Know The Different User Profiles In Windows XP

Windows XP has the ability to let you create different user profiles that can be customized with personal preferences. Different users on the same computer can have their own separate login. They can create their own personalized folders, settings, themes, icons etc.
Both Windows XP Professional and Home edition creates a user specific folder in the Documents and Settings folder which contain personalized data that stores different configuration information. Let us now move on to discuss about all the different user profiles in Windows XP Home Edition and XP Professional operating systems.

1. Default User Profile: This profile serves as a template to create all new profiles on the computer. A new user receives a copy of this profile and this can be customized according to his need and is saved in Documents and Settings Default User folder.
2. All Users profile: This profile has the common settings that apply to all the users who logs on to the computer. This is saved in Documents and Settings All Users folder. The All Users profile settings are merged with the profile of the current user during his log on session. If an administrator wants a common setting for all the users, the best way to do it is to modify the All Users profile.
3. Roaming profile: Before talking about the Roaming profile, one must know about the concept of network environment having a network client and the server. The client computer uses the shared network resources provided with the server computer. A user who logs on to the network from different computers at different timings is called a Roaming user. The Roaming profile is stored in a shared folder on the server. When a user logs on to any of the computers in the network, this roaming profile is downloaded to that machine from the server and is automatically updated both locally as well as on the server. 
4. Mandatory profile: This is a type of Roaming profile which is pre-configured and cannot be permanently edited by a user. The changes made on the Mandatory profile only remain until the current user session lasts. When the user re-logs, the original settings are automatically restored.

Only the administrator or a user with administrative privileges can make changes to the user profiles or settings. So, in order to create or modify such user profiles, first you need to be an administrator or a user with administrative privileges. Go through the Windows XP Professional Help menu to gain more information about this.