Connect home directory to root of the share

Restores the definitions of the %HOMESHARE% and %HOMEPATH% environment variables to those used in Windows NT 4.0 and earlier.

If you enable this setting, the system uses the Windows NT 4.0 definitions. If you disable this setting or do not configure it, the system uses the new definitions designed for the Windows 2000 operating system.

Along with %HOMEDRIVE%, these variables define the home directory of a user profile. The home directory is a persistent mapping of a drive letter on the local computer to a local or remote directory.

By default, in Windows 2000 Server Family, %HOMESHARE% stores the fully qualified path to the home directory (such as \\server\share\dir1\dir2\homedir). Users can access the home directory and any of its subdirectories from the home drive letter, but they cannot see or access its parent directories. %HOMEPATH% stores a final backslash and is included for compatibility with earlier systems.

On Windows NT 4.0 and earlier, %HOMESHARE% stores only the network share (such as \\server\share). %HOMEPATH% stores the remainder of the fully qualified path to the home directory (such as \dir1\dir2\homedir). As a result, users can access any directory on the home share by using the home directory drive letter.

Tip: To specify a home directory in Windows 2000 Server Family, in Active Directory Users and Computers or Local Users and Groups, right-click the name of a user account, click Properties, click the Profile tab, and in the "Home folder" section, select the "Connect" option and select a drive letter and home directory.

Example: Drive Z is mapped to \\server\share\dir1\dir2\homedir.

If this setting is disabled or not configured (Windows 2000 Server Family behavior):

-- %HOMEDRIVE% = Z: (mapped to \\server\share\dir1\dir2\homedir)

-- %HOMESHARE% = \\server\share\dir1\dir2\homedir

-- %HOMEPATH% = \

If the setting is enabled (Windows NT 4.0 behavior):

-- %HOMEDRIVE% = Z: (mapped to \\server\share)

-- %HOMESHARE% = \\server\share

-- %HOMEPATH% = \dir1\dir2\homedir

Supported on: Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only

Registry HiveHKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry PathSoftware\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Value NameConnectHomeDirToRoot
Value TypeREG_DWORD
Enabled Value1
Disabled Value0

userprofiles.admx

Administrative Templates (Computers)

Administrative Templates (Users)