User Profiles In A Windows XP Domain COntroller

Good Morning:

At school, there is a Windows XP Server OS with Active Directory installed and our instructor has created User Accounts so our Windows XP Professional Client machines can join the domain and Logon. No issues.

Where I was stumped is when I presented my User Credentials to Logon to the domain from the client machine, I've noticed User Profile created on my Local Machine under Documents and Settings Folder with the User Account that has been created on the Domain.

My question is, the User Account was Created at the Domain, so I imagined when I Logon to the Domain, a User Profile for my Account would be created using the Default User profile on the Server itself. Where am I wrong?

Also, how was the profile created on my local machine for an account created on the Domain?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Your profile will be stored on the local machine unless you have a roaming profile. If you do, then it keeps a copy of your profile on the server and the local machine. (And syncs the copies when you login or logoff.

As far as your other question. The domain will override your local settings so your account on the domain will set your permissions for the domain. Its not really two seperate accounts, but really one account.

Hope this answers your question.

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Originally posted here by CXGJarrod
Your profile will be stored on the local machine unless you have a roaming profile.

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--Good Afternoon:

I apologize for not being clear in explaining my problem. The Account was created on the Server where Active Directory is installed. I was under the illusion that when I present my User Credentials the User Profile will be created on the Server itself using the default profile on the Server and not on my local machine. The reason being, the account is not created on the local machine, so there should not be a profile created on the local machine.

I really hope I am making sense here.

Your thoughts are highly appreciated.

your user (credentials) IS stored on Domain controller. That structure that you can see (documents and settings) is the representation of you user on "local context", since each workstation needs to do that. you stated right, it is NOT your account, its your PROFILE on the local context. Even if you have roaming profiles, when you log on on a station, an "instance" of your roaming profile is created on that station.
BTW, your credential can still be cached by local workstation - that means even you if cant reach the server you can log on on a domain if your credential is cached on that workstation...

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Originally posted here by cacosapo
your user (credentials) IS stored on Domain controller. That structure that you can see (documents and settings) is the representation of you user on "local context", since each workstation needs to do that. you stated right, it is NOT your account, its your PROFILE on the local context. Even if you have roaming profiles, when you log on on a station, an "instance" of your roaming profile is created on that station.
BTW, your credential can still be cached by local workstation - that means even you if cant reach the server you can log on on a domain if your credential is cached on that workstation...

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--Good Evening:
My Sincere *Thanks* to CXGJarrod and cacosapo for your explanations.

cacosapo: As per your explanation, the user profile I see on my local machine is an instance of what is on the server. So I can sit at any client machine which is an object on the network and be able to Logon. So the profile really is volatile. Am I in the right direction?

I didn't know that user credentials can be cached on the local workstation. Would you mind providing any links that you know which can help me to improve my knowledge.

Once again, I thankyou for taking your time and explaining my issues.

Users Credentials and User Profile are 2 different things.

User’s credentials are store on the Active Directory and CACHE locally so you are able to log even if you are not on your network (Laptop).

User’s Profile. By default, you have a different profile on each computer that you log on, server or PC. This is a local profile. You can have a roaming profile that is store on a server. Roaming profile is NOT store under Document and Setting on the server but on a predefine network share. Roaming profile will be the same profile on all your domain computer.

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cacosapo: As per your explanation, the user profile I see on my local machine is an instance of what is on the server. So I can sit at any client machine which is an object on the network and be able to Logon. So the profile really is volatile. Am I in the right direction?

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Simon had explained better than me that subject. You need a PROFILE on each workstation you logged in. When you have a ROAMING profile, at logon time windows copy your profile from a specific server path (define at your user account on domain) to the local workstation. However, i cant call that profile "volatile", since it will persist on the workstation after you logged off. The idea of a roaming profile is that you can "carry" your preferences/personal settings from ws to ws, keeping your "work environment" similar on all computers. However, this process fill up every workstation that you logged in with your profile, and the your profile will remain there forever :(

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I didn't know that user credentials can be cached on the local workstation. Would you mind providing any links that you know which can help me to improve my knowledge.

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They are cached on default Windows configuration. You can see all accounts (local and cached) on that panel that you can also changed environment variables - i cant remember its name (here where I am i cant access control panel :( ). Simon, can you help here?
you can also deactivate this caching (its kinda insecure) by a policy too.