30 Microsoft Windows NT Server White Paper
Upgrading Windows NT 3.5x Server-based Profiles to
Windows NT 4.0 Roaming Profiles
When you upgrade Windows NT 3.5x roaming profiles (.usr profiles), you do
not need to change anything in the profile path configured in the user account.
When the user logs on to a Windows NT 4.0-based machine and the profile is
found to be a Windows NT 3.5x profile, a process automatically looks for the
equivalent Windows NT 4.0 profile. If the profile isn’t found, a conversion proc-
ess creates a new Windows NT 4.0 profile using the settings established in the
Windows NT 3.5x profile.
During the conversion process, Windows NT 4.0 creates a directory for the
new profile in the same location as the existing Windows NT 3.5x profile. The
resulting directory has a .pds extension, which stands for Profile Directory
Structure, rather than the previous Windows NT 3.5x .usr extension. For ex-
ample, if the User Profile path for the Windows NT 3.5x user mydomainuser is
\\myserver\myshare\mydomainuser.usr, and the user logs on to a Windows NT
4.0-based machine, the profile directory mydomainuser.pds would be created
within \\myserver\myshare.
This approach allows the user to log on to the network from either a
Windows NT 3.5x or 4.0-based workstation. If the user were to log on from a
Windows NT 3.5x-based computer, the profile path would direct the
Windows NT 3.5x-based machine to the User Profile used prior to the
Windows NT 4.0 upgrade. If the user then moved to a Windows NT 4.0-based
computer, the user’s Windows NT-based workstation would recognize that the
profile contained Windows NT 3.5x syntax, would replace the .usr with .pds,
and would then use that string to locate the Windows NT 4.0 profile. The re-
sulting Windows NT 4.0 structure will be the Windows NT 3.51 profile (now
NTuser.xxx) and the Default User Profile folders.
It is important to emphasize that the Windows NT 3.5x profile is not de-
leted—it is still available to the user should they ever log on from a
Windows NT 3.5x-based computer. It is also important to note that the settings
for these two profiles are completely independent; changes made to the
Windows NT 3.5x profile will not be reflected in the Windows NT 4.0 profile,
and vice versa.
NOTE: As an administrator, if you review the directory structures in the share where users’ roaming pro-
files are stored, and no .pds or .pdm extensions are appended, this is normal. No extension is appended
to roaming profile directories that are new to Windows NT 4.0. These extensions are only added when
profiles are migrated from Windows NT 3.5x to 4.0, or when the administrator creates a new Windows NT
4.0 mandatory profile that requires a successful logon.
Upgrading Windows NT 3.5x Mandatory Profiles to
Windows NT 4.0 Mandatory Profiles
Upgrades of Windows NT 3.5x mandatory profiles to Windows NT 4.0 cannot
be done automatically. This is because the same restrictions that prevent a
user from saving any changes to his or her profile also restricts the system’s
ability to generate a new Windows NT 4.0 mandatory profile from an existing
profile.
