Assign a home folder to a local user account

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To assign a home folder to a local user account

Open Computer Management.
In the console tree, click Users.

Where?
- Computer Management/System Tools/Local Users and Groups/Users
Right-click the user account for which you want to specify a home folder, and then click Properties.
On the Profile tab, do one of the following:
- To specify a local home folder, click Local path, and then type the path. For example, c:\users\nicolette
- To specify a home folder on a shared resource, click Connect, click the proper drive letter, and then type the network path. For example, \\airedale\users\nathan

Notes

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Power Users group, or the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.
To open Computer Management, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
The My Documents folder provides a convenient alternative to home folders, but does not replace them. Each user has a My Documents folder on the boot volume. To open Local Security Policy, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Local Security Policy.
To open Local Security Policy, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Local Security Policy.
If no home folder is assigned, the system assigns a default local home folder to the user account (on the root directory where the operating system files are installed as the initial version).
To specify a network path for the home folder, you must first create the shared resource and set permissions that allow the user access.

Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.