Roaming Profile and Folder Redirection

Active Directory
#1

Hi Paul,

I have three computers at home. I have installed Windows Server 2019 on one computer and added the ADDS roles. I created two users using ADDS and made one account to be member of the administrators /domain admins. The other account is just a normal user.

I have successfully joined the other two computers to the domain and was able to login with the accounts created earlier. I have also setup the roaming profile for both users and in addition, I did folder redirection for Desktop, Documents and the Downloads Folder. I created two shared drive in Local Disk D and mapped them to their respective users. This was to minimize/discourage storing data or files in the Redirected Folders. I used this link to setup the folder redirection…

What I have experienced after the roaming/ folder redirection setup is that the logon time/signing out time has extended/prolonged. I like the way I can easily switch to another computer and have all my “stuff” there. i.e. from quick access, desktop background, etc. What could be causing the prolonged signing out/login duration ? Is folder redirection discussed in any of your lectures ?

Please help me get it right. thanks in advance.

1 Like
#2

Hi Paul,

Please also advise on above issue…

#3

Yes - we do have a section for folder redirection in Module 3: https://courses.serveracademy.com/courses/take/module-3/lessons/6019351-configuring-roaming-profiles-for-user-accounts

#4

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your feedback. However, you did not answer my question on the prolonged startup time. What are the best practices for setting up roaming profiles/ Folder redirections to avoid such delays ?

1 Like
#5

Ah - sorry for that. Roaming profiles are going to be slower since you have to retrieve the profile over the network, however there are steps you can take to reduce the login times.

Configure the following Group Policy settings:

Navigate to: Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\User Profiles

Configure Wait for network for maximum to 0 seconds

Encourage your users not to store large files within their profile as this is going to slow down their login times significantly.

If you have a large network, then storing roaming profiles across more than one server can be a good idea especially if most of your users log on at the same time (8am mon - fri for example).

This blog post on Microsoft has TONS of tips for reducing your logon speed when using roaming profiles: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/askds/so-you-have-a-slow-logon-part-1

Here is another article you can use to troubleshoot your slow logon speeds: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/instan/troubleshooting-the-intermittent-slow-logon-or-slow-startup