Normally when a user logs off their computer, their personal settings are changed. So if a user changes the color of the desktop, this change will be saved when they log off. However, you may not want any changes saved when a user logs off. In such cases, you can implement a mandatory user profile.

A mandatory user profile prevents any changes from being saved when a user logs off the computer. For example, if they make changes to the desktop, these changes will be discarded when the user logs off.

Once you have a mandatory user profile created and saved to a shared folder as Ntuser.man, you can assign it to a user profile. In Windows Server 2003, complete the following steps:

1. Click Start and click Control Panel.

2. Double click the Administrative Tools applet.
3. Double click the Computer Management applet.
4. Expand the following: System Tools/ Local Users and Groups/Users.
5. In the right pane, right click the user account you want to assign a mandatory profile to.
6. On the Profile tab, type in the path to the location of the mandatory user profile (Ntuser.man).
7. Click OK.

Any changes made by the user will no longer be saved when they log off the local computer.