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Folder Redirection

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Beginning in November 2017, all CS undergraduate Windows accounts were configured to use folder redirection. Folder redirection redirects the files in a user’s roaming profile to a users network file share Z:Drive. This move should lead to faster login times for all user accounts, better data availability, and allows for data stored within the new student profiles to be backed up.

Due to this move, at the end of the Fall 2017 semester, all undergraduate roaming profiles will be removed, and no further new graduate or undergraduate accounts will be created with a roaming profile. In order to preserve all files and folders in a user's profile, each CS undergraduate student must log in one time to a CS Lab machine or VCLab before the end of the semester.

New Profile Location

Upon the initial login after this policy has been set, all files and folders are copied over from the users Roaming Profile to a folder in their Z-drive called "win_user_profile". DO NOT DELETE THIS FOLDER, as this folder is the new location for your Windows user profile (i.e. Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc). In the event of any accidental deletions of this user profile folder, please follow our recovery procedures to recover any Z-drive data loss.

Important Reminder: All classwork files should be saved, compiled, and run in your CS student accounts Z-drive to avoid running into any profile issues, UNC path discrepancies with applications, or data loss. Please make sure to save ALL important files and folders in your Z-drive, as the CS Department maintains regular backups of our student's Z-drives. If you experience any problems, please contact root@cs.odu.edu.

Known Issues

Black Desktop

  • A black desktop background occurs upon login because a new user background picture cannot be found in the users windows profile (i.e. Z:\win_user_profile\AppData\Microsoft\Windows\Themes). User just needs to set a new desktop background.

UNC Path Issues

  • After Folder Redirection, all users' Windows profile folders were redirected to their Z:Drive's network file share path. With the Universal Naming Convention (UNC), file paths use doubleslashes or backslashes to precede and distinguish the name of network file shares. UNC path issues can occur with an application that is unable to resolve such paths. To fix this issue, please save and run all projects and configurations in your Z:Drive's folder, as your Z:Drive is seen as a local drive on your logged in machine.

Please email root@cs.odu.edu with any issues regarding your Windows profile after folder redirection