Profile - Managing Your Windows Profile

All users have a roaming profile which is saved on a logon server. Whenever a you log into a computer in the CPSC domain, your profile (specifically, the contents of your ms_windows folder) are downloaded from the server to the C drive of the computer you are using. When you logout, the updated profile is uploaded and saved to the server for your next session.

The more files you have in your ms_windows folder and the larger those files are, the longer it will take to login and logout of a workstation. A little file management can help prevent slow login/logout times:

Remove Files and Folders from Desktop and My Documents

Since all files and folders that are saved to your My Documents folder or Desktop are contained in the ms_windows folder, they must be downloaded and uploaded each time you login or log out, regardless if you use them or not. To speed up your profile, you can move these files outside of your ms_windows folder to the root of your home directory. Once there, they will only be retrieved from or saved to the server when you open or close the file.

• To move items from your Desktop,
1. Select the file you wish to move by left clicking on the icon once (you may select multiple files by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking once on each icon).
2. Right click on the selected file and select Cut.
   
   
   Fig 01
   
   
3. Double click on the My Computer Icon(fig 02) and double click on the Network Drive icon which represents your home directory(fig 03).
   
   
   Fig 02
   
   
   
   
   Fig 03
   
   
4. Right click and select Paste.
   
   
   Fig 04
   
   
5. You should now see your file in the root of your home directory.
   
   
   Fig 05
   
   


• To move items from your My Documents folder
1. Double Click on the My Computer icon on your desktop.
   
   
   Fig 06
   
   
2. Select the file to move by left clicking on the icon once (select multiple files by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking once on each icon).
3. Right click on the selected file and select Cut. Close the My Documents window.
   
   
   Fig 07
   
   
4. Double click on the My Computer icon and double click on the Network Drive icon which represents your home directory.
   
   
   Fig 08
   
   
5. Right click and select Paste.
   
   
   Fig 09
   
   
6. You should now see your file in the root of your home directory.
   
   
   Fig 10
   
   

Use Pine and Webmail Instead of Outlook or Outlook Express

By default, Outlook and Outlook Express download your email to the C drive of the local computer you are using without saving to your profile. This can be a problem since you must always use the same computer to re-read your email. While you can modify Outlook (not Outlook Express) to save your emails to your profile (Microsoft Outlook for Office 2000 - Configuring), this will slow your down your profile.

As an alternative, you can use Pine or Webmail to check you e-mail since neither add any files to your profile.

Empty Browser Cookies and History Cache

As you browse the web, many web servers will store a small text file in your web browser called a cookie. These files are used to store informaton provided by the server or remember information that you have provided. While these files are very small, your profile will accumulate many of them as you browse the Internet. Your browser accumulates a record of the websites you have visited within a specified period of time (the default is 20 days).

• If using Internet Explorer
1. Open Browser:
2. Select Tools, then Intenet Options
   
   
   Fig 11
   
   
3. Select the General tab (it should default to this). Under the Temporary Intenet Files section, select Delete Cookies. Click OK on the confirmation screen
   
   
   Fig 12
   
   
4. Under the History section, select Clear History
   
   
   Fig 13
   
   


• If using Mozilla:
1. Open Browser
2. Select Tools, then Cookie Manager, then Manage Stored Cookies
   
   
   Fig 14
   
   
3. Select Remove All Cookies button. Then press Close
   
   
   Fig 15
   
   
4. Select Edit, then Preferences. Under the Navigator menu, select History and press the Clear History button.
   
   
   Fig 16
   
   
   
   
   Fig 17
   
   

Remove Desktop Wallpaper

Large bitmap graphic files can slow down your login/log out when set as your desktop wallpaper. To remove a desktop wallpaper, do the following:

1. Right click on an empty space of the desktop and select Properties



Fig 18


2. Select the Background tab (it should default to this). Select None and press Ok.



Fig 19


3. You can set the desktop to a different color as an alternative that will not slow down your profile. To do this, right click on the desktop, then select the Apperance tab. Under the item field, select Desktop and set your background color ing the Color dropbox.
   
   
   Fig 20
   
   

Limit Favorites and Bookmarks

If you have a large number of bookmarks or hyperlinks saved in your web browser, these must be loaded and saved each time you login or log out. To edit you list and delete unncecessary entries, do the following:

• If using Internet Explorer
1. Open Browser
2. Select Favorites then Organize Favorites



Fig 21


3. Click on the Favorite you wish to remove and select Delete
   
   
   Fig 22
   
   
4. Select Close when you are finished


• If using Mozilla
1. Open Browser
2. Select Bookmarks, then Manage Bookmarks
   
   
   Fig 23
   
   
3. Right click on the bookmark you wish to remove and select Delete
   
   
   Fig 24
   
   
4. Select Close when you are finished

Instead of saving web links to your favorites or bookmarks, you can create a webpage with links to the sites you visit frequently and set it as your homepage.

Remove Uneeded Shortcuts from Desktop

If you have any shortcut icons (icons with a little arrow in the corner) on your desktop that you do not use frequently, you can remove them by right-clicking on the desired icon and selecting Delete.

Fig 25

Remember, the maximum size of your profile must be under 250 megs. If you exceed this limit, the server will attempt to write more information than it has disk space for and will not save a complete profile. The next time you login, you will receive an error message that your profile is corrupted and will not load.