In a previous post I detailed the simple procedure of leaving a domain and joining a workgroup in Vista. The catch is…
The Problem: When you leave the domain, the user profile is basically destroyed and a crippled version is put in it’s place. Very little documentation exists on how to prevent this, and the market has not supplied many programs to help either. Copying files and folders did not work for me. I tried both Windows Easy Transfer and the User State Migration Tool from Microsoft, to no avail. Curiously, none of my knowledgeable tech friends knew of an easy way to do this.
The Cause: As near as I can tell – there is little software market for downgrading your network, or providing documentation. Happily there is at least one company that will step up.
The Solution: Download the User Profile Wizard from Forensit. (It took me much time to find it). Make backups of everything, then run the Wizard. You will probably have to create a new login to use, but the profile will be pristine once it’s transfered over.
I imagine this would not be much of a problem for someone more knowledgeable, but for me it was quite vexing.
Okay, hopefully the next blog posts will be all about startsups and Silverlight.
This post originally appeared on the Stronico blog – with the absorption of Stronico into Digital Tool Factory this post has been moved to the Digital Tool Factory blog
