Thomas College Faculty & Staff
Windows NT/2000/XP Profile Options

Shared Profiles (default)

• Pros
1. Faster. There is less network traffic and less personal disk space used by individual profiles.
2. Easier to Use. Email profiles are automatically created at login based on username.
3. More Reliable. They can not be corrupted, since they are read only.
4. Less Expensive. Hard drive space and network bandwidth is dramatically reduced.
5. Spell checking is turning on for all email messages.
6. MS Word defaults to 12 pt. Time New Roman font.
7. All available printers are listed.
• Cons
1. Internet Explorer favorites (web addresses) must be stored in an email message or Word document.
2. Several MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.) individual settings are lost upon logging out.
3. Desktop shortcuts can not be created.
4. The default printer is always set to the most logical choice for your group (not necessarily for you).
5. Outlook Personal Folders must be opened with the "File, Open" menu choices each time you log in.

Individual Profiles

• Pros
1. Most customized settings remain after logging out including Internet Explorer favorites, Outlook personal folders, MS Office settings, default printers, and desktop shortcuts.
• Cons
1. Slower. There is much more network traffic and more personal disk space used by individual profiles. Login and logout times will increase as the profile increases.
2. Harder to Use. More setup and management required. Email profiles must be manually created. Profile sizes need to be reduced periodically.
3. Less Reliable. Individual profiles can be corrupted. When this happens a person may not be able to log in or use some of the programs.
4. More Expensive. Additional hard drive space and network bandwidth may need to be purchased as profiles grow.

Requesting an Individual Profile