Prevent Roaming Profile changes from propagating to the server

This setting determines if the changes a user makes to their roaming profile are merged with the server copy of their profile.

By default, when a roaming profile user logs on to a computer, their roaming profile is copied down to the local computer. If they have already logged on to this computer in the past, the roaming profile is merged with the local profile. Similarly, when the user logs off this computer, the local copy of their profile, including any changes they have made, is merged with the server copy of their profile.

Using the setting, you can prevent changes made to a roaming profile on a particular computer from being persisted.

If you enable this setting, the following occurs on the affected computer: At login, the user receives their roaming profile. But, any changes a user makes to their profile will not be merged to their roaming profile when they log off.

If this setting is disabled or not configured, the default behavior occurs, as indicated above.

Note: This setting only affects roaming profile users.

Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional

Registry HiveHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry PathSoftware\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
Value NameReadOnlyProfile
Value TypeREG_DWORD
Enabled Value1
Disabled Value0

userprofiles.admx

Administrative Templates (Computers)

Administrative Templates (Users)