier.

 

Do you mean Saved Games?

 

Yes it was probably a typo by me, there's only Searches and Saved Games, but the clever thing about Folder Redirection is you can name a redirected folder whatever you like.

 

I have decided to Redirect Application Data.

 

I would probably advise against this as there are numerous 'problems' with redirecting Application Data. If you wish to redirect it anyway, then the path would read either:

 

\\SERVER.domain.domain\%Username%$\AppData\Roaming

 

or

 

\\SERVER.domain.domain\users\teachers\username\AppData\Roaming

 

Please note, there isn't a gap with AppData (above), but for some reason I cannot remove it.

[Michael]

I have tried looking for information on Autoshare but could not find anything. Do you have any more information please?

 

You can download AutoShare and Unshare for free here

[CommodoreS]

You can download AutoShare and Unshare for free here

 

Thanks for the link. It looks like it is discontinued though and the E-Mail link for AutoShare no longer works.

[Michael]

It is discontinued, but you can sign up for free and download it. It works absolutely fine on 2008 R2.

[CommodoreS]

I guess they must have changed something recently, as The download E-Mail says:

 

Thank you for your interest in . Below you will find links to download as well as links for any bundled products, supporting documentation, and technical support.

 

 

[sECTION_HEADING]

 

 

Technical Support

 

Click here for product support.

 

Click here for information about MD5 Checksums.

 

 

I tried to download another product from them and got sent an E-Mail with all the links included.

[flashsnaps]

This is very helpful, question though. Control Panel is still displayed on my desktop after redirecting the desktop to \\server1\user.desktops\student ? Which works fine btw.

 

Do you disable UAC?

Edited September 19, 2013 by flashsnaps

[Michael]

This is very helpful, question though. Control Panel is still displayed on my desktop after redirecting the desktop to \\server1\user.desktops\student ? Which works fine btw.

 

Do you disable UAC?

 

Not sure why Control Panel is showing on the desktop. It isn't there by default, however it is there on the Start Menu.

 

And yes, I do disable UAC. In a controlled/managed environment you don't need it, plus common applications such as SIMS do not work properly with it enabled.

[edutech4schools]

I have only skim read this post so sorry if I have missed something.

 

In your first post you say you are trying to map the H drive via GPO. Why are you not using AD users to map the home drive? I have found this to be far better for mapping home drives.