Lesson 3: Migrating and
Configuring User Data
MOAC 70-687: Configuring Windows 8.1
Overview
• Exam Objective 1.3: Migrate and configure
user data
o Migrate user profiles
o Configure folder location
o Configure profiles, including profile version, local,
roaming, and mandatory
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
2
Configuring User Profiles
Lesson 3: Migrating and Configuring User Data
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
3
User Profiles
• A user profile is a series of folders, associated
with a specific user account, that contain
personal documents, user-specific registry
settings, Internet favorites, and other
personalized information—everything that
provides a user’s familiar working
environment.
• On a Windows 8.1 computer, user profiles
are stored in the Users folder, in subfolders
named for the user accounts.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
4
User Profiles
• There are three main types of user profiles,
as follows:
o Local user profile
o Roaming user profile
o Mandatory user profile
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
5
Using Roaming Profiles
• A roaming user profile is simply a copy of a
local user profile that is stored on a network
share (to which the user has appropriate
permissions), so that the user can access it
from any computer on the network.
• To enable a user to access a roaming user
profile, rather than a local profile, you must
open the user’s Properties sheet to the
Profile tab and specify the location of the
roaming profile in the Profile Path field.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
6
Using Roaming Profiles
• For a local user account, you use the Local
Users and Groups snap-in – available through
the Computer Management console – to
access the user’s Properties sheet.
• For Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
domain users, you use the Active Directory Users
and Computers console to access a user’s
Properties sheet.
• The path to the roaming profile folder that you
specify on the Profile tab should use Universal
Naming Convention (UNC) notation, in the form
\\server\share\folder.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
7
Using Roaming Profiles
• To use a single server folder to store profiles for
multiple users, you can create subfolders
named for the users and add the %username%
environment variable to the profile path:
• Example:
\\Fileserver1\Profiles\Users\%username%,
• For all of your users, and each one will receive a
roaming profile in a separate subfolder, named
using his or her account, in the Users folder, in
the Profiles share, on a server called Fileserver1.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
8
Using Roaming Profiles
The Profile tab of a domain user’s Properties sheet
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
9
Using Mandatory User
Profiles
• A mandatory user profile is simply a readonly roaming user profile.
• To create a mandatory user profile, you
rename the Ntuser.dat file in the folder
containing the roaming profile to
Ntuser.man.
• Renaming this file with a .man extension
makes it read-only, preventing the client
computers from saving changes to the
profile when a user logs off.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
10
Managing Profile
Compatibility
• User profiles created with Windows 8/8.1 are not
compatible with Windows 7 or earlier versions. If
you use a computer running Windows 8/8.1 to
access a roaming profile created with Windows
7, Windows 8/8.1 automatically upgrades the
profile to its new format, rendering it unusable
with Windows 7.
• To control which profile a workstation uses
based on the operating system version, you can
use a Group Policy setting called Set roaming
profile path for all users logging on to this
computer.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
11
Managing Profile Compatibility
The Set roaming profile path for all users logging on to
this computer dialog box
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
12
Migrating User Profiles
Lesson 3: Migrating and Configuring User Data
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
13
Migrating User Profiles
• There are two basic methods for deploying
Windows 8.1 to a client while retaining the
user profile settings: upgrade and migration.
• Microsoft has created two different tools for
migrating files and settings to new
computers, which are as follows:
o Windows Easy Transfer
o User State Migration Tool
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
14
Using Windows Easy
Transfer
• Windows Easy Transfer migrates user profile
data from one computer to another in a
variety of scenarios.
• Some of the options you can select are as
follows:
o Number of computers
o Direct or indirect
o Storage medium
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
15
Using Windows Easy
Transfer
• The most common scenarios are likely to be
the following:
o A user purchases a new computer on which he
wants to run Windows 8.1, but he also wants to
retain the files and settings from his existing
Windows computer.
o A user wants to install Windows 8.1 on her existing
Windows computer and retain all of her files and
settings, but she wants to avoid performing an
upgrade to maximize her Windows 8.1
performance.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
16
Using Windows Easy
Transfer
• The procedure for migrating files:
1. Saving the user profile information on the
existing computer
2. Transferring the information to the new
computer
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
17
Transferring Data to
Windows 8.1
• The version of Windows Easy Transfer included with
Windows 8.1 is compatible with the Windows 8 and
Windows 7 versions as sources.
o It is not compatible with earlier Windows versions of the tool,
even the ones available from the Microsoft Download Center
that are designed for Windows 8 compatibility.
• No matter what data you choose to save when running
Windows Easy Transfer on a Windows 7 or Windows 8
source system, the version included with Windows 8.1
can only transfer files
o It cannot import Windows settings. In addition, the Windows
8.1 version functions only as a transfer destination; it cannot
save data for transfer to other systems.
• The Windows 8.1 version of Windows Easy Transfer only
supports migrations using a removable storage device,
such as an external hard drive or a USB flash drive.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
18
Transferring Data to Windows 8.1
The What do you want to use to transfer items to your
new PC? page
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
19
Using the User State
Migration Tool
• The User State Migration Tool (USMT) has the
same basic capabilities as Windows Easy
Transfer; however, USMT is a command line
program that lacks a graphical interface.
• USMT includes two separate command line
programs: Scanstate.exe, which saves user
profile data; and Loadstate.exe, which
restores previously-saved user profile data.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
20
Configuring Folder
Redirection
Lesson 3: Migrating and Configuring User Data
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
21
Folder Redirection
• Folder redirection is a Windows 8.1 feature
that is simply a means of storing a copy of
certain user profile folders on another
computer, usually a file server.
• To implement folder redirection on Windows
8.1, you must join the workstation to an
Active Directory Domain Services domain
and create Group Policy settings that
specify which folders to redirect and where
to store them.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
22
Configuring Folder Redirection
The Folder Redirection policies in a GPO
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
23
Configuring Folder Redirection
The Properties sheet for a Folder Location policy
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
24
Folder Redirection Group
Policy Settings
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
25
Folder Redirection Group
Policy Settings
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
26
Lesson Summary
• A user profile is a series of folders, associated with a specific
user account, that contain personal documents, user-specific
registry settings, Internet favorites, and other personalized
information—everything that provides a user’s familiar working
environment.
• A roaming user profile is simply a copy of a local user profile
that is stored on a network share (to which the user has
appropriate permissions), so that the user can access it from
any computer on the network.
• A mandatory user profile is simply a read-only roaming user
profile.
• Windows Easy Transfer is a tool that migrates user profile
information from an existing Windows computer to a new
computer with a clean installation of Windows 8.1.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
27
Lesson Summary
• The User State Migration Tool (USMT) has the same basic
capabilities as Windows Easy Transfer. The primary difference
between the two is that USMT is a command line program that
lacks a graphical interface.
• Folder redirection is a Windows 8.1 feature that is simply a
means of storing a copy of certain user profile folders on
another computer, usually a file server.
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
28
Copyright 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc..
All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that
named in Section 117 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the
express written consent of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for
further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.. The purchaser may make back-up copies for his/her own
use only and not for distribution or resale. The Publisher assumes no
responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages, caused by the use of these
programs or from the use of the information contained herein.