You use Profile Maker's MMC snap-in, which Figure 2 shows, to define the settings, rules, and users that a user profile change affects. Profile Maker adds those settings to an .xml file that contains similar settings for other user groups. When users log on each day, the logon script launches a client that resides in the DC's Netlogon share. The client makes a remote procedure call (RPC) to the .xml file from the Profile Maker Master Control Service Console and executes the relevant profile changes in the file. Very large organizations can deploy Profile Maker Secondary Service Servers to distribute the .xml files to large numbers of users and to collect licensing and logging information from users' desktops. Profile Maker centralizes all this information in its Master Control Service Console.
ScriptLogic Enterprise Edition 4.12
ScriptLogic's flagship product began life as a graphical KiXtart scripting tool, and the company has added features with each new version. Like Visual KIX, ScriptLogic can dramatically shorten the time necessary to create a script. In addition to using the product to develop custom scripts, you can download canned scripts from ScriptLogic's Web site and import existing KiXtart scripts, then easily modify them.
ScriptLogic says that its product uses the Automatic Profile Generator to manage mail profiles, but ScriptLogic's strength is in its ability to manage a user's desktop settings. One interesting ScriptLogic feature is the Logoff and Shutdown agent, which lets you install drivers or service packs at logoff rather than at logon. Notebook users who need to turn off a proxy server when they shut down their systems before leaving the office might find this feature useful. You can also use this feature for application deployment, a task that you would probably want to perform as employees are logging off for the day rather than when they're trying to start the workday.
After installing ScriptLogic on your DC, you use its GUI to configure the logon script for each group of users, as Figure 3 shows. The logon script downloads the ScriptLogic client to each user's computer the first time the user logs on. At subsequent logons, the client polls the manager component for user configuration scripts that might be destined for that user, then interprets and implements the configuration script. Unlike Profile Maker, which packages changes for all user groups in one file, ScriptLogic uses a separate file, which typically ranges from 20KB to 100KB, for each user.
As I've said, some registry modifications require administrative privileges. Because end users typically don't have these privileges, organizations that rely on scripts to manage user profiles are often limited in what they can do. But when ScriptLogic's client executes a script that requires administrative privileges to perform a task, the client passes that task request to another ScriptLogic service that runs on the DC. That service remotely logs on to the workstation with administrative privileges, performs the requested task, then returns control to the script that's running on the user's computer.
Making Your Choice
Organizations that have migrated their entire network to Win2K and AD will probably want to use ScriptLogic or Profile Maker in conjunction with Group Policy. These products provide more granularity in settings management than Group Policy does, and Group Policy can't manage Outlook messaging profiles. However, Group Policy can do some things, such as manage security settings, that the third-party products can't. Because ScriptLogic and Profile Maker support all versions of Windows, they're well suited to companies that have mixed environments.
The decision you make between these three products will likely depend on what you're trying to accomplish. Visual KIX is an inexpensive logon-script management solution that can also handle some user profile management tasks. Profile Maker and ScriptLogic both seem to have full feature sets, so choosing between them will depend on your priorities. If efficiently managing Outlook mail profiles is your top priority, Profile Maker might be the better choice. If managing desktop settings is more important, ScriptLogic might be the best tool for you.
To determine which tool best meets your needs, test the leading candidates in your environment—you can download a time-limited trial version of each product from its vendor's Web site. Only you can determine which features and capabilities matter most in your situation. You might also discover performance or ease-of-use concerns that will be important considerations in making a selection.