Can't redirect desktop folder

I want to redirect all my (visible) profile folders to a server. I have
done this for all them except Desktop. I do this by right-clicking the
folder's icon, clicking Properties, clicking on the Location tab,
entering a location of \\server\share\username\Folder, and clicking OK.
It asks if I want to move everything in the current folder to the new
folder, and I click Yes. Easy, and it works perfectly.

When I do this for the Desktop, it works just fine. But the next time I
log in (whether after a reboot or not), the desktop folder has reverted
back to C:\Users\username\Desktop. Nothing I do will make it stick to
the server. The other redirected folders stay where I put them and they
continue to work normally.

What's going on here? How can I make this work?

--
David Trimboli
Windows Systems Analyst
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

"David Trimboli" <> wrote in message
news:...
>I want to redirect all my (visible) profile folders to a server. I have
>done this for all them except Desktop. I do this by right-clicking the
>folder's icon, clicking Properties, clicking on the Location tab, entering
>a location of \\server\share\username\Folder, and clicking OK. It asks if I
>want to move everything in the current folder to the new folder, and I
>click Yes. Easy, and it works perfectly.
>
> When I do this for the Desktop, it works just fine. But the next time I
> log in (whether after a reboot or not), the desktop folder has reverted
> back to C:\Users\username\Desktop. Nothing I do will make it stick to the
> server. The other redirected folders stay where I put them and they
> continue to work normally.
>
> What's going on here? How can I make this work?
>


I would have thought that the only way you will do this is by using roaming
profiles in an AD setup......

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Gordon wrote:
> "David Trimboli" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> I want to redirect all my (visible) profile folders to a server. I
>> have done this for all them except Desktop. I do this by
>> right-clicking the folder's icon, clicking Properties, clicking on the
>> Location tab, entering a location of \\server\share\username\Folder,
>> and clicking OK. It asks if I want to move everything in the current
>> folder to the new folder, and I click Yes. Easy, and it works perfectly.
>>
>> When I do this for the Desktop, it works just fine. But the next time
>> I log in (whether after a reboot or not), the desktop folder has
>> reverted back to C:\Users\username\Desktop. Nothing I do will make it
>> stick to the server. The other redirected folders stay where I put
>> them and they continue to work normally.
>>
>> What's going on here? How can I make this work?
>
> I would have thought that the only way you will do this is by using
> roaming profiles in an AD setup......

We already use roaming profiles. I don't want these folders to roam; I
want to redirect them using Folder Redirection. All work except the
Desktop folder and I don't know why.

--
David Trimboli
Windows Systems Analyst
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

"David Trimboli" <> wrote in message
news:%...
>
> We already use roaming profiles. I don't want these folders to roam; I
> want to redirect them using Folder Redirection. All work except the
> Desktop folder and I don't know why.
>


I know very little about roaming profiles and AD - I was under the
impression that using roaming profiles in an AD environment, the Users
profile loads from the AD server and doesn't touch the local machine at all.
What exactly are you trying to achieve with this?

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Please tell us the version of the application you are asking about,
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and the FULL contents of any error message(s)

"David Trimboli" <> wrote in message
news:%...
>
> We already use roaming profiles. I don't want these folders to roam; I
> want to redirect them using Folder Redirection. All work except the
> Desktop folder and I don't know why.
>


I know very little about roaming profiles and AD - I was under the
impression that using roaming profiles in an AD environment, the Users
profile loads from the AD server and doesn't touch the local machine at all.
What exactly are you trying to achieve with this?

--
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Please tell us the version of the application you are asking about,
your OS, Service Pack level
and the FULL contents of any error message(s)

Gordon wrote:
> "David Trimboli" <> wrote in message
> news:%...
>>
>> We already use roaming profiles. I don't want these folders to roam; I
>> want to redirect them using Folder Redirection. All work except the
>> Desktop folder and I don't know why.
>
> I know very little about roaming profiles and AD - I was under the
> impression that using roaming profiles in an AD environment, the Users
> profile loads from the AD server and doesn't touch the local machine at
> all.

No, the computer downloads a copy of the user's profile from a server
and uses this local copy to present the files and settings. When you log
out the profile is copied back to the server. (And when I say "copied,"
I mean "synchronized." As of Windows 2000, copying was replaced with
synchronization.)

> What exactly are you trying to achieve with this?

Rather than save documents in the profile, which mustn't get too large
or you risk synchronization problems, save user documents on the server.
But instead of creating explicit shortcuts to server locations, redirect
the default folders to the new locations. This is Microsoft's
recommended solution for roaming users, by the way. I make use of it all
the time in group policies, but here I'm setting up a single user
without using a policy.

--
David Trimboli
Windows Systems Analyst
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

"David Trimboli" <> wrote in message
news:uwAoZ$...
> Gordon wrote:
>> "David Trimboli" <> wrote in message
>> news:%...
>>>
>>> We already use roaming profiles. I don't want these folders to roam; I
>>> want to redirect them using Folder Redirection. All work except the
>>> Desktop folder and I don't know why.
>>
>> I know very little about roaming profiles and AD - I was under the
>> impression that using roaming profiles in an AD environment, the Users
>> profile loads from the AD server and doesn't touch the local machine at
>> all.
>
> No, the computer downloads a copy of the user's profile from a server and
> uses this local copy to present the files and settings. When you log out
> the profile is copied back to the server. (And when I say "copied," I mean
> "synchronized." As of Windows 2000, copying was replaced with
> synchronization.)
>
>> What exactly are you trying to achieve with this?
>
> Rather than save documents in the profile, which mustn't get too large or
> you risk synchronization problems, save user documents on the server. But
> instead of creating explicit shortcuts to server locations, redirect the
> default folders to the new locations. This is Microsoft's recommended
> solution for roaming users, by the way. I make use of it all the time in
> group policies, but here I'm setting up a single user without using a
> policy.
>


Ah. I'm afraid that's beyond my knowledge.....hopefully someone else with
more knowledge will chime in....
Sorry!

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Please tell us the version of the application you are asking about,
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and the FULL contents of any error message(s)

Gordon <> wrote:
>
>> I want to redirect all my (visible) profile folders to a server. I have
>> done this for all them except Desktop. I do this by right-clicking the
>> folder's icon, clicking Properties, clicking on the Location tab,
>> entering a location of \\server\share\username\Folder, and clicking
>> OK. It asks if I want to move everything in the current folder to the
>> new folder, and I click Yes. Easy, and it works perfectly.
>>
>> When I do this for the Desktop, it works just fine. But the next time I
>> log in (whether after a reboot or not), the desktop folder has reverted
>> back to C:\Users\username\Desktop. Nothing I do will make it stick to
>> the server. The other redirected folders stay where I put them and they
>> continue to work normally.
>>
>> What's going on here? How can I make this work?
>>
>
>
> I would have thought that the only way you will do this is by using
> roaming profiles in an AD setup......
>

He's not talking about Folder Redirection.

ss.

David Trimboli <> wrote:
>
> I want to redirect all my (visible) profile folders to a server. I have
> done this for all them except Desktop. I do this by right-clicking the
> folder's icon, clicking Properties, clicking on the Location tab, entering
> a location of \\server\share\username\Folder, and clicking OK. It asks if
> I want to move everything in the current folder to the new folder, and I
> click Yes. Easy, and it works perfectly.
>
> When I do this for the Desktop, it works just fine. But the next time I
> log in (whether after a reboot or not), the desktop folder has reverted
> back to C:\Users\username\Desktop. Nothing I do will make it stick to the
> server. The other redirected folders stay where I put them and they
> continue to work normally.
>
> What's going on here? How can I make this work?
>

(Oops - forgot to send this earlier)

I find that the original folder locations can appear again sometimes. The
feature does not work very well, as sometimes programs can re-create the
original locations, if they are redirected by the legacy junction points.

The way around this is to make your own junction points once you have
relocated the folders, with the MKLINK /D command. Then use ATTRIB to make
them read-only and hidden.

It's very easy to make a batch script (to be executed within the user's User
folder, without full path names, so that it can be used on any user
account), that makes all the junction points and attributes on the junction
points. You can also make the same batch script relocate the original
folders, first of all, using the MOVE command. It is better to actually use
the MOVE command than use the Location tab at all, and always use the
original paths after the junctions are created. They get redirected by the
junctions to the new locations.

ss.

Synapse Syndrome [KGB] <> wrote:
>>
>> I want to redirect all my (visible) profile folders to a server. I have
>> done this for all them except Desktop. I do this by right-clicking the
>> folder's icon, clicking Properties, clicking on the Location tab,
>> entering a location of \\server\share\username\Folder, and clicking
>> OK. It asks if I want to move everything in the current folder to the
>> new folder, and I click Yes. Easy, and it works perfectly.
>>
>> When I do this for the Desktop, it works just fine. But the next time I
>> log in (whether after a reboot or not), the desktop folder has reverted
>> back to C:\Users\username\Desktop. Nothing I do will make it stick to
>> the server. The other redirected folders stay where I put them and they
>> continue to work normally.
>>
>> What's going on here? How can I make this work?
>>
>
> (Oops - forgot to send this earlier)
>
> I find that the original folder locations can appear again sometimes. The
> feature does not work very well, as sometimes programs can
> re-create the original locations, if they are redirected by the legacy
> junction points.
>
> The way around this is to make your own junction points once you have
> relocated the folders, with the MKLINK /D command. Then use ATTRIB to
> make them read-only and hidden.
>
> It's very easy to make a batch script (to be executed within the user's
> User folder, without full path names, so that it can be used on any user
> account), that makes all the junction points and attributes on the
> junction points. You can also make the same batch script relocate the
> original folders, first of all, using the MOVE command. It is better
> to actually use the MOVE command than use the Location tab at all, and
> always use the original paths after the junctions are created. They
> get redirected by the junctions to the new locations.

Actually, try using the MKLINK /J switch

script eg.

xcopy C:\users\%username%\Desktop D:\Desktop /e /i /h /r /x /z
xcopy C:\users\%username%\Favorites D:\Favorites /e /i /h /r /x /z
xcopy....blah blah
rd /s /q C:\users\%username%\Desktop
rd /s /q C:\users\%username%\Favorites
rd....blah blah
mklink /j C:\users\%username%\Desktop D:\Desktop
mklink /j C:\users\%username%\Favorites D:\Favorites
mklink....blah blah
attrib C:\users\%username%\Desktop /l
attrib C:\users\%username%\Favorites /l
attrib....blah blah

....should work well. I should update mine as well now..

ss.