This is a very complex subject,
for which we can only offer some beginning pointers at
this time. Hopefully, we'll be able to put together more
step-by-step information in the near future. Most of the
information here also applies to Exchange and Windows
Messaging.
When you configure a profile for Outlook
with Control Panel | Mail and Fax, those
settings are stored in your Windows user profile. If you
have Windows NT Server or a NetWare server, you can set up
users so that their Windows profile settings follow them,
no matter what workstation they log on to. Microsoft has
several references on this topic:
Under Windows 95, you'll need to use the Network and
Password applets in Control Panel to make sure your
network settings are set to log onto an NT server and to
use different settings for each Windows user. See
XCLN:
Creating Roving Users on Win95 and WinNT.
The above information applies to Microsoft Exchange as
well as Microsoft Outlook. For Outlook 97, you may want to
use the Client
Installation Tools included in the Office 97 Resource
Kit. Because some Outlook settings are kept in separate
files, you should also follow the instructions in the MSKB
article
OL97: Set
Up Outlook for Multiple or Roaming Users. Outlook
8.03, available as part of Exchange Server 5.0
Service Pack 2, includes a fix to allow the .rtf signature
file to be part of a roving user's profile. See the MSKB
article
OL97:Roaming
User's AutoSignature Incorrect or Missing; make sure the
registry entry path to the signature .rtf files ends in a \
character, and does not use the actual file name.
For Outlook
98, the Outlook 98 Deployment Kit is provided through
the Select and MSDN channels at Microsoft and on the Exchange
Server 5.5 Service Pack 1 CD. You can also download the
IExpress Deployment Kit, which includes a Profile Designer to create
.prf files and profile packages, as well as Profgen.exe version 3.0. You may also want to get
these additional components and documents:
Outlook 2000 adds a Profile Wizard that you can use to
clone Outlook settings from one user's machine and
distribute them to others. This is for user settings, not
MAPI profiles. The Office Custom Installation Wizard
handles the MAPI profile settings. Both are included in
the
Office
2000 Resource Kit core tools set. The Office
2000 Resource Kit contains a sample
Outlook.prf file (22kb). Also see:
Note
that the profile generation tools only handle the user's MAPI
profile. If you want to force certain other settings -- those
normally set in Tools | Options -- you need to use the System
Policy Editor to create a policy file with your choices in it. See:
What if you don't have Windows NT Server,
but several people need to use the same computer? At the
very least, each person needs their own Outlook profile,
connecting to their own mail account(s) and using with a
unique Personal Folders .pst file, probably
password-protected. The tools listed below can generate
profiles for this situation, too.
If you need to allow Outlook or Exchange
users to log on at any computer to get their mail, but
don't have roving profiles implemented, these tools are
designed to help: (They can help with roving profiles,
too, of course.)
9mb download including the Custom Installation Wizard and Profile Wizard. See
Office Custom Installation Wizard
Profile Wizard
Improve Office 2000 Maintenance with the New Custom Installation Wizard.
Includes Office Custom Installation Wizard and Custom Maintenance Wizard, which now build Outlook .prf files and deploy them. See Outlook 2002 - Deployment.
A replacement for Newprof.exe, this tool allows you to modify existing profiles automatically to add new services, as well as create new profiles. (Microsoft)
Beta version of Redemption now available. Supports Outlook 2010 64-bit (and 32-bit versions of Outlook).
Additional tips
If you have people moving around and don't
want sample items created in their mailbox each time they
use a new profile with Outlook 97, try adding this string
value to your registry (if it isn't there already):