Yes, there are three different types of Windows profiles: local, mandatory, and roaming.
Local Profiles: profiles that are saved on a single computer. Users cannot access their
profile from any other machine, regardless of whether the machine is attached to the
network or not.
Mandatory Profiles: profiles that cannot be saved from one session to the next. A user
may utilize any machine that is connected to the network. However, once a user logs off,
any setting preferences made to the profile is permanently lost and must be reinstated
at every log on. This ensures a profile will remain small and easy to manage, but
renders users powerless from customizing their profile to their liking.
Roaming Profiles: do just what the name impliesthey move around with you. If you
log on to one computer today, and a different computer tomorrow, you're making use of
a roaming profile to load your customized user settings. Roaming profiles are saved on
the network so when you log on to any networked computer, your personalized desktop
is loaded no matter what machine you're on. Users have full freedom of whats on their
profile, which is convenient for them, but can lead to problems such as slow log on times
and server crashes
For an example scenario that shows how you might deploy an operating
system, see Example Scenario for PXE-Initiated Operating System
Deployment by Using Configuration Manager.
The Operating System Deployment Process
Configuration Manager provides several methods that you can use to deploy
an operating system. Regardless of the deployment method that you use,
there are several actions that you must take. These actions include the
following:
Identify any Windows device drivers that are required to run the boot
image or the operating system image that you have to deploy.
Identify the boot image that you want to use to start the destination
computer. Configuration Manager provides two default boot images.
Distribute the boot image, operating system image, and any related
content to a distribution point.
Create a task sequence that deploys the boot image and the operating
system image.
Note
For information about the advantages and disadvantages of each method, see Determin
System Deployment Method to Use in Configuration Manager.
Capturing and Deploying an Operating System Image
There are three basic actions that you have to take when you want to use
Configuration Manager to deploy an operating system image to a collection
of one or more destination computers:
1. Build and capture an image and distribute it to distribution points.
2. Create and configure the task sequence that installs the operating
system image.
3. Deploy the task sequence.
Create the Image and Distribute it to Distribution Points
Operating system images are WIM files and represent a compressed
collection of reference files and folders that are required to successfully
install and configure an operating system on a computer. The operating
system image is built and captured from a reference computer that you
configure with all the required operating system files, support files, software
updates, tools, and other software applications. You can build the reference
computer manually or use a task sequence to automate some or all of the
build steps.
Similar to other Configuration Manager content, the operating system image
is distributed to the distribution point as a package. When the package
arrives at the distribution point, the content of the package is stored on the
distribution point. For more information about operating system images,
see Planning for Deploying Operating System Images in Configuration
Manager.
Create and Configure the Appropriate Deployment Task Sequence
After you have created the reference computer and captured an operating
system image from that computer, you can use a task sequence to configure
how to deploy that image to a destination computer. For information about
how you can use task sequences, see Planning a Task Sequences Strategy in
Configuration Manager.
Deploy the Task Sequence
After you create your task sequences, you can deploy the task sequence to
the collections that contain the destination computers. For information about
how to deploy a task sequence, see the How to Deploy a Task
You can use System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool to de
the operating system on computers that are managed by Configuration Manager can ru
Windows 8.
Download the Upgrade Assessment Tool from the Microsoft Download Center site.
For more information, see Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool.
Installing Device Drivers on Destination Computers
When you deploy an operating system, you can also install applications,
deployment tools, packages, and software update on the destination
computer. The following task sequence steps are used to install these
packages:
Install Application
Install Package
For more information about how to add steps to task sequences, see the How
to Edit a Task Sequence section in the How to Manage Task Sequences in
Configuration Manager topic.
Media Used to Deploy Operating Systems
You can create several kinds of media that can be used to deploy operating
systems. This includes capture media that is used to capture operating
system images and stand-alone, pre-staged, and bootable media that is used
to deploy an operating system.
By using media, you can deploy operating systems on computers that do not
have a network connection or that have a low bandwidth connection to your
Configuration Manager site. For more information about how to use media,
see Planning for Media Operating System Deployments in Configuration
Manager.
Managing User State
When you deploy operating systems, you can save the user state from the
destination computer, deploy the operating system, and then restore the
user state after the operating systems is deployed. This process is typically
used when you upgrade the operating system on a Configuration Manager
client computer.
The user state information is captured and restored by using task sequences.
When the user state information is captured, the information can be stored in
one of the following ways:
You can store the user state data remotely by configuring a state
migration point. The Capture task sequence sends the data to the state
migration point. Then, after the operating system is deployed, the
Restore task sequence retrieves the data and restores the user state
on the destination computer.
You can store the user state data locally to a specific location. In this
scenario, the Capture task sequence copies the user data to a specific
location on the destination computer. Then, after the operating system
is deployed, the Restore task sequence retrieves the user data from
that location.
You can specify hard links that can be used to restore the user data to
its original location. In this scenario, the user state data remains on the
drive when the old operating system is removed. Then, after the
operating system is deployed, the Restore task sequence uses the hard
links to restore the user state data to its original location.
For more information about capturing and restoring user state, see How to
Manage the User State in Configuration Manager.
Unknown Computer Deployments
You can deploy an operating system to computers that are not managed by
Configuration Manager. There is no record of these computers in the
Configuration Manager database. These computers are referred to as
unknown computers.
Unknown computers include the following:
When you deploy an operating system, you can associate users with the
destination computer to support user device affinity actions. When you
associate a user with the destination computer, the administrative user can
later perform actions on whichever computer is associated with that user,
such as deploying an application to the computer of a specific user. However,
when you deploy an operating system, you cannot deploy the operating
system to the computer of a specific user. For more information about how to
associate the destination computer to users, see How to Associate Users with
a Destination Computer.
For more information about how to manage user device affinity, see How to
Manage User Device Affinity in Configuration Manager.
Deploying Operating Systems to NAP-enabled Environments
You can deploy operating systems in environments that use Network Access
Protection (NAP). NAP provides a mechanism to manage the compliance of
software updates on Configuration Manager clients. When you deploy
operating systems to the destination computers, you must make sure that
the NAP enforcement mechanism and the Windows Network Access
Protection Service are enabled and interact correctly with the Configuration
Manager client on the destination computer.
DOMAIN
In Active Directory, a collection of computer, user, and group objects defined by the
administrator. These objects share a common directory database, security policies, and
security relationships with other domains. In DNS, any tree or subtree within the DNS
namespace. Although the names for DNS domains often correspond to Active Directory
domains, DNS domains should not be confused with Active Directory domains.
DOMAIN CONTROLLER
In an Active Directory forest, a server that contains a writable copy of the Active Directory
database, participates in Active Directory replication, and controls access to network
resources. Administrators can manage user accounts, network access, shared resources,
site topology, and other directory objects from any domain controller in the forest