[WEB4LIB] Re: Netscape profiles vs. logon ID

[mike]

To overcome the need to manage individual workstations for the different Netscape
profiles you wish to set for your users, I wonder if NT allows you to assign these
profiles on the login. On Novell, I'd do it by using a login script along the
lines of "IF member of "group" THEN #Drive\path\copyAPPRORPIATE_prefs_js.BAT,"
where # signifies the running of an external command and the .bat file copies the
prefs.js to the workstation. This way, anytime I have a member of a group logging
in, he or she gets the predetermined preferences for that group. The next time
someone logs in, he or she gets the preferences for their group, which may be
different from the previous user. I have as many "If..Then" statements as I have
groups in order to handle Netscape's preferences at all the desktops on my
network. This avoids having to go to individual workstations. Does NT support this
approach? I'd be interested in knowing how you resolve this. We're still
standardized on Netscape 3.02 and we've got a couple of hundred of machines. But
I've got 26 workstations in the library and I'm putting 4.08 on them now. So I
need to get this done. I'm planning to go the on-the-login route.  I'd be
interested in knowing how you resolve this.

Thanks!

Mike Nyerges

http://www.canandaigua.k12.ny.us/academy/library/

James Klock wrote:

> >Thought you might want this tidbit of info.
> [notes on managing NT logon scripts stripped]
> >Another book has a note  "Warning: You should not use the user environment
> >profiles to start a program when the users log on unless the profile somehow
> >depends on the user's name.  The Startup folder provides a much easier method
> >for running programs automatically."   But it sounds like your use does
> depend
> >on the user's name.
>
> Thanks.  I've actually already implemented a fix to my original problem
> using your earlier suggestion of specifying the profile to use at runtime
> via the -P"profilename" command line switch.  In short, I've created a
> profile for each user, and I've created shortcuts which call the
> appropriate profile and placed them into each user's Start Menu as
> appropriate.
>
> The single greatest disadvantage of this scheme is that it involves changes
> made locally at the workstation registry to create and maintain the
> different profile information.  The registry info can be locally
> controlled, but replicating it across several machines as and when things
> change may become a pain.
>
> James